Judy Lam has just retired after 13 years as the Manager of Commercial Districts and Small Business within Economic Development at the City of Hamilton. Judy joined the City in 2012, where she led her team focused on the revitalization and development of properties within Hamilton’s six downtowns, commercial corridors, and 13 Business Improvement Areas throughout the whole city.  Through innovative programs that include financial incentives and marketing programs, and the award-winning ERASE brownfields programs, downtown Hamilton is seeing tremendous growth in multi-residential construction projects as well as the expansion of many new businesses in downtown Hamilton.  Judy also oversees the Hamilton Business Centre, which provides information and tools that entrepreneurs need to grow their businesses.

Over the past 13 years, Judy has delivered transformational work at the City of Hamilton’s Economic Development Division. This includes the development of 5 Community Improvement Plans; the remediation of over 206 acres of contaminated land through the City’s ERASE program, and the oversight and administration of almost 1,800 grants to support small businesses.

Judy has over 40 years of diverse experience that span both the public (provincial and municipal) and private sectors including small and medium-sized business lending, leasing, commercial banking, and infrastructure financing. Just before joining the City, Judy came from Infrastructure Ontario, where she provided billions of dollars in financing for various infrastructure and affordable housing projects.

Judy holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S. and is also a Certified Public Accountant of Ontario (CPA).