Board of Directors biographies

    Meet the Board of Directors

    Canada Post has a diverse Board of Directors that advises our CEO. Learn more about their professional and academic qualifications and achievements.

    Suromitra Sanatani, LL.B., ICD.D

    Suromitra Sanatani, LL.B., ICD.D

    Vancouver, British Columbia
    • Chair of the Board of Directors
    • Member since May 2018
    • (Independent)

    Suromitra was appointed permanent Chair of the Board of Directors of Canada Post in June of 2021, after serving as Acting Chair since July 2020. She joined the Board in May of 2018. As Chair, she sits on every committee of the Board of Directors.

    A seasoned corporate director, Suromitra is a board director of Purolator Holdings Ltd., and is Chair of the Royal Bank Global Asset Management Independent Review Committee. Previously, she served on various boards, including the Edmonton International Airport, Travel Alberta, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Canadian Blood Services, and as chair of the Royal BC Museum. She has also been an active community leader, having served on the boards of the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region, the CN Edmonton Community Board, the Telus Victoria Community Board and the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute.

    Suromitra began her career in litigation and has held a number of senior corporate positions in the non-profit, public and private sectors, including as BC and Yukon Vice-President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Vice-President, Corporate and Government Relations at Partnerships BC.

    Suromitra is fluent in English, French and German and has a conversational ability in Bengali. She has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Arts (French Literature) from the University of Victoria.

    Doug Ettinger

    Doug Ettinger

    • President and CEO
    • Member since March 2019

    Canada Post is the country’s postal service and leading parcel delivery company. In 2018, it delivered 8 billion pieces of mail, parcels and messages to 16.4 million addresses. With its subsidiaries Purolator Inc., SCI Group Inc. and Innovapost Inc., Canada Post is a leader in providing innovative e-commerce, marketing and logistics solutions.

    As Chief Commercial Officer for Canada Post from August 2016 until his appointment as CEO, Doug led growth strategies for Canada Post’s Parcels, Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail businesses. He oversaw all commercial functions, including Sales, Marketing, Retail, Digital, Business Development and Customer Service. He was also a member of the senior executive team that reviews and approves major business plans, processes and policies, as well as performance indicators and targets.

    An accomplished senior executive with a strong focus on customer service, Doug has more than 30 years of broad experience in the consumer packaged goods industry. He worked with Canadian and global organizations – leading sales, marketing, and product management.

    Before joining Canada Post in August 2016, Doug led well-established companies through complex business transformations. He was President and CEO of Scotsburn Dairy Group, the largest Atlantic Canadian-owned dairy processor and distributor. Prior to that, he was the first non-family member to be President and CEO of Ganong Bros. Limited, one of Canada’s oldest family businesses. Previously, he held executive roles with Parmalat, Nestlé and Coca-Cola.

    Doug also chairs the board of Innovapost.

    A proud native of Nova Scotia, Doug earned both a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Masters in Business Administration from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

    Louise Champoux-Paillé, C.M., C.Q.

    Louise Champoux-Paillé, C.M., C.Q.

    Montréal
    • Member of Human Resources and Compensation Committee
    • Member of the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee
    • Member since October 2022
    • (Independent)

    An economist by training, Louise Champoux-Paillé has been teaching governance and risk management at Université du Québec à Montréal for 10 years. Her research and volunteer work have helped promote good governance, ethics, sustainability and women’s access to strategic roles.

    Her senior management positions include founding president of the Bureau des services financiers du Québec (now called the Autorité des marchés financiers), executive vice-president of the Ordre des administrateurs agréés and president of Leucan, which supports children with leukemia and other forms of cancer.

    In her career, she has served on numerous boards, including the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, the Université du Québec à Montréal, Loto-Québec, la Société du parc Jean-Drapeau, the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Montréal and the CHU Sainte-Justine.

    She holds an MBA, a master’s degree in museology and a certificate in governance from Université Laval. She has successfully completed the Governing for Nonprofit Excellence program from the Harvard Business School.

    She was named a member of the Ordre national du Québec in 2012. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2016 for her contributions as an administrator and for her commitment to promoting women in governance. In 2014, she won the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, granted to women who have made outstanding contributions to the quality of life for women in Canada.

    André Hudon

    André Hudon

    Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, Quebec
    • Member of the Audit Committee
    • Chair of Human Resources and Compensation Committee
    • Member of the Labour Relations Committee
    • Member since July 2021
    • (Independent)

    André is a seasoned corporate leader with a career spanning more than 35 years in senior executive roles in international manufacturing, distribution and retail.

    Previously president and CEO of Brother Canada and vice-chair of Electronics Products Stewardship Canada, André also served as chief financial officer, chief operating officer and chief of internal audit for large national and international manufacturing, distribution and retail companies. He spent five years at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada where he performed statutory audits of federal agencies, departments and Crown corporations.

    André has more than 30 years’ governance experience through board roles for commercial and not-for-profit organizations. He currently chairs the board of The SIMA Group and is a member of the board of directors of vadimUS, a clean energy solutions provider.

    André is a Certified Professional Accountant with governance certifications such as Administrateur de sociétés certifié and Chartered Director, both from the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés. A member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he has bachelor’s degrees in administration and commerce from the University of Ottawa, a certification in strategic leadership from Queen’s University, a certificate in optimizing warehouse operations from Concordia University and multiple SAP certifications. André is bilingual in French and English and conversational in Spanish.

    Melissa Sonberg

    Melissa Sonberg

    Montréal, Quebec
      • Member since April 2023
      • (Independent)

      Melissa has almost four decades of international leadership experience across a range of enterprises, having played key roles in transformative change. She has a track record of delivering real impact for organizations facing complex, multi-stakeholder, global opportunities.

      After spending the first phase of her career in healthcare, she drove change at Air Canada during a period of multiple transformational phases, and later became a founding executive with Aeroplan (which became known globally as AIMIA). As a member of Aeroplan’s senior management team, Melissa drove organizational growth and change, including a successful financial and corporate restructuring during a bankruptcy process, an initial public offering, international merger and acquisition activity, and a multiyear global rebranding.

      Since then, she has served on a number of corporate boards and advisory boards, including those of Exchange Income Corporation, Hydro One, Enghouse Systems Ltd., Athennian, VIA Rail Canada, Groupe Touchette, MD Financial Holdings and Rideau Recognition Solutions.

      Melissa has served as chair of the board of an international NGO, member of the board of an organization driving diversity in Canada’s capital markets, vice-chair of a national professional association, and as a professor of practice and executive-in-residence at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate classes.

      A majority of the members of the Board shall be independent in accordance with the Corporation’s Standards of independence. The Corporation’s Board is fully compliant with these rules.