PM Mark Carney Taps Michael Sabia to Head Up the Privy Council
Prime Minister Mark Carney has recruited Hydro‑Québec CEO Michael Sabia to take over as the country’s top bureaucrat to advance his ambitious agenda.
Mr. Sabia had served as deputy minister of finance before he left government to serve as head of the Quebec pension plan and later Hydro‑Québec.
The current Clerk of the Privy Council John Hannaford announced Wednesday that he will leaving the government as the head of the public service and top adviser to the Prime Minister.
Mr. Carney had sought out Mr. Sabia because he needed a PCO clerk with business experience, who can push through his agenda that includes major nation-building projects, a revamped military, major housing initiatives and cost-cutting expenditures for the public service.
“Prime Minister Carney asked me to take on this role at time when the country is facing some unprecedented challenges,” Mr. Sabia said in a statement.
“In that context, I am joining the federal government to tackle this challenge head on.”
The Prime Minister noted that Mr. Sabia brings over three decades of expertise across the public and private sectors. Aside from running Hydro‑Québec, Mr. Sabia headed the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Bell Canada Enterprises and held senior roles at Canadian National Railway, and in the Privy Council Office.
“As Canada’s new government builds the strongest economy in the G7, Mr. Sabia’s leadership will be key to this mission,” Mr. Carney said, saying he will help the government “advance nation-building projects, catalyze enormous private investment to drive growth, and deliver the change Canadians want and deserve.”
The Canadian Press also reports Hydro-Québec CEO Sabia resigns to join Carney Privy Council:
Prime Minister Mark Carney is tapping Michael Sabia, a veteran of the public and private sector, to head up the Privy Council Office in Ottawa.
Sabia’s tenure as clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to cabinet will begin July 7. He replaces John Hannaford, who is retiring.
The Privy Council offers non-partisan policy advice to the prime minister and cabinet and is responsible for managing the broader public service.
Sabia has served as president and CEO of Hydro-Québec since 2023. He said in a statement released by the utility Wednesday that he was answering Carney’s call to serve as the prime minister pushes for a rapid transformation of Canada’s government and economy.
“Prime Minister Carney asked me to take on this role at a time when the country is facing some unprecedented challenges,” he said. “In that context, I am joining the federal government to tackle these challenges head-on.”
Sabia started his career in the public sector and spent years at the Privy Council. He was Canada’s deputy finance minister throughout the pandemic years and the early recovery period.
He served as the head of Quebec’s public pension plan for over a decade before that. He is a former CEO of Bell Canada Enterprises and former CFO of Canadian National Railway.
Sabia was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2017.
“As Canada’s new government moves with focus and determination to build the strongest economy in the G7, bring down costs for Canadians and keep communities safe, Mr. Sabia will help us deliver on this mandate and our government’s disciplined focus on core priorities,” Carney said in a media statement.
Ari Rabinovitch of Global News also reports Carney names Hydro-Quebec’s Michael Sabia as new top bureaucrat:
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced Michael Sabia, a longtime business leader and senior bureaucrat, as the country’s new top bureaucrat starting next month.
Sabia has been named Clerk of the Privy Council Office, the department that is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister’s Office and which plays a central role in turning government priorities into actionable policies for bureaucrats to implement.
In a statement, the role is also described one that will “advise the Prime Minister and elected government officials in managing the country, from an objective, non-partisan, public policy perspective.”
Sabia is currently the president of Hydro-Quebec. He will replace John Hannaford as Clerk of the Privy Council, with Hannaford now retiring, according to the press release.
Carney said Sabia’s leadership will play a “key role” in helping Canada to become “the strongest economy in the G7,” and added that “Canada’s exemplary public service – with Mr. Sabia at the helm – will advance nation-building projects, catalyze enormous private investment to drive growth, and deliver the change Canadians want and deserve.”
Prior to his role at Hydro-Quebec, Sabia served as Canada’s deputy minister of finance, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and held senior leadership, CEO and president roles respectively at Bell Canada Enterprises and at Canadian National Railway.
In case you're not very politically astute, PM Mark Carney is moving fast to surround himself with key people to fulfill his ambitious agenda.
He recruited his friend and close confidant, Tim Hodgson, to run for a seat and appointed him Minister of Energy. Hodgson has already vowed to fast-track infrastructure projects.
Carney recently recruited Marc-André Blanchard from CDPQ to become his Chief of Staff and help him coordinate policies across ministries.
And now he has recruited another CDPQ alumni, Michael Sabia, away from Hydro-Quebec to head up the Privy Council, the department that helps the government in implementing its vision, goals and decisions in a timely manner.
Sabia is no stranger to Ottawa, he's already headed up the Privy Council years ago and did a brief stint as Deputy Finance Minister during Covid to help former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
But he was disillusioned and frustrated with what he saw and decided to come back to Quebec to head up the largest power utility in Canada and a major player in the global hydropower industry.
Michael Sabia has very powerful friends (the Desmarais family staunchly supports him) and he always lands on his feet.
I'm not convinced he enjoyed being the head of Hydro-Quebec as much as being the head of CDPQ so I can't say I'm shocked he's leaving that organization to go to Ottawa to head up the civil service.
Similar to Marc-André Blanchard, Sabia has deep roots in policy-making, he feels compelled to join Prime Minister Carney at this critical time to serve his country.
And neither he or Blanchard are taking these positions for the money, obviously.
But pay attention here.
It's not by accident that Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the former Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the appointment of Macky Tall as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) for a four-year term at the end of March.
That appointment has Michael Sabia written all over it as Macky was his right-hand man at CDPQ running Infrastructure and Liquid Markets.
Are you following me so far? Things are moving at light speed in Ottawa (well, by Ottawa standards) and key people are being named in key positions and nothing is by accident, this has been in the cards for some time now.
Our country has a lot of serious issues, the biggest one is a slowing economy.
Tim Kiladze of the Globe and Mail just reported that home prices are falling, and Canada is losing its secret weapon for stoking GDP growth.
The late econometrician Ed Leamer wrote a great paper on how "Housing is the Business Cycle" and if it's one thing policymakers in Ottawa need to pay attention to, it's the housing market.
Unfortunately, that's the least of our problems, we have a structural productivity problem that has gotten a lot worse over the past decade, directly impacting our standard of living.
We have to deal with President Trump's tariffs and diversify our economy to become less reliant on our southern neighbour.
We need to address critical infrastructure needs and that's where Sabia, Blanchard, Hodgson will all play a critical role, working their contacts at the Maple Eight and beyond to get things going, selling major stakes in key infrastructure projects and cutting regulations to spur new ones.
"Yes but Leo, this is Ottawa, this isn't CDPQ where Michael Sabia was able to hire bright talent and pay top dollar to get things going. The bureaucrats in Ottawa are notorious for pushing paper around," a friend of mine notes.
He's right but Michael knows the terrain better than anyone, he knows the bureaucratic beast in Ottawa, if it's someone who can get things done, it's him.
My former boss now Canadian senator Clément Gignac called me earlier to discuss the US foreign tax bill sending jitters across Wall Street.
Clément thinks it's wonderful news that Marc-André Blanchard and Michael Sabia are helping Prime Minister Carney and I agree.
There's a lot of work ahead for this government and I know these are very experienced and intelligent people that can make things happen on many fronts.
Once again, I would urge would urge Marc-André Blanchard and Michael Sabia 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).
I would even recruit Neil to help them with their ambitious agenda, he's another very experienced smart person that can help them on critical policies.
Alright, let me wrap it up there and wish Marc-André Blanchard and Michael Sabia all the best as they assume these critical roles. They're both starting work on July 7th and have a lot to tackle.
Below, CTV News reports Prime Minister Mark Carney is tapping Michael Sabia, a veteran of the public and private sector, to head up the Privy Council Office in Ottawa.
Also, on June 4, 2025, at the 2025 Energy NL Conference, Michael Sabia, President & CEO of Hydro-Québec, and Jennifer Williams, President & CEO of NL Hydro, sat down for an insightful fireside chat about their negotiations on the newer, fairer Churchill Falls Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Sabia's understanding of the grid and energy needs will also help Carney advance his goals in the energy transition.
Update: Michael Sabia had a lot to say on the US hitting pause on its climate ambitions:
Canada should seize the global clean energy opportunity as the U.S. slows its climate ambitions, Hydro-Québec CEO Michael Sabia says, calling the American retreat a “hallelujah” moment for Canadian leadership.
“If they pause, we go forward,” Sabia said yesterday at The Globe‘s Intersect/25 conference in Toronto. “That’s our moment – and it needs to be seized now.”
Crown-owned utilities such as Hydro-Québec are uniquely positioned to ramp up investment while private markets remain cautious, said Sabia, who also served as CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for more than a decade.
The utility is aiming to boost its capital spending from $8-billion to $12-billion this year to accelerate grid expansion and electrification, he said.
Global investment in renewables is hitting record highs, with projected energy spending of US$2.2-trillion in 2025 – double the amount forecast for fossil fuels, Sabia said. Despite political headwinds and inflationary pressures in the U.S. and Europe, the “underlying signal” from global boardrooms is that capital is flowing into clean power.
Sabia also called for smarter risk-sharing between governments and their financing agencies, such as the Canada Infrastructure Bank, to unlock large-scale infrastructure investment. Long-term capital won’t fund early-stage, high-risk projects, he said, unless governments step in with “bridge capital” to shoulder the initial uncertainty.
Pushing traditional infrastructure investors to take on startup risk doesn’t work, he said. “It’s like asking a hockey player to go play in the NFL.”
Sabia’s call to accelerate investment is being echoed across the provinces and corporate Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled plans to implement a streamlined approval process for major nation-building projects such as trade corridors, energy projects and mines.
The CEO drew applause when he ended a comment about ramping up investment with a rallying cry: “Both for the economy now and for our future: Charge ahead. Go forward.”
Sounds like Michael Sabia is ready to kick Ottawa's ass. Let's hope he succeeds.
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