Michel Perron

Michel Perron joins Strategy Corp with over 37 years of senior level experience with the Federal government and not for profit sector. He is recognized for his relationship management skills, political acuity and ability to negotiate value added consensus among the most diverse groups. Over the course of his career, Michel has travelled and worked extensively with all provinces and territories and internationally with civil society organizations and multilateral institutions.

Fluently bilingual, Michel retired from the Public Service in December 2019 as Executive Vice President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), a research investment agency with a budget of $1B, 500 staff and 13 Institutes. As EVP, Michel was responsible for organizational strategies, governance, operations, communications, as well as government, stakeholder and Board relations. Prior to his retirement, Michel launched a series of initiatives to strengthen governance, finance and human resources practices within the agency. He also co-led along with the Scientific Director for the Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health, a reorientation of CIHR’s approach and relations with Indigenous health research leaders and National Indigenous Organizations.

From 1999-2014, Michel served as Chief Executive Officer for the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and was responsible for advancing solutions to address alcohol and other drug-related harm. During his 15-year tenure, Michel spearheaded many initiatives that were a first of their kind in Canada and internationally. These include creating Canada’s first National Framework for Action on Substance Abuse and Canada’s first National Alcohol Strategy among other initiatives that included all levels of government, the not for profit and private sector. Internationally, Michel led the Beyond 2008 initiative which saw over 900 NGO’s from 145 countries produce the first comprehensive global NGO consensus recommendations on drug policy for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs. The majority of those recommendations have since been implemented.

Prior to his appointment with CCSA, Michel held several positions with Canada Customs, Health Canada, and the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada.

With respect to community and volunteer service, Michel recently served as a trustee on the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group from 2012 to 2018 and currently sits on the Graham Boeckh Foundation Strategic Advisory Board for the International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders.

Michel is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg and Harvard Business School.