Pierre Fortin

Professor emeritus in economics at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Pierre Fortin holds a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in mathematics from the Université de Montréal, a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Université Laval and a bachelor of arts in classical humanities from the Collège des Jésuites de Québec.

The recipient of the Governor General’s Gold Medal, he is the author of around a dozen books and some 200 articles that have appeared in scientific journals and texts in Canada and abroad. His main fields of research include economic growth, monetary and budgetary policy, social policy and the economies of Canada and Quebec.

Interested in practical applications of his research, Pierre Fortin is the author or co-author of some 40 studies and reports for public and private organizations in Canada, as well as having led a number of government task forces. During the 1980s, he was a member of the Economic Advisory Panel of the Minister of Finance of Canada and chief economic advisor to the Premier of Quebec. He was part of the Advisory Committee on Economy and Public Finance to the Minister of Finance of Quebec (2009–2010). Very much involved in the community, Pierre Fortin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, associate researcher at the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les politiques économiques et l’emploi (CIRPÉE) and the C.D. Howe Institute, a researcher affiliated with Analysis Group and a director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR) and the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. He was associate editor of the Canadian Journal of Economics, director of L’Actualité économique and president of the Société canadienne-française de science économique (SCSE) and the Canadian Economics Association (CEA). He was also a member of the social trends committee of the Assemblée des évêques du Québec from 1990 to 2005. Skilled at conveying difficult concepts to lay people, Pierre Fortin has often helped explain economic phenomena in the media. His column on the economy published in the magazine L’Actualité earned him Gold at the National Magazine Awards in 2004 and 2008 as the author of “the best regular column in a Canadian magazine,” as well as the Grand Prix of the Association québécoise des éditeurs de magazines (“editorial: analysis, opinion, essay” category) in 2009 and 2010.

His talents as an educator are much appreciated by his students. Pierre Fortin’s door is always open, and he has taught both introductory courses and graduate-level courses, supervising the work of students at the master’s and doctoral level. UQAM’s management alumni association, the Association des diplômés en gestion, awarded him its Performance award in 2002, recognizing his excellence in teaching.

Pierre Fortin’s work, involvement and contribution have been recognized many times over. In 1995, the Association des économistes québécois (ASDEQ) named him the most renowned Quebec economist of the past decade. In 1997, he received the Douglas Purvis Memorial Prize for his outstanding contribution to Canadian political economy. In 2003, the Quebec branch of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (Manufacturiers et exportateurs du Québec) honoured him for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the manufacturing and export sector.

Pierre Fortin’s involvement in teaching, research and service to the community has inspired an entire generation of decision makers, who count him as one of their role models.

Pierre Fortin was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Scientific category in 2011 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.