Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister of Int'l Trade, Dept. of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Canada’s Trade Agenda
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The Prime Minister appointed Simon Kennedy as Deputy Minister of International Trade on November 12, 2012, and named Mr. Kennedy Canada’s G-20 Sherpa on December 14, 2012.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Kennedy served as the Senior Associate Deputy Minister at Industry Canada from September 2010. One of his key responsibilities in this capacity was to administer Canada’s foreign investment review regime. From February to December 2011, Mr. Kennedy was also the representative of the Prime Minister on the Canada-U.S. Beyond the Border Working Group. In this role, he led the negotiation of the Canada-U.S. Action Plan for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, announced by the Prime Minister and President Obama in December 2011.
Mr. Kennedy began his career with the public service in 1990 with Transport Canada and subsequently the Canadian Coast Guard. In 1997, he joined the Privy Council Office and, in 2001, he moved to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to serve first as the Director General for Policy, Planning and Integration and then as Director General of the International Markets Bureau. In 2004, he returned to the Privy Council Office, where he served first as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Economic and Regional Development Policy, and then as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Operations) and as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Plans and Consultation) until 2010.
Mr. Kennedy holds a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and a Master of Science in Communications Management from Syracuse University. He is a graduate of INSEAD’s Advanced Management Programme. Mr. Kennedy also holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute for Corporate Directors.
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