My nomination is an indication that our hard work in building Canada is recognized. All we do is to serve the community in return for embracing us when we needed it.  

Mehdi Mahdavi
Ottawa Immigrant Entrepreneurship Awards Nominee
The work and expertise that OLIP brings to our community is so important as it helps us to build bridges and break down silos.  I look forward to our continued work together. 

Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa
The Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre is so happy to have joined the OLIP Health and Wellbeing Sector Table. It is clear that OLIP cares about immigrants and refugees and…

Wendy Tang, Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre
The City of Ottawa will continue to play a lead role in the implementation of the Ottawa Immigration Strategy, just as we did in the founding of OLIP.

Steve Desroches
City Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Ottawa
I’m really impressed with the level of energy and commitment around the Health and Wellbeing table and look forward to continuing collaboration between OLIP and OPH.

Marcela Tapia
Ottawa Public Health
In our city’s history, immigrants have always played an important role. They build our economic prosperity, diversify our culture, contribute to our social vitality.

Jim Watson
Mayor of Ottawa
All the WOW events that I went to were great – WOW does give a sense of a community trying to improve its attraction and retention!

Caroline Andrew
Professor, University of Ottawa
The WOW seminar on immigrant women’s nutrition and health was a step in the right direction towards closing the gap between academic researchers and service providers.

Josephine Etowa
Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa
OLIP helps to unite and share scarce resources for greater impact by working together in the field of student education.

Walter Piovesan
Associate Director of Education, Ottawa Carleton District School Board
Canada has been shaped by people who came from all over the world to build this country. WOW offers a platform for us to celebrate this history and the future it will help…

Alex Munter, Chair of the OLIP Council and President and CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre

Mark Taylor

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Mark grew up on Moncton Road in the Queensway Terrace North neighbourhood of Bay Ward. He lived, went to school and has worked in Bay Ward almost all of his life.

Raised alone by his mother after his father’s passing when he was just a year old, Mark saw the very real challenges that are still faced by too many of us today. Good friends and living in a helping community he learned, were so important in making sure nobody in our community is left out or left behind.

Together with his wife Christine, his daughter Sasha and stepdaughter Emily; Mark and his family continue to participate in our community and our city – trying to build on the very strong foundations of their shared belief that great communities are made by the daily contributions of many small acts.

In Business

Mark has worked in a variety of business environments, most notably as partner and Chief Information Officer in a local High Technology firm in which he was part owner. With over $1m in annual revenue and 30+ employees this experience in the business sector gave Mark a wealth of respect for our community’s business owners and insight into the important role that business plays in helping to shape our community and promote the positive entrepreneurial spirit that drives our local and national economy.

Community History

Believing in a community means being a part of it. Each of us involves ourselves somewhere, whether it’s in the lives of friends and family – a cause or a charity that means something special to us, or even in our daily involvement in the school life of our children. Over the years, Mark has had the pleasure of serving with his daughters soccer club as a parent volunteer and on the parent council of her school; with the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region helping them to raise funds to support their important work; volunteering with the United Way Day of Caring; ringing the Holiday bells with the Salvation Army in our local malls and serving on the Pinecrest Queensway Community Resource Centre board of directors.

Working in Local Politics

Mark was elected to Ottawa City Council in the Municipal Election of 2010 to represent Bay Ward in Ottawa’s west end. Several years prior to this election, Mark had the opportunity to work in the office of then MPP Jim Watson who represented Ottawa West Nepean in which Bay Ward is located.