Carleton Alum to Lead Canada’s U.S. Trade Negotiations
Distinguished public servant and Carleton University graduate Janice Charette is Canada’s new Chief Trade Negotiator to the United States.
Charette, who was appointed to the role by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday, will lead the country’s team when a much-anticipated review of the Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) begins later this year.
“With four decades of experience in public policy and diplomacy, Janice Charette brings extraordinary leadership, expertise and a deep commitment to advancing Canada’s interests,” Prime Minister Carney said in a release.
“As Chief Trade Negotiator, she will advance Canadian interests and a strengthened trade and investment relationship that benefits workers and industries in both Canada and the United States.”
Charette, who earned a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton’s Sprott School of Business in 1984 and was awarded an honorary degree by the university in 2023, was Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet from 2014 to 2016 and again from 2022 until her retirement in 2023. The role entailed serving as the principal public service advisor to the PM and head of the public service.
She also served as High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2021 and has held numerous other federal leadership positions in areas such as citizenship, health and justice. From 1996 to 1999, she worked in the private sector for the management consulting firm Ernst & Young and later the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
A champion for community mental health and wellness in the workplace, Charette spoke at the 2023 Carleton Challenge Conference, which was focused on mental health.
In a panel called “Leadership as a Platform for Change,” she talked about how the federal government was working to reduce stigma, improve access to research-based care and shift its concentration from individual wellness to organizational health.
“As Canada’s largest employer, the federal government has a key role to play in leading change,” she said.
“It has a responsibility to Canadians for their wellbeing.”
Charette currently serves as vice-chair of the Rideau Hall Foundation and as a member of the board of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, and she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in December 2025.
Speaking to the Globe and Mail, Brian Clow, the Canada-U.S. relations lead under Justin Trudeau, described Charette as “smart, thoughtful and incredibly diligent.
“She can also be tough when she needs to be,” Clow said.
“For the role of chief negotiator in what is probably the most important negotiation this country has faced in a long time, I think she is really great for the role.”
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