Monique Leroux

Monique F. Leroux is the chair of the board of Investissement Québec and Chair of the Quebec Economic and Innovation Council, appointed by the Quebec Government in 2016. She is a member of the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, created in 2017.

Ms. Leroux is also the president of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), a global organisation representing over 2,5 million enterprises and generating over 3,000 billion in revenue in more than 100 countries. She is the founder and chair of the International Summit of Cooperatives, a world economic and cooperative event.

She was the chair of the board, president and chief executive of Desjardins Group, the leading cooperative financial group in Canada, from March 2008 to April 2016. Under her leadership, Desjardins remarkably grew its Canadian activities while ranking among the fifth strongest financial institution in the world according to Bloomberg.

Ms. Leroux also serves as an independent board member of global companies such as Bell (BCE), Couche-tard (ATD), Michelin (ML-France) and S&P Global. She was also recently appointed first executive vice president and strategic advisor at Fiera Capital.

She is co-chair of the B20 SMEs Cross-thematic Group (Germany), chair of the High Level Contact Group of the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) and vice-chairman (Canada) of the Trilateral Commission. In 2015, Ms. Leroux was asked to represent the Canadian business group at the B7 Summit in Berlin, and took part in the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women as well as the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Ms. Leroux has received a number of honours, including being named a Member of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur (France). She is also a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award (United States), the Outstanding Achievement Award and Fellowship from the CPA Order, and the Institute of Corporate Directors Fellowship Award. She also holds honorary doctorates from eight Canadian universities. She was recently made an “honorary citizen” of the city of Lévis in recognition of her economic contribution.

Ms. Leroux also lends her time and support to a host of not-for-profit organizations. She is chair of the board of governors of the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal’s 375th anniversary and she was chair of Metropolis 2017. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Rideau Hall Foundation.