Marian Campbell Jarvis
Co-Director of the Regulatory Governance Initiative at the School of Public Policy and Administration
Marian Campbell Jarvis retired from the Public Service of Canada in 2025, where she served as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister in a number of departments including Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; the Privy Council Office; and, Natural Resources Canada. She also was an executive at Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Health Canada and worked at the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Department of Finance and the former Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
She has a depth of expertise in government decision-making, in leadership and management, in economic and social policy development, science-policy integration, as well as international and federal-provincial intergovernmental relations.
Career highlights include serving as the Secretary to the Ministerial Cabinet Committees on social development and Indigenous reconciliation where she was responsible for bringing forward policy proposals and briefing the Chair, bringing forward the annual Immigration Levels Plan and negotiating international agreements on refugee and asylum issues, advancing Canadian minerals development and leading the Geological Survey of Canada and the Polar Continental Shelf Program at NRCan and helping to launch the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
As a seasoned executive, Marian is known as a purpose-driven strategic thinker and do-er, she is adept at bringing people, ideas and interests together to make a positive difference. She is an experienced organizational leader from vision and strategy to program management, and care of people and stewardship of resources.
Originally from British Columbia, Marian lives in Ottawa with her husband and has two adult children.