Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
President, Vanac Development Corp.; Co-founder and Trustee, Y.P. Heung Foundation
Raymond Heung, born in Hong Kong, ventured to Canada in 1966 for higher education, earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa. He pursued further studies at the University of British Columbia, obtaining an MA in economics and M.Sc. in urban land economics by the early 1970s.
Afterwards, Raymond continued in his father’s footsteps in Hong Kong and began working in real estate in Vancouver at Daon Development Corp. in the late 1970s. He later founded Vanac Development Corp. in 1982 and has since served as its president.
Additionally, from 1998 to 2005, he held the position of president and CEO at Madison Pacific Properties Inc., a Vancouver-based public commercial real estate firm. He was also a member of the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia.
Raymond, alongside his wife Terry Heung, serves as a trustee of the Y. P. Heung Foundation, established in 2012 to honour his father and contribute to health, education and arts and culture initiatives.
As an art collector himself, Raymond is passionate about giving back to the community through awarding arts grants and establishing post-secondary awards to encourage and support students with tuition fees.
Inspired by his father’s values, the legacy of the Y.P. Heung Foundation reflects his father’s belief in hard work, honesty, honour and humility; and it is these four principles that underscore Raymond’s enduring success in commercial real estate spanning over four decades.