Jim Kyte – Evening in the Maritimes Honorary Chair

Evening in the Maritimes has a new Honorary Chair at the helm: community leader and advocate for accessibility and inclusion, Jim Kyte.  

As Honorary Chair, Jim will help ABLE2 promote the 2023 edition of Evening in the Maritimes, scheduled for May 11, 2023, at The Westin Ottawa.   A veteran of 17 professional hockey seasons and current Dean of Algonquin College’s School of Hospitality and Tourism, Jim has proven himself a leader worth his salt as in the Ottawa community and beyond.  

The Ottawa native has the distinction of being the only deaf player in the history of the National Hockey League. Wanting to be a positive role model and open doors for those behind him, Jim co-founded the Canadian Hearing Impaired Hockey Association, and the Jim Kyte Hockey School for the Hearing Impaired.  
In his work at Algonquin College, he is credited with creating the very successful Sport Business Management postgraduate program in 2002, and then later became the Academic Chair of the Marketing and Management Studies Department in the Algonquin College School of Business in 2007. In 2014, Jim became the Dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism.

Today, Jim is an Honorary Colonel for the 76 Communications Regiment in the Canadian Armed Forces and a board member of Canadian Hearing Services, in addition to his new role with ABLE2 and Evening in the Maritimes.