Rob Fonberg

Rob Fonberg was a long serving Deputy Minister in the Government of Canada. First appointed Deputy in the Privy Council Office in 2000, he went on to serve as Deputy at International Trade and, from 2007-2013, the Department of National Defence. As Deputy Minister of National Defence during the most intense operational period for the Canadian Armed Forces since the Korean War, Fonberg was involved in all aspects of the deployments of the Canadian Forces from planning to policy to international defence relations, and multi-billion dollar procurements. He partnered closely with three Chiefs of the Defence Staff during this time. As a core and senior member of the Government of Canada’s national security team during this period, Rob developed a unique perspective on domestic, regional and global security and threat issues, including cyber security. 

Since 2013, Fonberg has been active in the academic and think-tank community as a Fellow with the Global Solution Networks, a Mentor with the Trudeau Foundation and Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy; Fonberg continues to speak in various fora on public policy development, defence, civ-mil relations, security, leadership and governance issues. Fonberg has also been an executive advisor to the Wesley Clover group of start-ups and provides strategic advice to various clients on a range of current and challenging issues. 

Updated July 2023