L. Jacques Ménard O.C.
L. Jacques Ménard is Chairman of BMO Nesbitt Burns, one of the country’s leading investment firms. He is also President of BMO Financial Group, Quebec. As such, he oversees the activities of BMO Bank of Montreal and its subsidiaries, and its more than 150 branches and 5,000 employees in Quebec.
Mr. Ménard is currently a director of the Montreal Heart Institute, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Alouettes, Claridge Inc. and has recently joined the Trudeau Foundation. He acts as Deputy Chancellor of Concordia University and sits on the International Advisory Board of HEC Montréal, the Advisory Board of Glendon College at York University. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Corporate Directors (Quebec chapter) and a Board Associate of Canadian Policy Research Networks Inc. and the Board of Directors of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation.
Mr. Ménard chaired the Task Force on the Sustainability of the Québec Health Care and Social Services System, established by the Quebec Government in 2004 to identify the funding needs for health and social services in Quebec in the coming years and decades and to propose appropriate measures.
He published a first book in 2008, Si on s’y mettait… that outlines a series of proposals to ensure Quebec’s future growth. In the wake of this book, he established the Groupe d’action sur la persévérance et la réussite scolaires, comprised of 28 representatives from various fields, which released its action plan “Savoir pour pouvoir” in March 2009. Mr. Ménard subsequently published a book on the topic of high school perseverance “Beyond the Numbers… a Matter of the Heart”.
Recently, Mr. Ménard joined the Task Force on Financial Literacy as Co-Chair. This group was established to help create a coherent national strategy to support initiatives across Canada to improve financial education. Also, since September 2009, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Fondation pour la promotion de la pédiatrie sociale (FPPS) and is Chair of the Board of Youth Fusion, a group committed to helping students remain in school.
In 2009, Mr. Ménard was one of the four recipients of the annual Public Policy Forum Testimonial Awards and was recognized as a Great Montrealer by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.
Mr. Ménard is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (M.B.A. 1970), Loyola College of Montréal (B. Comm. Hon. Econ. 1967) and College Ste-Marie (B.A. 1966).
He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
