Isabelle Hudon (born 1967) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businesswoman and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. She is currently the President and CEO of the

Business Development Bank of Canada The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC; french: Banque de développement du Canada) is a Crown corporation and national development bank wholly owned by the Government of Canada, mandated to help create and develop Canadian businesses thro ...

. From 2017-2021, she served as Canadian Ambassador to France and Monaco. She was the first female Canadian Ambassador to France. Previously, she served as ''Executive Chair,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

'' and ''Senior Vice-President, Client Solutions'' for Sun Life Financial.

Career

Isabelle Hudon's mother was a mathematics teacher and her father,

Jean-Guy Hudon Jean-Guy Hudon (born 24 April 1941) was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 1993. He was an administrator by career. Born in La Pocatière, Quebec, Hudon represented the Quebec riding of Beauharnois ...

, 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 The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

. In 1990, she became the attaché presse of

Monique Landry Monique Landry (born December 25, 1937) is a former Canadian politician. Career Member of Parliament A physiotherapist and administrator, Landry was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1984 general election that brough ...

. In 1993, she became the assistant of the ex-Prime Minister's wife

Mila Mulroney Milica "Mila" Mulroney (Serbian Cyrillic: Милица "Мила" Пивнички; née Pivnički; born July 13, 1953) is the wife of the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney. She was notable for taking on a greater role during her hus ...

(Hudon's husband Paul Smith was the assistant of

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

). Her husband moved to Fontaineblau to study at the INSEAD and she followed him there. Hudon began her professional career in federal

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

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 The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 2020 ...

(CSA), Bombardier Aerospace and BCE Media. Hudon was President and Chief Executive Officer of the

Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (until 2016: Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal) (french: Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain) is an association of businesses and businesspeople in Greater Montreal. In its own wo ...

from 2004 to 2008. She then served as President of the advertising agency Marketel, a position she held until joining Sun Life Financial (SFL) in 2010. From 2010 to 2015, she was the president of SFL Quebec. On September 29, 2017, she was appointed as Canadian Ambassador to France by Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

. In June 2018, Hudon served as co-chair of the Gender Equality Advisory Council at the

G7 summit The Group of Seven (G7) is an inter-governmental, intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated membe ...

meeting in La Malbaie,

. On October 29, 2019, following the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Member of Parliament (Canada), Members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the Fixed election dates in ...

, 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. Hudon became the first woman President and CEO of

on 10 August 2021.

Board memberships

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States. It was established by the ...

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (doing business as Holt Renfrew and known colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family since 1986, and was previo ...

Canada *The Mount Royal Club *

The Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

Honours

*Réalisations award from the Réseau des femmes d’affaires du Québec in 2014 * Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal *Medal of the National Assembly of Québec (2016), for her commitment to the cause of women’s ambition *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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudon, Isabelle Living people 1967 births Ambassadors of Canada to France Canadian women ambassadors Canadian women chief executives