Avrim Lazar

Avrim Lazar is the former CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada and a former Assistant Deputy Minister in the Government of Canada. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Education

Avrim Lazar holds a B.Sc (1968) from McGill University, a B.Ed (1970) and PhD in Education (1976) from the University of Ottawa. ^{[4] [5]}

Career

Avrim Lazar joined the public service in 1978 and held several senior positions in the Government of Canada. In 1995, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy and Communications at Environment Canada. ^[4]

From 2002 to 2012, Dr. Lazar acted as President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) during a decade of turbulent creative transformation. ^[6] Lazar brokered the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement which brought together FPAC's 22 member companies and 9 ENGOs opposed to logging. The 2010 agreement protected two-thirds of Canada’s forests in the world's largest commercial forest conservation deal. ^{[7] [8] [9] [3]}

In 2013, he continued reconciling industry and environmental interests as an independent consultant. He acted as principal consultant and convenor of the Global Salmon Initiative, established in 2013, bringing together leading aquaculture companies. ^{[10] [11]}

Past select appointments

• President, International Council of Forest and Paper Association ^[2]
• Vice-President, Second UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (1995) ^[12]
• Chair, National Business Association Roundtable ^[2]
• Chair, Strategic Planning Committee, Tolko Industries ^[2]
• Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Council of Canadian Academies ^[13]

Honours

• United Nations Association in Canada Gala (2011) ^{[14] [15]}
• Corporate Knights Award of Distinction (2012) "for his courage, vision and relentless bridge-building to make Canada a global leader in sustainable forestry" ^[16]

References

1. "CEO Series: Bio: Avrim Lazar - Pulp and Paper CanadaPulp and Paper Canada". 1 August 2002. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
2. "avrim.lazar | Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation". www.trudeaufoundation.ca. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
3. CK Staff (17 September 2012). "The tree whisperer". Corporate Knights. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
4. Canada, Senate of. "Committees (45th Parliament, 1st Session)". SenCanada. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
5. Lazar, Avrim (1976). An inquiry into the process of grammar concept attainment in the Franco-Ontarian junior school child (PhD Thesis). University of Ottawa.
6. "Closing of Abitibi mill in N.L. just the latest bit of bad news for industry". CBC News. 13 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
7. "'World's biggest' forest protection deal for Canada". BBC News. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
8. Ljunggren, David (18 May 2010). "Logging 'truce' protects millions of acres of Canadian forest". Toronto Star. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
9. Pala, Christopher (1 May 2010). "Pact protects Canadian forests". Nature. 465 (7296): 279–279. doi:10.1038/465279a. ISSN   1476-4687.
10. Weintraub, Karen. "Farmed salmon industry eyes eco-friendly reform". USA TODAY. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
11. "GSI Convenor Avrim Lazar: Sometimes the best way to win a game is to change it". globalsalmoninitiative.org. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
12. Report Of The Second Meeting Of The Conference Of The Parties To The Convention On Biological Diversity (PDF). United Nations. 30 November 1995.
13. "Five new members appointed to the Council's Scientific Advisory Committee". CCA Reports. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
14. "Avrim Lazar profile". Business in Vancouver. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
15. Forest Products Association of Canada (18 May 2011). Avrim Lazar speaking at a dinner held in his honour by the United Nations Association in Canada . Retrieved 13 August 2025– via YouTube.
16. "The Corporate Knights Award of Distinction". 2012. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2024.