Michael Audain

Michael James Audain, (born July 31, 1937) is a Canadian home builder, philanthropist and art collector.

He is the Chairman and major shareholder of the privately held Polygon Homes Ltd., one of the largest multi-family builders in British Columbia.

Audain was born in Bournemouth, England.

His father was a retired British Army officer, while his mother had a career as a London dress model.

Audain attended numerous schools in the United Kingdom due to frequent moves by his split-up family during World War II.

His first nursery school was named St. Georges, located on Castle Street in Farnham, Surrey, while his first boarding school was called Melbreck Preparatory School situated in the countryside outside Farnham.

Later, he attended Eagle House near Sandhurst in Berkshire.

In Canada, Audain attended Glenlyon School (now Glenlyon Norfolk School) and University School (now St. Michael's University School).

Both are situated in Victoria, British Columbia.

Later, he was sent to Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario.

In terms of higher education, Audain attended the University of Lyon in France, where he acquired a Diploma in French Civilization in 1959.

At the University of British Columbia he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1962, a Bachelor of Social Work in 1963, and a Masters in Social Work in 1965.

He later attended the London School of Economics and Political Science as a Ph.D. student but did not submit a thesis.

After moving from the position of Director of Community Relations at the Ontario Housing Corporation in Toronto (now Ontario Mortgage and Housing Corporation) in 1969, he was appointed Housing Program Director at the Canadian Council on Social Development in Ottawa where he conducted a number of research studies on housing issues, most notably a national study on housing for the elderly, which was published as a book called Beyond Shelter.

In Ottawa he also started and became editor of a quarterly publication called Housing and People.

In the early 1970s, Audain established a reputation for himself as one of Canada's leading housing policy experts.

In late 1973, Audain was called to the British Columbia government in Victoria by Premier David Barrett and appointed Special Advisor to the Minister of Housing, with the task of setting up a housing ministry.

During this period he initiated policies that resulted in a significant increase in social and cooperative housing throughout British Columbia.

To aid the process, he negotiated the purchase of Dunhill Development Ltd. which became the Housing Corporation of British Columbia.

After a term as chairman of the Provincial Commission on Mobile Homes, which published a well-received report, in 1976 Audain established a company called Audain Planning Ltd. to undertake research and provide advice on housing policy across Canada.

In 1977, Audain obtained a Certificate in Farm Management and Rural Appraisal from the University of California, Davis.

From 1977 to 1979, Audain taught as a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia's School of Urban and Regional Planning (now the School of Community and Regional Planning).

In September 1980 Audain was appointed Executive Vice President of Polygon Properties Limited, becoming a partner in the firm.

The history of Polygon Homes Ltd. started in 1980 when Audain was invited by W.K. Paulus to become the Executive Vice President and a partner in a company that owned an interest in three rental apartment properties.

Since 1980, Polygon Homes Ltd. and its affiliated single-family builder Morningstar Homes Ltd. have completed the construction of over 32,000 homes in Metro Vancouver.

Audain has been a supporter of the visual arts in British Columbia and beyond.

Initially, Audain built residential communities for housing cooperatives and non-profit organizations, but in 1983 he started building townhomes and apartments for the market.

Then in 1988 he was appointed President, and in 1992 Chairman of Polygon Homes Ltd.

The company expanded in 1988 when Paulus sold his interest to Laing Property Corporation.

After Laing Property Corporation was taken over by P&O Limited, a British conglomerate, Audain and his partner Rick Genest negotiated the acquisition of all the shares in the company in 1992, with Polygon becoming 100 percent British Columbia owned and managed.

In 1992 he joined the board of trustees of the Vancouver Art Gallery and with a brief interregnum has been involved in the affairs of the Gallery until finishing his term as Chair of the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation in 2014.

Later in 1994 he was appointed by Premier Michael Harcourt as co-chairman of the Commission of Affordable Housing Options, which held public hearings and whose report ultimately played a significant role in revising municipal government's attitudes to so-called "illegal suites" and a host of other housing related matters.

He served as the Association's President/Chair from 1996 to 1998.

After Genest's death as a result of a highway accident in 2002, Neil Chrystal became a major shareholder in the company and assumed the title of President and CEO.

He has continued to serve as Chair of the Board since Neil Chrystal's appointment as President in 2003.

In 2005, Audain was appointed to the board of trustees of the National Gallery of Canada, and then as chair from 2009 to 2012.

Particularly strong was a large group of Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples masks which had been brought back to British Columbia from the United States and Europe, the acquisition and subsequent donation of a Potlach Figure to the U'Mista Cultural Centre in 2008; a major collection of Emily Carr's works, Canada's most important collection of Mexican modernist works, and one of the leading collections of Quebec artist Jean Paul Riopelle.

The collection was in part exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery in late 2012 and early 2013.

In 2019 he was reappointed as a director of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation.

Audain and his wife Yoshiko Karasawa amassed a significant art collection which is considered among Canada's most outstanding.