Vivian Awad

A few minutes into her morning workout, Vivian Awad was already in the frame of mind that has come to define her: steady, focused, and quietly intentional. Over a 15-year career in construction law, she has helped guide projects across Ontario from concept to completion. For Vivian, the work of building—whether infrastructure or a life—has always demanded the same things: focus, judgment, and a clear sense of purpose. That instinct to prepare, to anticipate, and to keep the bigger picture in view has shaped every stage of her career.

Vivian Awad | General Counsel

Her path to construction law was not a straight line, but it was intentional. Vivian studied business administration at Wilfrid Laurier University before earning her law degree at the University of Cambridge, a choice shaped in part by her British passport and UK roots. She began her legal career in insurance defense, handling large claims tied to design and construction projects, before eventually returning to Canada and requalifying to practice there. It was a demanding process, but it gave her something few lawyers have: a business lens combined with legal expertise, and a front-row seat to how infrastructure actually gets built.

How construction law found her

“You do need to be a subject area expert when it comes to construction law; it is a niche bar, and not a lot of lawyers go into that work,” Vivian says.

That specialization has become her signature. Owners in Ontario and elsewhere tend to use similar contract structures across projects, layering risk and responsibility in familiar patterns. Understanding those patterns has allowed Vivian to adapt seamlessly to new roles and shifting dynamics, contributing effectively even when the players change. Her years at AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin) exposed her to nearly every corner of the industry — engineering, design, construction, real estate, oil and gas and even nuclear work — giving her a rare vantage point on how the pieces of a massive project fit together.

She has since applied that vantage point to some of the largest infrastructure efforts in Canada, including the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, the Hazel McCallion LRT, Scarborough Subway Extension, and the Ontario Line, to name a few. Each project has demanded discipline, sound judgment, and the ability to navigate overlapping legal, insurance and commercial issues, often simultaneously.

Eglinton Crosstown holds a particular place in her career. Her involvement dates back to 2017, and over the years she has built a depth of knowledge spanning insurance, claims, and the project’s many participants — which comes only from sustained, hands-on experience. Watching it finally open to passengers in February 2026 was especially meaningful — a reminder of why she was drawn to this work in the first place: the visible, tangible way community-shaping projects change how people move through and live in their cities.

Building a function from the ground up

Before joining a global design and consultancy firm to build its Canadian legal operations, Vivian had already run legal and commercial affairs at the C-suite level as Chief Legal and Commercial Officer on the Hazel McCallion LRT where Vivian co-managed all legal and commercial affairs for the project company, reporting to the CEO and advising the Board of Directors.

She used her expertise to build the company’s Canadian legal function, establishing the systems, processes and team structure needed to support a large and diverse national business. She leveraged AI tools to automate contract analysis and improve workload management, increasing scalability, accuracy, and responsiveness. The Canadian legal function was expanded from a sole lawyer to a multidisciplinary team capable of handling both the high-volume environment and the demands of major projects.

That work has not gone unnoticed, as the company was named a finalist for the Construction, Infrastructure and Transportation Law Department of the Year in 2026, a recognition Vivian credits to the team she has built as much as the strategy behind it.

The weight of being the expert

More than fifteen years in, Vivian is accustomed to being the person in the room who is expected to know the answer. It is a role she takes seriously, even as she acknowledges its limits. She is not an engineer, so part of her job has always been learning which questions to ask and whom to ask them of. That humility, paired with confidence earned through experience, has become part of how she leads.

It has not always been easy. Construction remains a male-dominated industry, and Vivian has encountered her share of resistance throughout her career, with her expertise and advice being challenged solely due to her gender and often being the only female in the room. However, she acknowledges that gender diversity has improved over the years. She has stayed focused on the work and on raising the standard for how people treat one another, noting that the engineers she has worked alongside are increasingly setting the tone for professionalism and excellence across project teams.

Building the next generation

Vivian’s competitive drive is matched by a leadership style built on trust, mentorship, and genuine investment in the people around her. One of her greatest sources of pride has been mentoring women as they build their careers, helping them strengthen the professional excellence, presence, and negotiation skills that open doors to new opportunities and advancement. Several of the legal staff she has mentored now manage their own teams.

“I love doing that, especially for women, in part because of my experiences,” Vivian says.

Outside the office, Vivian brings the same intentionality to her personal life. She wakes early to exercise and to get settled for the day, pays close attention to nutrition, and travels often, believing that exposure to different cultures makes her a more well-rounded professional. She has taken up partner dancing, pottery, and cooking, and finds particular renewal in hiking through the Canadian Rockies, building endurance and focus that carry over into her work.

Whether she is steering a transformative infrastructure project, shaping a legal organization from the ground up, or helping a younger lawyer find her footing, Vivian keeps returning to the same instinct that got her here: build something that lasts, and make sure it can stand on its own long after you have moved on.