Gary Kent - Treasurer

Member-At-Large (For Municipalities with a Population Over 100,000)

Chief Administrative Officer
Region of Peel
10 Peel Centre Drive, Brampton, ON  L6T 4B9
Tel: (905) 791-7800 x 4759
Email  

Gary Kent is the Chief Administrative Officer of Peel Region, Ontario, Canada, which delivers essential services and infrastructure to 1.5 million residents and 175,000 businesses.  Reporting directly to Peel Regional Council, the CAO is the most senior position within Peel Region, overseeing all staff, service delivery and infrastructure investments.

Gary joined the Region of Peel in 2021 and served as CFO and Commissioner of Corporate Services after 25 years at the City of Mississauga. There, through progressively senior roles, his experience included co-chairing the update of the Mississauga’s Strategic Plan, engaging 100,000 citizens and overseeing the development and implementation of continuous improvement projects including Lean, a Long-Range Financial Plan, a People Strategy, an IT Master Plan and a Strategic Communications Master Plan. He has also led community projects to advance world-class waterfront, downtown and education initiatives, was central to managing the impacts of COVID-19 and in addition, negotiated the very first Municipal Airport Authority Agreement with Toronto Pearson and Mississauga.

Gary previously worked in the UK as the Finance Manager for a large private sector transit company experiencing deregulation, privatization, flotation and mergers and was also the CEO of Enersource Corporation, a strategic partnership between Mississauga and Borealis Inc.. Enersource currently owns 30% of the shares of Alectra Inc., the second largest municipally-owned electricity utility in North America.

A graduate of Glasgow Caledonian University, Gary is a Fellow accountant with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a CPA, CGA. He holds the ICD.D designation, having graduated from the Directors Education Program from the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and has also completed the Bloomberg-Harvard Cities Leadership course.

Current Board and Committee positions include the ACCA’s Global Council, their Public Sector Global Forum and the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators.

Gary has also been involved in volunteering in the community for many years and has lived with his family in Mississauga all his Canadian life.