To this day, the most formative part of my entire career has without a doubt been my 16 years at IDRC. I was so fortunate to hold several different positions from Assistant Corporate Secretary, to Acing Regional Director in the Dakar and Cairo offices, Program Officer, CIDA Liaison Officer, Coordinator of Regional Offices and Senior Advisor to the President. My last role for the Centre was as Executive Director of the 1989 V International Conference on Aids in Montreal, which brought together 10,000 attendees, including 1300 journalists. Sounds like I could not hold a job, but that series of different assignments was the best education I could have ever hoped for.
After working at IDRC, I moved into public policy advocacy (yes, lobbying) as CEO of five national professional and trade associations over 30 years. I also served as an Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Army for 8 years and, after having obtained a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University in 2013, I did part-time work as an Executive Coach with an American-based company, Torch Leadership Labs, which provides coaching services to mostly private sector enterprises.
Working as a CEO of various national associations has been professionally stimulating. Fundamentally, the role is to protect, promote, and advance the related industry and to help its members be more successful. A great deal of the work is to represent the interests of the members to the government. Contrary to what my mother thought, it’s all legal! I was registered under the Lobbyist Registration Act and was active as Secretary/Treasurer of the Government Relations Institute of Canada, which is the association of registered lobbyists, and as Chair of the Canadians Society of Association Executives. The associations I worked for as CEO are: the Canadian Dental Associations for 12 years, the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies for 7 years, and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association for 10 years. I came out of retirement to serve as Interim President and CEO for the Hotel Association of Canada in 2024 and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada in 2025, while these two associations were recruiting permanent CEOs.
Currently, in addition to co-chairing the IDRC Alumni Association, I am the Chair of CARP Ottawa (Canadian Association of Retired Persons) and I serve on the Governance Committee of the Ottawa Tennis Club. To keep fit, I play tennis throughout the year and pickleball in the winter.
If you want more specific information, you are welcome to visit my personal website at www.ClaudePaulBoivin.ca.
Bulletin 81
July 2026