Janice Charette

The Honourable Janice Charette served as clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet until she retired from the public service in June 2023 after serving nearly 40 years. Uniquely, Ms. Charette served in the role of Canada’s most senior public servant twice. In this role she led Canada’s largest employer and provided advice to prime ministers and Cabinet to formulate and drive the government’s agenda on the most complex and strategic issues facing Canada and Canadians during times of great uncertainty, including the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical turmoil and economic weakness.

Prior to rejoining the Privy Council, Ms. Charette was the high commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom, where she built relationships with key players in the government, business community and Commonwealth organizations.

Ms. Charette held several key leadership positions before becoming clerk, including deputy clerk of the Privy Council, associate secretary to the Cabinet and deputy minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; deputy minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada; deputy minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada; and associate deputy minister of Health Canada. In all, she has worked in nine federal departments and agencies during her career.

Currently, she is the vice-chair of the Rideau Hall Foundation. Previously, she served as a member of the board of directors of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa, the Public Policy Forum, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, and Commonwealth War Graves Foundation, the Imperial War Museum (U.K.) and the board of governors of the Commonwealth. She became a privy councillor in September 2023.