Browser not supportedJanice Charette assumed her responsibilities as High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on September 7, 2016.
Prior to this, Ms. Charette served as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet from October 2014 to January 2016. In this role, she served as the principal public service advisor to Canada’s Prime Minister and as the head of the Public Service. Previously, she was Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet as well as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
In addition, Ms. Charette has held leadership positions in eight departments that covered issues including skills development, labour markets, immigration, citizenship, social security, health, and justice. Her early career included work in finance, privatization, and federal-provincial-territorial relations, as well as in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Ms. Charette worked in the private sector from 1996 to 1999, as Principal in the management consulting firm Ernst & Young, and as Director of the Transition Team that organized the start-up of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Ms. Charette is a champion for community mental health and mental wellness in the workplace. In 2008, she was national Chair for the United Way’s Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign, raising over $36 million for communities and national health charities across Canada. She was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013 and 2014.
She is currently on the board of the Rideau Hall Foundation in Canada, and represents Canada on the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation and the Imperial War Museum.
Ms. Charette attended Carleton University, where she received a Bachelor of Commerce.