Stephen Lucas

Stephen Lucas is an accomplished public servant with extensive experience in economic, environment, energy and climate change, health and social policy as well as federal-provincial-territorial relations. He retired in May 2024 after more than 35 years with the Public Service of Canada, including 10 years in the Deputy Minister community.

From 2019 to 2024, he served as Deputy Minister of Health Canada, and was previously Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Deputy Secretary of Plans, Consultations and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Privy Council Office. Prior to that, he was Assistant Secretary for Economic and Regional Development Policy at PCO and Assistant Deputy Minister for Science and Policy and for Minerals and Metals at Natural Resources Canada.  Lucas started his career as a research scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada.

With the Public Health Agency of Canada, he led the federal government’s comprehensive health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners, scientific experts, local health and community organizations and the private sector, including the largest vaccination campaign in Canada’s history. Lucas led work on the development and adoption of the 2016 Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, Canada’s first national climate plan with the provinces and territories.

Lucas has a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Geological Engineering from Queen's University and a Ph.D. from Brown University in structural geology and tectonics. He is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, and Queen’s University 125^th Award for Engineering Excellence and Gold Medal in Geological Engineering.