About the IAPP

Patricia Kosseim is Counsel in Osler's Privacy and Data Management Group and National Co-leader of Osler’s AccessPrivacy knowledge platform, where she provides clients with sound strategic advice and concrete, practical know-how on matters of privacy, data governance and access law. 

Patricia served over a decade as Senior General Counsel and Director General at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). During that period, she was responsible for overseeing a broad range of regulatory functions including, Legal Services, Litigation, Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, International Relations, Research, Technology Analysis and ATIP. Prior to that, Patricia held executive positions at Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, where she developed and led national strategies for addressing legal, ethical and social aspects of health and genomics technologies. 

She began her career in Montreal practicing in the areas of health law, civil litigation, human rights, privacy and labor & employment with another leading national law firm.

Patricia has been recognized as a national leading expert in her field, having published and spoken extensively on matters of privacy law, health law and ethics. She has taught part-time at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law and has held many professional appointments and board memberships, including: Governor on the Board of Governors of The Ottawa Hospital; Chair of The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; Member of the Interagency Panel on Research Ethics; Vice-Chair of the Research Integrity Committee of les Fonds de recherche du Quebec; and member of the National DNA Databank Advisory Committee.   Patricia is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, as well as the Barreau du Quebec.