New head engineer for City of Burnaby

BURNABY, B.C. — James Lota has been appointed head of engineering for the City of Burnaby effective next month.

Lota joined Burnaby in 2015 as the assistant director, engineering projects and was appointed to deputy director, engineering in 2018. A press release from the city stated Lota has been a key member of the engineering senior management team and has been instrumental in delivering innovative solutions to improve services for the community.

“James has the skills, knowledge and experience to lead the engineering department, and I look forward to working with him in his new capacity as director,” said Leon Gous, current director of engineering, in a statement. “We will certainly lean on his expertise as the city moves forward with a number of major projects in the coming years.”

Lota has lived in the city for more than 40 years. When he joined the city’s engineering team he was a professional engineer with a masters of business administration from Simon Fraser University. He has since earned a masters of public administration from the University of Victoria.

Lota previously worked in the clean energy sector. Officials stated this experience has been invaluable as the city advances its climate action goals.

Gous will continue to act in the position until Sept. 6. On Sept. 7 he will assume the role of chief administrative officer for the city, an appointment that was announced last month.