Mike Burns

Mike Burns retired from the public service in April 2016 with over 35 years with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Department of Infrastructure.

Since earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1982 his career serving Canada’s North provided extensive experience in project management and a broad range of asset management-related fields including facilities planning, procurement, contract administration, capital planning, real property management, facility management, fuel management services, energy management, climate change mitigation and adaptation and electrical and mechanical safety regulation.

Mike served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Asset Management for the GNWT’s Department of Infrastructure from 2009 until retiring in 2016 and served as the GNWT’s representative for the Board of Directors of the NWT and Nunavut Construction Association, the Northern Safety Association and the Federal Provincial Territorial Deputy Minister’s sub-committee for Real Property Management and Building Technology Transfer. As Assistant Deputy Minister, Mike oversaw the GNWT’s contribution to variety of Provincial-Territorial advisory committees involved in electrical, elevator and mechanical safety regulation, national building code development, and public sector procurement.

Prior to retirement Mike also served as a member of the GNWT’s Executive Committee successfully managing a major hospital renewal project under a Public-Private Partnership (P3) procurement approach from initiation and approval through financial close and into design and construction under a P3 procurement approach.

From 2011- 2016 Mike chaired SCC’s Northern Advisory Committee for the first phase of the Northern Infrastructure Standardization Initiative (NISI), which focused on developing new national standards for climate change adaptation for vulnerable northern infrastructure. NISI Phase 1 produced five new National Standards of Canada, which were published between 2014 and 2017.

For many years, Mike was involved in playing and actively participating in the organization for a number of sports as well as coaching teams ranging from local minor soccer to NWT women’s broomball competing at national and world championships.

Mike is an active volunteer for the NWT Special Olympics and Association for Community Living in Yellowknife where he and his family continue to reside.