Monique F. Leroux
Monique F. Leroux
Monique Leroux is a corporate director and Companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame (CBHF) and the Investment Industry Hall of Fame (IIAC) as well as Chair of the Board for Priorat Capital. She served as Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins Group, leading cooperative financial group in Canada, from March 2008 to April 2016, and as Chair of the Board of Investissement Québec from 2016 to 2020.
In May 2020, Ms. Leroux was appointed Chair of the Industry Strategy Council by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada. She is also a member of the G7 Impact Taskforce (UK), representing Canada.
Ms. Leroux is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors (F.ICD) and an independent director of The Michelin Group and Chair of its ESG committee, BCE/BELL and Chair of its Governance committee, COUCHE TARD and Lallemand. She acts as Senior Advisor (Non Executive) of Fiera Capital and she is Deputy Chairman (Canada) of the Trilateral Commission.
She also chaired the Québec government’s Advisory Council on the Economy and Innovation and was a member of the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders.
Under her leadership, Desjardins Group significantly grew its Canadian activities while ranking among the five strongest financial institutions in the world, according to Bloomberg. Prior to taking on this important role, Ms. Leroux served as Chief Financial Officer of Desjardins Group, Senior Vice-President at RBC, Chief Operating Officer at Quebecor Inc., and Partner at Ernst and Young (EY) in Canada.
From 2013 to 2017, Ms. Leroux was also member of the board and then President of the International Co operative Alliance (ICA), a global organization representing over 2.5 million enterprises and generating over $3,000 billion in revenue in more than 100 countries.
Ms. Leroux was Co-Chair of the B7 Summit (Canada 2018), Co-Chair of the B20 SME Cross-thematic Group (Germany 2017) and acted as Chair of the High-Level Contact Group of the European Association of Co operative Banks (EACB). She also represented the Canadian business group at the B7 Summit in Berlin and took part in the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women, as well as the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Germany.
Ms. Leroux has received several honours, including being named a Member of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur (France). She is also a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award (United States) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec, as well as a Fellow of the same order. In 2019, she received the Co-operative Achievement Award from Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada for her contribution to the development of the co-operative movement. In addition, she holds honorary doctorates and honour medals from ten Canadian universities. She was recently made an “Honorary Citizen” of the City of Lévis in recognition of her exceptional economic and societal contribution.
Ms. Leroux lends her time to a host of not-for-profit organizations and is particularly dedicated to arts, education and youth. She is the Chair of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec, Vice-chair of the Board of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) and a member of the Board of the Université de Sherbrooke. She was president of the 2013 Canada Games (in Sherbrooke) and she is a Director Emeritus and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Rideau Hall Foundation. President of the Fondation Desjardins and the United Way of Greater Montreal campaign, she also chaired the Board of Governors for the 375th anniversary of Montreal and has published 3 books (1) Ma vie en mouvement, (2) Alphonse Desjardins: Le pouvoir d’agir, (3) Carnet de rencontres.
