About the IAPP

Michael Harvey was appointed to a six-year term as British Columbia’s Information and Privacy Commissioner by unanimous motion of the Legislative Assembly in April 2024.

From 2019 until immediately prior to his appointment, Michael served as the Information and Privacy Commissioner for Newfoundland and Labrador. His public sector career began in that province in 2006, with his first executive appointment in 2012 as Executive Director of Planning and Coordination in Cabinet Secretariat. In early 2015, he was seconded to another role within Cabinet Secretariat to lead a transition team in the implementation of the new Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015.

As Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy, Planning and Performance Management in the Department of Health and Community Services in August 2015, his interest in access to information and privacy continued to grow. He was responsible for the ongoing statutory review of the Personal Health Information Act and worked on Government’s eHealth agenda, promoting and facilitating the development of the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information (NLCHI) Data Warehouse and Data Lab.

Michael served as co-chair of Canada Health Infoway’s Privacy Forum and was appointed by the federal government to the Expert Advisory Group on a pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy. He was privileged to chair the Federal/Provincial/Territorial table of Information and Privacy Commissioners, a role that culminated in his hosting the 2022 annual meeting in St. John’s. Michael has also lectured in political science and public administration at Memorial University, the University of Guelph, and the University of Toronto. He has sat on numerous boards and presently serves as a Director on the Heart Failure Society of Canada and the Atlantic Heart Failure Roundtable.

Michael holds an International Baccalaureate from the United World College – USA, a BA (Hons) in Political Science from Memorial University, a MA in Political Studies from Queen’s University and an Executive Certificate in Conflict Management from the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law/Stitt Feld Handy Group.