Suzanne Labarge

Suzanne Labarge

Chancellor Emeritus
McMaster University
Speaker

Bio

A native of Ottawa, Ms Labarge holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from McMaster University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Ms Labarge joined Royal Bank in 1971 and held a variety of positions within the bank prior to being appointed an executive officer in 1979. She left the bank in 1985 to join the federal government as assistant auditor general where she was responsible for a report on Financial Management and Control in the Government of Canada.

She joined the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada in 1987 as deputy superintendent, policy responsible for developing regulatory policies for Canadian financial institutions. She was a member of the BIS Committee for Bank Supervision. In her last position as deputy superintendent, deposit-taking institutions, Ms Labarge was responsible for all matters relating to deposit-taking institutions.

Ms Labarge returned to the bank as executive vice-president, Corporate Treasury, in April 1995. She assumed the role of chief risk officer in October 1998 and was appointed vice chairman and chief risk officer in February 1999. She retired from that position in December 2004.

Ms Labarge was a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee of Coca-Cola Enterprises. She also served on the Board of Directors, the Audit Committee and the Risk and Finance Committee of XL Group and was trustee for a Canadian family trust and director of associated companies. She has served as a member of the Supervisory Board and Risk Committee of Deutsche Bank, as a director and chair of the audit committee of Novelis Inc and was also a member of the Board of the Bank of China, Beijing.

She served on the Board of Governors for McMaster University for twelve years. She was appointed Chancellor of McMaster University in September 2013. She also serves on the board of the Ontario Brain Institute.

She was granted an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from McMaster University and is a recipient of the Queen’s jubilee medal.