Christina Perks

After retiring from her work in the public sector, Perks continued to remain active in the design industry and founded a small architectural practice in Toronto with partner Sheila Penny named Perks+Penny (1992-1994). They received several commissions from Canada Post and private families. Around the same time, Perks also started acting as Registrar for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and continued to do so until 1997.

After moving back to Montreal, Perks worked with the office of George F. Eber as Project Architect on two buildings, the Sermons From Science Pavilion and the Alcan Aquarium for the Expo 67. She then moved to Ottawa and served on several senior-level government positions at Public Works Canada. Positions consisted of Director of Facilities Development for External Affairs, Senior Policy Adviser and Senior Project Manager. During her time there (1966-1970), she established the official Planning Section of the department of which she was principal. Starting a private practice in Calgary in 1972, Perks developed and planned large commercial projects before returning to Ottawa in 1975 to work for the Foreign Affairs Department once more.

By 1958, Perks, at age 23, had become a licensed architect. She then moved with her husband and two-year-old son to his home in Bermuda where she subsequently started her own practice since the only firm on the island did not hire 'girls'. Contrary to beliefs that construction was more suited for men, her architecture practice "flourished" and she completed a variety of projects. "I was grateful for not having been hired for some menial tasks as, clearly, my career in Bermuda was so much more satisfying than it would have been as an employee," she wrote later.

Born Krystyna Poznanska near Warsaw, Poland, Perks left her home and moved to Montreal, Quebec in 1939. After graduating from Montreal High School in 1951, she began completing her bachelor's degree in architecture (B.Arch) at McGill University, finishing in 1957. While completing her degree, Perks spent her summer holidays working at architecture firms doing work such as drafting.

Christina Poznanska Perks, OAA, FRAIC (born 1935) is a Canadian architect known for her contributions to the public sector by managing the design and construction of Canadian Embassies. Throughout her career she has been an advocate for women's rights in the architecture industry. In celebration of the first woman president (Ellis Galea Kirkland) of the OAA Perks responded with "...Ms. Kirkland has moved from the usual reported role of woman as victim to an active shaper of the future environment. Hurrah!" She currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.