About Us

Structure and Governance

President Emeritus, Canada School of Public Service

Jocelyne Bourgon

The Honourable Jocelyne Bourgon was born in Papineauville, Quebec. She studied science and management at the Université de Montréal and the University of Ottawa. She is the recipient of honorary degrees from Mount Saint Vincent, Queen's, Ottawa, Carleton and Guelph universities.

Ms. Bourgon joined the Public Service of Canada in 1974, where she acquired a broad knowledge and diverse experience in public service management, public administration and public sector reform. Ms. Bourgon worked on diverse issues of growing complexity organizing several First Ministers' conferences on the Canadian economy and she played a key role in the organization of the First Ministers' meetings leading to the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement.

The Honourable Jocelyne Bourgon was appointed to the rank of Deputy Minister in 1989. In that capacity she was the official in charge of the constitutional negotiations which led to the Charlottetown Accord in 1992. She oversaw the transformation of the Department of Transport including rail privatization, the commercialization of air traffic control and the devolution of airports. She served as President of the Canadian International Development Agency and Deputy Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs.

In 1994, the Honourable J. Bourgon was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. She became the 17th Clerk and the first woman to hold this position. From 1994 to 1999, Ms. Bourgon led the Public Service of Canada through some of its most important reforms since the 1940s. She oversaw the Program Review exercise which contributed to eliminating the deficit, realigned the role of the Public Service, and downsized the public service by 47,000 jobs. She is also known for her contribution to the modernization of the service delivery functions and strengthening the policy research capacity of the Public Service of Canada. In December 1998, Ms. Bourgon was summoned to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in recognition of her contribution to her country.

The Honourable Jocelyne Bourgon served as President of the Canadian Centre for Management Development from 1999 to 2003. Her work led to the creation of Canada School of Public Service. She became President Emeritus of the School in 2003. From 2003 to 2007, Ms. Bourgon served as Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where she played a key role on behalf of Canada in guiding OECD reforms. Since 2007, she is Distinguished and Visiting Professor Public Administration and Public Service Reform, University of Waterloo and Distinguished and Research fellow at Center for International Governance Innovation. Mrs. Bourgon also serves as special advisor to the Privy Council Office and she pursues her work in support of the public service and public service reform as President Emeritus of the Canada School of Public Service. As expert in governance and public sector reforms, Ms. Bourgon provides advice to various Governments notably United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and various Commonwealth countries.

Ms. Bourgon is an active member of various international boards and advisory committees including the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (Past President), the Economic of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (President), and the UK Civil Service College (Board Member).

She served on various boards in Canada and in her community including the University of Ottawa, Heart Institute, Opera Lyra Ottawa. She has been awarded the Public Service Outstanding Achievement Award (1999), the Order of Canada (2001) and the Ordre de la Pléiade (2001).