Marc-André Blanchard Departs CDPQ to Serve Canada
CDPQ acknowledges the significant contribution of Marc-André Blanchard, Executive Vice-President and Head of CDPQ Global and Global Head of Sustainability, who announced today his departure to take on the role of Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Mark Carney.
Arriving at CDPQ in 2020, Marc-André Blanchard has profoundly impacted the organization. A former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and a recognized leader in the private sector, he has leveraged his expertise to serve CDPQ's international ambitions and sustainable development strategy.
Under his leadership, CDPQ Global was established to support its investment teams on the ground through high-level relations with governments and partners worldwide in order to assist Québec companies in their globalization and to position CDPQ as a preferred investment partner internationally.
In 2022, Marc-André Blanchard also took over the leadership of the Sustainability team where he played a decisive role. Under his direction, CDPQ adopted an ambitious approach to the energy transition and promoted its global leadership on sustainability issues in major international forums, achieving significant progress. CDPQ recently reached and surpassed its climate targets and was recognized last year as the world's leading pension fund for governance, sustainability, and resilience by Global SWF, a benchmark in the industry.
Marc-André Blanchard leaves behind a strong and experienced team ready to execute the vision he has developed.
"CDPQ is an exceptional organization, and it has been an honour to serve Québec and the six million Quebecers it represents. I leave knowing there is a strong, committed and innovative team that will continue to raise the bar and showcase CDPQ on the international stage. Answering the call to serve my country is a decision I make with humility and enthusiasm," said Marc-André Blanchard.
"Marc-André has definitely left his mark on CDPQ. Thanks to his leadership, we have transformed from an organization present in the world to a truly united and globally recognized organization. Additionally, we have raised our ambition in sustainable investment, which is now a hallmark of the institution. Marc-André has always been driven by a deep desire to serve the public, and we thank him for his significant contribution to CDPQ as well as for the skilled team he has built. We wish him every success in his new role," said Charles Emond, President and CEO of CDPQ.
ABOUT CDPQ
At CDPQ, we invest constructively to generate sustainable returns over the long term. As a global investment group managing funds for public pension and insurance plans, we work alongside our partners to build enterprises that drive performance and progress. We are active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. As at December 31, 2024, CDPQ’s net assets totalled CAD 473 billion. For more information, visit cdpq.com, consult our LinkedIn or Instagram pages, or follow us on X.
On LinkedIn, Prime Minister Mark Carney posted this announcement yesterday:
I am pleased to announce that Marc-André Blanchard will serve as my Chief of Staff beginning in July.
Marc-André has a long and distinguished career as one of Canada’s most accomplished builders, legal experts, executives, public servants, and diplomats including serving as Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Marco Mendicino has my continued appreciation for his service as my Chief of Staff into the early summer, including as we introduce crucial legislation to deliver on our mandate from Canadians and prepare to host global partners at the upcoming G7 Summit in Kananaskis.
Canada’s new government will stand strong for Canadians as we build a new security and economic relationship with the United States, and build a strong economy that benefits everyone — the strongest economy in the G7.
PM Carney couldn’t have picked a better Chief of Staff. Mr. Blanchard is an exceptional leader and he will serve our country well in this position. I wish him all the best as he assumes this important role during this critical time.
Those are my quick thoughts but today I want to expand on them.
Once again, these are my unfiltered thoughts and do not reflect those of the Maple Eight. I haven't spoken to anyone about what they think even though the sentiment is overwhelmingly positive judging from the almost 300 likes on my LinkedIn post.
First, Mark Carney didn't pick Marc-André Blanchard out of thin air. He knew him from his days at Brookfield overlooking their huge transition fund and was highly impressed with him.
There were other highly qualified and experienced candidates for the top civil service job in Ottawa but there were many reasons to choose Marc-André Blanchard at this time.
Apart from his vast experience in the public and private sector, diplomacy is in his genes, he's someone who listens carefully to all arguments and tries to unify people.
Why is this important? Well, to be blunt, the days of Katie Telford and Gerald Butts, the two Chiefs of Staff under Trudeau, were marked by bitter conflict and divisiveness, not just between political parties but within the Liberal Party.
My friends in Ottawa told me straight out: "Katie Telfdor has to go, she was despised in Ottawa, just like her mentor Gerald Butts. Most civil servants in Ottawa feared and loathed her."
To be fair, I don't know Katie Telford or her predecessor Gerald Butts from a hole in the wall and being Chief of Staff in the PM's Office (PMO) is no picnic, you have to rule with an iron fist to a certain extent.
But as a friend of mine noted: "These two individuals wielded enormous power and were directly responsible for almost all of the disastrous policies in immigration, housing and the environment over the last ten years."
There is a reason why all resource investments ground to halt in Canada under Butts and then Telford, they didn't want to give "Big Oil" an inch and these disastrous policies left our country more divided than ever, and quite frankly, needlessly hurt our economy and now we are reeling from the fallout under the Trump administration.
If you want to understand why Alberta was seething under Trudeau's watch, listen carefully to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, she doesn't mince her words and articulates her positions very clearly.
By the way, unlike his predecessor, Prime Minister Carney doesn't relish in conflict or division, he's slowly moving his party to the centre and his actions speak louder than words.
Yesterday, he met with premier Smith along with his Energy Minister and close confidant, Tim Hodgson:
But tensions remain around whether the federal government should commit to fast-tracking a pipeline for approval.
Premier Smith entered the meeting hoping to secure a commitment from the federal government that an oil pipeline would be built, which would carry bitumen from Alberta to British Columbia’s coast.
However, British Columbia's NDP government’s deputy premier Niki Sharma who was at the meeting as B.C. Premier David Eby is in Japan for a trade mission, noted there was currently no company pitching to build such a project from Alberta to B.C., and suggested they were more interested in championing “shovel-ready” ones:
“There’s no proponent at this stage.”
“I think there’s a lot of goodwill at the table about figuring out ways that we can bring projects forward, and we’re going to be focusing on projects that have proponents, that have a lot of First Nations alignment, that are ready to go.”
Sharma added that B.C. would be pushing for clean energy projects.
While Smith has focused her attention on getting a pipeline built to B.C., which she says would open access to exporting energy to Asian markets, Quebec Premier Francois Legault says when it comes to the issue of one running through Quebec, he would have to examine the potential economic and environmental impacts.
“I didn’t see the project, if there’s one,” Legault said.
He said Quebec has many economic projects on electricity and critical minerals that Carney could consider, saying he needs to see what the Liberals would be willing to help “push” and finance.
“I’ve been invited here by Mr. Carney not by Danielle, or whoever.”
Smith said that until the federal Liberal government repeals what she refers to as the “nine terrible policies,” which she argues have damaged investor confidence in developing pipelines, “we’re not going to get the proponents coming forward with major investment.”
She and other critics have previously named the Impact Assessment Act and the tanker ban off B.C.’s northern coast as hindering pipeline development. The two laws were introduced under Carney’s predecessor, former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“It’s got to be a two-track process,” Smith said.
“Let’s get the commitment that we are going to build a new pipeline, and then I’ll have to work with the prime minister to repeal or significantly amend,” the polices in question.
As you can tell just by reading the latest articles on the premiers' meeting with Carney, there's still a lot to iron out between the provinces and that's why the appointment of Marc-André Blanchard as Chief of Staff will be a welcome sigh of relief.
I've spoken to Mr. Blanchard in the past, he's extremely experienced and it shows. He will be called upon to organize and coordinate all the ministries and make sure they're delivering on the agenda but he will also be instrumental to this government in more ways than most Canadians can imagine.
Just his enormous contacts across the Maple Eight and global pension funds will serve Canada well if Carney's government proceeds with privatizing infrastructure assets and have our large pension funds invest in these assets.
The list of challenges our nation faces is long and daunting. While the initial focus will be on dealing with the Trump administration, we should remember we've had a serious productivity lag with our southern neighbour long before Mr. Trump arrived in office.
Canadians feel over-taxed, over-worked and keep getting less and less in terms of social services.
The country is more divided than ever and this is the environment Mr. Blanchard will need to navigate ever so skilfully which he will.
Why is he leaving CDPQ? Because he feels compelled to serve his country, he places a high personal importance on public service and he knows the country and PM need him.
Go read my recent comment where I covered why he believes private-public partnerships are the only way forward and listen carefully to his acceptance speech which I embedded below once again.
On Friday, I attended an event remembering the life of McGill Economics professor Robin Thomas (Tom) Naylor (read his Globe and Mail obituary here).
Tom was teaching us ecological economics in the early 90s way before ESG became a fashionable term in the investment world and he also taught us underground economics and the way the world really works ("the world is a sewer" he always reminded us).
Anyway, he and a lot of great old time professors who have departed us did their part in public service and I was just thinking how sad that a lot of these intellectuals are no longer with us.
I know Charles Taylor is still alive and he would compel all of us no matter our political leanings to do our part to in public service to serve our country.
That's what Marc-André Blanchard is doing with great humility and sense of responsibility.
I applaud him for choosing this path, certainly would have been easier to stick around CDPQ for a few more years but a higher purpose called him to Ottawa.
In closing, I would urge Mr. Blanchard to read former PSP CEO Neil Cunningham's insights on what to do with the $9 billion Public Service Pension Plan (read the comment here).
Neil Cunningham, John Ruffolo and many others have great ideas on what we need to improve our economy over the long run.
I personally think it's time we think about creating a Canada Fund, a Canada Healthcare Fund (to fund rising healthcare costs) and a Canada Disability Fund, a fund solely focused on delivering disability benefits of Canadians with disabilities (I know QPP and CPP cover them but more needs to be done).
By the way, time is running out to fix the Canada Disability Benefit and that too remains an important policy which never gets the attention it deserves.
And then we wonder why disabled Canadians feel completely ignored, it's because they are systematically ignored and discriminated against.
Alright, let me end it there. Once again, I congratulate Marc-André Blanchard for assuming this important role at this critical time and wish him and PM Carney all the best as they govern our country during a difficult time.
We all want the best for our country and we need to band together to deliver better outcomes for our future generations. We owe them that much.
Below, Marc-André Blanchard accepts the 2025 Testimonial Dinner Award.
Listen carefully to his speech, we should count ourselves lucky he has accepted to be the PM's Chief of Staff to help build a better country.
Also, after the latest first ministers meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Canada's 13 premiers emerged united on the nation's priorities as Parliament enters its second week and the Liberal government shifts into gear.
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