A lawyer by background, Chris Lorenc has been President of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association since 1991. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with Bachelor of Arts and Law degrees in 1976 and practiced law until 1991. 

He served on Winnipeg’s City Council from 1983 until he retired in 1992. He chaired a number of Council’s Standing Committees and was a member of the Executive Policy Committee (EPC).

His responsibilities as MHCA President include direct liaison with the Chair, the Board, general co-ordination of all association activities, development of public policy, oversight of the Association’s safety program, liaison with the media, general public, stakeholders and leading government relations. He serves as President, with similar responsibilities, of the Western Canada Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association.

Mr. Lorenc is an active member of the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and a number of its committees. He has been asked and has served on public policy related task forces, some of which he initiated. Those included: Strategic Infrastructure Reinvestment Policy (SIRP) Task Forces (1998 & 2000); Committee on Tax Reform (1998); Workplace Safety & Health Act Review Committee (2001); Worker Compensation Act Review Panel (2004); Economic Opportunity Commission (EOC) in 2006;

Mr. Lorenc was employer representative on the Minister of Labour’s Workplace Safety Advisory Committee (1995 – 2005) and management representative on the Employment Insurance Board of Referees (2004-2007).

He was a founding member and chair of the Manitoba Transportation Strategy (MTS) Group 2006, which led formation of the Manitoba International Gateway Strategy Council.

He initiated and chairs the private sector Western Canada Transportation System (WCTS) Strategy Group (2005) which advocates with the western provincial and territorial governments, development of a seamless multi-modal Western Canada Transportation System to enhance economic growth.

In 2007 Mr. Lorenc was appointed by Mayor Katz to lead the Mayor’s Trade Council (MTC). Its report, ‘Winnipeg – Canada’s Center for Global Trade’ was released March 12, 2008 and adopted by Council later that same month. Its recommendations were broadly supported by governments and the private sector. Working collaboratively with then Premier Doer as member of the Premier’s Leaders Group, the recommendations helped lead to unanimous adoption by the Manitoba legislature of the CentrePort Canada Act in September 2008 and to the creation of CentrePort Canada Inc., on which Board he serves. For this work he was awarded the ‘Manitoba Service Excellence Partnership Award’ by the Manitoba government in June 2009.

Mr. Lorenc is a management representative on the Manitoba Labour Board; member of: the Manitoba Employer’s Council; the provincial Investment Promotion Committee; the Manitoba International Gateway Strategy Council; and Manitoba Construction Sector Council Board of Directors.

He has an extensive background in writing public policy for governments on topics including government organization, intergovernmental relations, sustained infrastructure investment, and trade and transportation.

Mr. Lorenc has served on numerous Boards of various community, cultural, educational and public policy interests.

He is married to his wife Maria of 28 years. They have three sons Marek (25), Gregory (23) and Michael (21). In his spare time Mr. Lorenc enjoys reading and spending time at the family cottage at Winnipeg Beach.