At the 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June, the Association honoured its newest Members of Long Standing—individuals who have reached the milestone of 50 years of membership with the OAA as part of Ontario’s architecture profession. Among the recipients this year was Jamie Wright.

Wright was in the third class to graduate from Dalhousie University’s new School of Architecture in 1967. He went on to join Jerry Markson’s office in Toronto and then opened his own firm in 1974. Six years later, Wright established Young + Wright Architects with Richard Young and grew the firm to 120 people with offices in Toronto and Vancouver before merging with IBI Group Architects in 2008 where he was a director until retiring in 2018.

Wright served as the president of the OAA in 1987, and was a director of the Design Exchange, the Toronto Home Builders Association, Rosedale Mooredale House, and Pro-Demnity Insurance Company. He sat on the University of Toronto’s Faculty Council for the School of Architecture, chaired the fundraising committee for Dalhousie’s School of Architecture, and was a member of the City of Mississauga’s Urban Design Committee.

A Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) since 1989, Wright received the OAA’s Order of Da Vinci Award in 2010. His projects have also received many design awards including two Governor General’s awards. He opened IBI's office in Halifax in 2012 and was in charge of the Nova Centre, the 1-million square-foot mixed-use project that included the new Halifax Convention Centre, two office buildings, and a hotel; it has helped revitalize the city’s historic central core.

Wright has a lifelong interest in master planning and residential design, which he feels have the greatest impact on the lives of most people. He credits several significant mentors early on and has had the good fortune of working with a range of talented Canadian and international architects that have greatly enriched his career.