Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan (born January 18, 1971) is a Canadian politician and a former

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government of

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

. He resigned from cabinet effective July 19, 2024. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, O'Regan was first elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 2015, representing St. John's South—Mount Pearl. He was appointed to Cabinet in 2017, and served as minister of natural resources from 2019 to 2021, minister of Indigenous services in 2019, and minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence from 2017 to 2019 and

minister of labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

from October 26, 2021 until July 19, 2024 and minister of seniors from July 26, 2023 until July 19, 2024. Before he entered politics, O'Regan was a correspondent with ''

CTV National News ''CTV National News'' is the flagship newscast of CTV News, the news division of the CTV Television Network, which airs at 11:00 pm local time on the CTV stations across Canada, and is produced from CTV's facilities at 9 Channel Nine Court in Sc ...

'', and a host of '' Canada AM,'' which he co-hosted from 2003 to 2011 with Beverly Thomson.

Early life and education

O'Regan was born in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, and spent 14 years growing up in Goose Bay, graduating from Goose High School. O'Regan is of half Irish descent. His father, also named Seamus O'Regan, was a judge of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. At the age of 10, O'Regan became a regional correspondent for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's children's show ''Anybody Home?'', producing stories that celebrated the unusual accomplishments of local residents, ranging from a professor hunting for giant squid to one woman's fight against

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. He studied politics at

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...

in Antigonish,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, and at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He studied

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

strategies at

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

, an international business school near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He received his Masters of Philosophy in Politics from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, studying at Darwin College in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Career

He has worked as an assistant to Environment Minister Jean Charest in Ottawa and to

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Edward Roberts in St. John's, and was policy advisor and

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...

to Premier Brian Tobin of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. In December 1999, O'Regan was named as one of ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'' ''100 Young Canadians to Watch'' in the 21st century. In 2000, O'Regan joined talktv's current affairs program, ''the chatroom''. He began his duties at '' Canada AM'' on December 19, 2001. On November 8, 2011, he announced that he would be leaving ''Canada AM'' on November 24, 2011, to become a correspondent for ''

''. O'Regan left CTV in 2012. Since leaving CTV, he was occasionally a fill-in host on radio station CFRB in Toronto, ⁣"Seamus O'Regan: Mental health spokesman"
. ''

The Grid The Grid are an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal C ...

'', June 23, 2014. and worked on independent television productions and as a media innovator in residence at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

. O'Regan also served as the executive vice president for communications of the Stronach Group.

Political career

In September 2014, O'Regan was nominated as the

candidate in the

riding of St. John's South—Mount Pearl for the 2015 federal election. On October 19, 2015, O'Regan won the election, defeating

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

incumbent Ryan Cleary. He was appointed to the cabinet on August 28, 2017, as the minister of veterans affairs and on January 14, 2019, was made the minister of Indigenous services, vacating his previous post. He was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. Following the election, he was appointed minister of natural resources. He was re-elected again in the 2021 federal election. O'Regan served as

from 2021 and expanded his portfolio to also include minister of seniors during the 2023 cabinet shuffle. As the labour minister, O'Regan was involved in the BC port workers strike between International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the BC Maritime Employers Association, which included a 13 day work stoppage in the summer of 2023, as well as the strike of WestJet's aircraft mechanics in the summer of 2024. In July 2024, CBC reported that O'Regan would resign from cabinet for family reasons, but would continue to serve as a Member of Parliament until the next election, expected in 2025.

Personal life

On July 9, 2010, O'Regan married his longtime partner, Steve Doussis, in Newfoundland. O'Regan serves on the Boards of Katimavik, Canada's leading youth service-learning program, and The Rooms, which houses the provincial art gallery, museum, and archives of

. He also sits on the board of directors for fellow Newfoundlander Allan Hawco's theatre company, The Company Theatre, located in Toronto. In January 2016, O’Regan announced that he entered an alcoholism rehabilitation program. In November 2017, he was hospitalised in Ottawa for a major gastrointestinal obstruction. Shortly after the November 2020 death of his father Seamus Bernard O'Regan (1942–2020),

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; ; )Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for natural r ...

announcements began to give his name as ''Seamus O'Regan Jr''.; previous announcements did not use the "Jr." suffix.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website

Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister
*
National Speakers Bureau biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oregan, Seamus 1971 births Living people Alumni of Darwin College, Cambridge Alumni of University College Dublin Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian television reporters and correspondents Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Ministers of labour of Canada People from Happy Valley-Goose Bay Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Speechwriters St. Francis Xavier University alumni Canadian LGBTQ journalists Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters Liberal Party of Canada MPs Journalists from Newfoundland and Labrador Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian LGBTQ Members of Parliament Canadian television hosts CTV Television Network people Canadian gay politicians 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Minister of veterans affairs of Canada