The Hon. Howard I. Wetston, Q.C.

Mr. Wetston is a respected public servant and a distinguished lawyer, jurist, regulator and executive. He is one of Canada’s most prominent leaders in administrative law and regulation with deep expertise in securities, energy, competition and other regulated industries.

He was the Chair & CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission from 2010 - 2015, was the Chair & CEO of the Ontario Energy Board from 2003 to 2010, and was a Vice-Chair of the OSC from 1999 to 2004. The OSC and OEB are two of the largest and most complex industry regulators in Canada.

In addition to his duties during his term as OSC Chair, Mr. Wetston was a Vice Chair of the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) from 2013 - 2015. IOSCO is the leading international policy forum for securities regulators and is recognized as the global standard setter for securities regulation.

Mr. Wetston was granted the title “Honourable” after an exemplary six years as a Trial Judge at the Federal Court of Canada and Ex-officio Judge of its Appeal Division.

He was appointed Q.C. during his seven years as a prominent regulator working up to the level of Director of Investigations & Research (now Commissioner of Competition) at the federal government’s Bureau of Competition Policy.

He spent the first 12 years of his career as a lawyer achieving the positions of General Counsel at the Canadian Transport Commission and Assistant General Counsel at the National Energy Board. Mr. Wetston was also General Counsel and Program Director at the Consumers’ Association of Canada. Before that, he was a Crown Counsel in Nova Scotia and at the federal Department of Justice. He has worked in private practice in the joint office of a Montreal and Calgary firm and articled in private practice in Halifax.

In addition, Mr. Wetston is a member of the Advisory Board for The Program on Ethics in Law and Business at the University of Toronto and is a member of the Shannon School of Business Advisory Board at Cape Breton University. He was a lecturer of competition law and regulated industries at the University of Ottawa for seven years. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Mount Sinai Hospital from 2004 – 2014, and is presently on the Patient Safety and Quality Committee of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Mr. Wetston holds an LL.B. from Dalhousie and a B.Sc. from Mount Allison and has been called to the Bar in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta. He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Cape Breton University and Dalhousie University. He is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.  In 2014, he received special recognition as a Board Diversity Champion from Catalyst Canada Honours.