Building a Better Burlington
Lisa Kearns is running for Mayor to bring people together and move Burlington forward — with steady leadership, community focus, and results that stand up to scrutiny.
Steady Leadership for Burlington
Lisa Kearns is a Burlington councillor, board director and community builder who has represented Ward 2 at the City of Burlington and the Region of Halton since 2018, and has served as Deputy Mayor of Engagement and Partnership since 2022.
Before elected office, Lisa spent nearly a decade at LifeLabs leading procurement across one of Canada's largest diagnostic laboratory networks — negotiating multi-billion-dollar contracts, harmonizing operations after major acquisitions, and delivering multi-million-dollar hard savings.
Now, Lisa is running for Mayor to bring that same discipline, common-sense decision making, and community focus to the top job at City Hall.
A Record of Delivery
From the council chamber to the boardroom, Lisa's career is built on strategic partnerships, disciplined negotiation, and results that improve people's lives.
Councillor, Regional and Municipal · Deputy Mayor, Engagement and Partnership
- C-suite role focused on strategic planning, capital and operating budget approval, and negotiation with dynamic stakeholders.
- Final approval of City and Region budgets totalling roughly $2.5B, plus special funding allocations, debentures, investments and capital planning.
- Relationship management across community, corporate and government partners through engagement and structured negotiation.
- Representative on numerous working groups and lead liaison to strategic partnerships that unlocked sustainable funding streams.
Procurement Manager · Sr. Sourcing Specialist
- Purchasing Manager on the $2.4B LifeLabs acquisition of CML — harmonized contracts and testing platforms ahead of schedule and over budget savings.
- Strategic Sourcing Lead across contract negotiation, technology planning, capital budget cycles and continuous improvement.
- Key lead for a $25M/year, 5+ year General Lab Supplies contract — harmonized the supplier base and achieved $4M in hard savings.
- Executive Supplier Business Reviews with BD, Siemens, Roche, Bio-Rad, Fisher Scientific, VWR, Stevens, Sysmex and DiaSorin.
Manager, New Business and Government Relations
- Drove MandA growth: feasibility reports, acquisition negotiations, diligence and discovery against aggressive EBITDA targets.
- Shaped policy through public consultations, legal counsel and not-for-profits on the Toronto harmonized by-law.
- Protected the company's financial health by re-negotiating contracts through the 2008 downturn.
Manager, On-Site Procurement
- Straight-line into Toronto Grace palliative care hospital, dotted-line into the GPO to leverage aggregated purchasing power.
- Delivered over-target savings through product evaluations and collective contract optimization.
- Chaired committees driving a team-based approach to complex, collective procurement issues.
Education
Core Skills
Rooted in Community
Serving on the boards that shape Burlington's safety, health, culture and downtown — showing up where the work gets done.
| Role | Organization | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Director, Board | Halton Region Police Services | 2023 – Present |
| Chair, Audit Committee | Corporation of the City of Burlington | 2020 – Present |
| Chair, Budget Committee | Corporation of the City of Burlington | 2019, 2022, 2023 |
| Director, Board | Burlington Downtown Business Association | 2018 – Present |
| Director, Board | Burlington Public Library | 2022 – Present |
| Director, Board | Art Gallery of Burlington | 2022 – Present |
| Director, Board | Sound of Music Festival | 2019 – Present |
| Director, Board | Joseph Brant Hospital and Foundation | 2018 – 2022 |
| Director, Board | Burlington Food Bank | 2020 – 2024 |
| Director, Board | Centre for Skills and Development Training | 2019 – 2021 |