Jocelyne Bourgon

Who is Jocelyne Bourgon?

Jocelyne Bourgon, PC, OC is a Canadian public servant.

Born in Papineauville, Quebec, she studied in science at the University of Montreal and then management at the University of Ottawa. She joined the public service of Canada as a summer student with the Department of Transport in 1974. She was rapidly promoted to the level of Deputy Minister. She served in several Departments including Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Cabinet Secretary for Federal-Provincial Relations, President of Canadian International Development Agency, and Transport Canada.

As Deputy Minister she led major legislative reforms; organized a First Ministers Conference on Canada-USA free trade negotiations; led the Constitutional negotiations; and prepared a major reform leading to the privatization of rail and airports.

In 1994, she was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Canadian Cabinet becoming the first woman and so far the only to exercise these functions in Canada. To date, no other women have exercised an equivalent position in any other G-7 countries. In this capacity she led some of the most ambitious public sector reforms in Canada since the early 1940s. She oversaw the reduction of the public service by 47,000 jobs, she introduced measures to enhance the policy capacity and the renewal of the Public Service.