Carla Guerrera is a globally recognized leader in sustainable urban development and real estate, with over two decades of experience delivering more than $2 billion in complex, high-impact projects. A graduate of Queen’s University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning, Carla has built a career defined by innovation, equity, and environmental stewardship.
Early on in her career Carla joined Waterfront Toronto where she led the transformation of the West Don Lands—an 80-acre brownfield site—into Canada’s first climate-positive community. Her creative leadership, passion, and out of the box thinking resulted in the award-winning Underpass Park, a vibrant public space beneath highway overpasses.
After relocating to Vancouver, Carla joined Wesgroup as a development manager, where she helped deliver the Prescott, a mixed-use development that revitalized a former gas station site in North Vancouver.
Today, Carla is the Founder and CEO of Purpose Driven Development, a firm delivering over 2,500 mixed-income affordable rental homes across BC. Her work includes the groundbreaking Soroptimist House project—the first in North America to be developed entirely by an all-woman team, providing housing for women and showcasing female leadership in real estate development.
Carla also played a pivotal role in the Mission Waterfront revitalization, a 300-acre project recently recognized as one of Canada’s top investment opportunities.
Carla’s work has been recognized with local, national, and international accolades highlighting her influence as a transformative leader in urban planning and real estate development including Urban Land Institute’s 40 Under 40, Business in Vancouver’s 2024 Top CEO in BC, and BC Business 2025 Women of the Year Award in the Entrepreneurial Leader category.
"The School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen's prepared me for my career and provided critical perspective in a number of ways. First, the applied project course where a group of students complete "real life" project for a company or government agency provides real-world experience and insight that I found critical to securing my first job. Also, the focus on multi-disciplinary perspective in solving "city challenges" is a lens I continue to use in my career and bring to all of my projects. Finally, the course on brownfield redevelopment really spurred a deep passion and interest that has been a central theme of my career. Well-done SURP!"
Carla Guererra