Toronto - The council of the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has a new president.

Settimo Vilardi, a Windsor, Ont.-based architect, was acclaimed to the one-year position at the first OAA Council meeting of 2023 on Jan. 19. OAA is the regulating body for the province’s architecture profession.

Last year, Vilardi served as the OAA’s senior vice-president and treasurer and has been a key participant on various association committees relating to practice, government outreach and finance. Prior to that he was chair of the Windsor Region Society of Architects.

As a member of the governance committee, Vilardi played an integral role in the final development of the association’s new five-year strategic plan, which includes a commitment to using both equity, diversity and inclusion as well as climate action as lenses through which the OAA carries out its work, states a release. Vilardi has also been outspoken about the need for better education among architects in determining fair and reasonable fees.