About the IAPP

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne was first elected in 2015 as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice—Champlain. He has previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and Minister of International Trade.

He is a businessman, lawyer and international trade specialist with over 20 years of experience at large international companies in Europe, particularly in the fields of energy, engineering and innovation.

Before entering politics, he was vice-president and senior counsel of ABB Group, a leader in cutting-edge technology that operates in more than 100 countries. He also served as strategic development director, acting general counsel, and chief ethics officer and member of the group management committee of Amec Foster Wheeler, a world leader in the energy sector.

In 2009, Champagne was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has served on several boards over the years and was notably president of the Canadian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and the Banff Forum.

After his election in 2015, he served as a parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance until 2017, when he was appointed Minister of International Trade. During his time as Minister of International Trade, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement entered into force, and Canada signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. In 2018, he was named Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and oversaw the federal government’s ambitious CAD187 billion infrastructure investment plan. He was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2019, and oversaw the creation of Canada’s Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations, which more than 60 countries have endorsed.

Champagne holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Montréal and a Master of Laws in American law from Case Western Reserve University. He also studied public and private international law at The Hague Academy of International Law, in the Netherlands.