Julia Bentley

Julia Bentley is a former career diplomat whose work has focused chiefly on Asia. She has served twice as a diplomat in China (cross-accredited to Mongolia), Taiwan and India, where she was cross-accredited to Nepal and Bhutan. She was appointed as High Commissioner of Canada in Malaysia from 2017 to 2020. Combined with other roles including as a teacher, development consultant and head of an international organization, she has spent 22 years in Asia.  

At Global Affairs Canada's headquarters in Ottawa, Bentley served as Director for Northeast Asia, Executive Director for South Asia and Director General for South Asia, encompassing foreign policy, development, trade and investment.  

She previously worked as Winrock International's Chief Representative in China and director of its NGO Capacity Building Program in China, funded by the Ford Foundation.  She was on secondment from Global Affairs Canada to the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at University of Toronto from January through December 2022 and held a policy practitioner fellowship at the University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs for a semester in spring 2023. 

She holds degrees in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and University of Toronto, as well as a post-graduate diploma from Nanjing University in modern Chinese history. 

Updated July 2023