Leslie Woo

Leslie Woo CRE® is a respected city leader with over 25 years of experience building sustainable communities and shaping urban development in Canada’s fastest-growing urban region, greater Toronto. Leslie is a tri-sector athlete with experience convening and co-creating with the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She is a seasoned urban planner, architect and tireless community activator. At CivicAction Leslie is leading the growth of the next generation of civic-minded leaders. By equipping them with the knowledge and networks needed to tackle persistent urban problems, she is in the impact business. CivicAction is an influential and apolitical organization that moves between sectors to find collaborative solutions.

Before joining CivicAction, Leslie was Chief Planning and Development Officer at the Greater Golden Horseshoe’s regional transit authority, Metrolinx, for over 12 years, responsible for the strategic planning and public policy for a historic public investment of $60B in transit expansion. She is a Board Director at Waterfront Toronto (since 2021), Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care (since 2022), and a Trustee and former Director for the Urban Land Institute Americas (2020-2022).
Leslie has been recognized as a CEO Monthly’s 2025 Civic Engagement Canadian CEO; University of the West Indies (UWI) 2025 Vice Chancellor Award Honoree; 2023 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award Recipient; one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2017 (by WXN); Spacing Toronto’s Transit Changemaker in 2016 and Canada’s Women’s Infrastructure Network’s inaugural 2015 Outstanding Leader. Founder of shebuildscities.org, Leslie uses her voice and platform to amplify and celebrate other women city builders.

Leslie is a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto and a member of the Advisory Board of the Social Purpose Real Estate Accelerator at the Infrastructure Institute, University of Toronto. Leslie holds a graduate degree in Planning, and undergraduate degrees in Architecture and Environmental Studies, from the University of Waterloo.

Leslie was born in St. Augustine, Trinidad, a Toronto east-ender and a proud mum of two millennials.