Iain Stewart

Iain Stewart is a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto and an Associate of its Innovation Policy Lab. His career spans leadership roles supporting researchers and innovators, developing science and innovation policy, designing and implementing federal program initiatives, and overall public administration and resource management.

From 2016-24, Iain served as President of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), where he led the modernization of Canada's largest federal research organization, implementing new research excellence programs, increased collaborative research with universities, and expanded support for innovative Canadian businesses. Interrupting his NRC tenure, he was appointed as President of the Public Health Agency of Canada for 2020-21, to lead the agency's pandemic response and the federal role in the national vaccination campaign. In 2015-16, Iain served as Associate Secretary of the Treasury Board Secretariat, where he supported Ministers and the Secretary with review of all federal spending and regulatory proposals.

Prior to this, Iain held senior positions at the Treasury Board Secretariat as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, Security and Justice, at Industry Canada as Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy and as Associate ADM Science and Innovation Policy, and at Dalhousie University as Assistant Vice President of Research. Highlights of the period included initiatives such as the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, Centres of Excellence for the Commercialization of Research, and Canada Excellence Research Chairs, and policy initiatives such as the Mobilising Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage.  In this period, Iain also served as Secretary to both the Jenkins Panel review of federal support for research and the federal Science, Technology and Innovation Council for the Minister of Industry.

Iain currently serves as an independent Board Director for NavCanada, Genome Canada, Communitech, and the Finance Committee of the Royal Society of Canada. His work continues to focus on strengthening the connections between research, innovation, and public benefit for Canadians.

Updated February, 2025