Isabelle Hudon

Isabelle Hudon (born 1967) is a Canadian businesswoman and diplomat. She is currently the President and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada. From 2017-2021, she served as Canadian Ambassador to France and Monaco. She was the first female Canadian Ambassador to France.[1] Previously, she served as Executive Chair, Quebec and Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions for Sun Life Financial.[2]

Isabelle Hudon
Isabelle Hudon at Panel des Femmes Leaders de Montréal in 2013
Hudon in 2013
Ambassador of Canada to France and Monaco
In office
September 29, 2017 – July 30, 2021
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byLawrence Cannon
Succeeded byStéphane Dion

Career

Isabelle Hudon's mother was a mathematics teacher and her father, Jean-Guy Hudon, the former mayor of Beauharnois where she grew up. She did not go to the university, and started her career right away in 1988 working seven years with her father who was a member of the House of Commons of Canada. In 1990, she became the attaché presse of Monique Landry. In 1993, she became the assistant of the former Prime Minister's wife Mila Mulroney (Hudon's husband Paul Smith was the assistant of Brian Mulroney). Her husband moved to Fontaineblau to study at the INSEAD and she followed him there.[3]

Hudon began her professional career in federal politics in various departments, including in the office of the Minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency. She then held strategic positions in the private sector at Bell Global Solutions, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Bombardier Aerospace and BCE Media.

Hudon was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal from 2004 to 2008. She then served as President of the advertising agency Marketel,[4] a position she held until joining Sun Life Financial (SFL) in 2010. From 2010 to 2015, she was the president of SFL Quebec.[5]

On September 29, 2017, she was appointed as Canadian Ambassador to France by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.[6]

In June 2018, Hudon served as co-chair of the Gender Equality Advisory Council at the G7 summit meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec.[7]

On October 29, 2019, following the 2019 Canadian federal election, in which the Liberal Party lost seats in Quebec, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had hired Hudon as an adviser. The Office said McLellan would assist the Prime Minister as he formed a government.[8][9]

Hudon became the first woman President and CEO of Business Development Bank of Canada on 10 August 2021.[10]

Board memberships

Honours
  • Réalisations award from the Réseau des femmes d’affaires du Québec in 2014[13]
  • Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • Medal of the National Assembly of Québec (2016), for her commitment to the cause of women’s ambition[14][15]
  • Named one of the 40 most successful Canadians under the age of 40 (Canada’s Top 40 under 40) in 2005
  • Inducted into the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Hall of Fame in 2014 (she was named to this list in 2006, 2012 and 2013)[16]

References
  1. Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada. "Message from the Ambassador". www.canadainternational.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  2. "Isabelle Hudon". Sun Life Financial. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. "Comment une enfant timide est devenue PDG". www.lesaffaires.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  4. "Isabelle Hudon a quitté Marketel". www.lesaffaires.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  5. "Isabelle Hudon leaving Sun Life". Investment Executive. 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  6. "Trudeau names Isabelle Hudon new ambassador in Paris". cbc.ca. September 29, 2017.
  7. Blatchford, Andy; Blanchfield, Mike (June 9, 2018). "Donald Trump disrupts G7 women's empowerment session by showing up late". Toronto Star.
  8. Leblanc, D, and Keller, J (2019-10-29). "Trudeau hires Anne McLellan as western adviser". The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved 2019-10-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Aiello, R (2019-10-29). "Trudeau taps ambassador to France, Anne McLellan to aid in transition". CTV News. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  10. "Isabelle Hudon". theglobeandmail.com. August 10, 2021.
  11. "SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS". Hydro-Québec. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  12. "Isabelle Hudon". Canada Council for the Arts. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  13. "LAURÉATES" (PDF). Réseau des Femmes d'affaires du Québec. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  14. "Isabelle Hudon". theglobeandmail.com. August 10, 2021.
  15. "Recipients of the Medal of the National Assembly". assnat.qc.ca. March 8, 2016.
  16. "Congratulations to the 2014 Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winners". Women's Executive Network. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
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