Jacques Girard

Following his position as secretary general of Université de Montréal from 1969 to 1974, he worked at the Ministère de l’Éducation as first assistant deputy minister responsible for post-secondary teaching from 1974 to 1978, and subsequently acting deputy minister from 1978 to 1983. He was then president of Télé-Québec from 1983 to 1988, and held a variety of management positions at Quebecor Group Inc. from 1988 to 1996, including president and CEO. 

In 1996, Jacques Girard became the first president and CEO of Montréal International, a position he held until 2003. He has served as chair of the board of directors of the International Financial Centre of Montréal since 1997 and has been a moving force behind Finance Montréal’s sectoral cluster. He has contributed to promoting the city with foreign investors and international organizations, making Montréal a world-class financial centre. 

Adding to this rich professional experience is his remarkable involvement in the governance of several agencies and institutions. Moved by issues surrounding education and health, Jacques Girard sat on the board and steering committee of Université de Montréal and was a member of the Cercle du chancelier and chair of the board of directors of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). In 2016, he returned to sit on the board of the university. He also chairs the board of the alumni association. 

An avid lover of history, Jacques Girard also chairs the board of directors of the Fondation Lionel-Groulx and the steering committee of the Urbanisation Culture Société Research Centre of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), which is responsible for drafting the regional history of Montréal. With his encouragement, top executives of major commercial and industrial companies, Crown corporations and religious communities have joined forces to make this project a success. 

An ardent defender of the city’s economic, cultural and artistic vitality, Jacques Girard has always been driven by the desire to make Montréal a prosperous and stimulating city. He has sat on the boards of directors of Place des Arts, the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and the Festival international du film sur l’art. 

His career and outstanding commitment have earned him numerous awards and accolades. Among others, he was named an Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite de France in 1990, a Member of the Ordre du mérite of the Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec in 1997, a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec in 2017 and a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur de la République française in 2018. 

Jacques Girard holds a law degree from Université de Montréal and a master’s degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.