Janet W. Bax is Interim President at the Council of Canadian Academies, a not-for profit organization that completes expert panel assessments on topics of public interest. Previously serving as a Council Program Director, Janet worked with world renowned experts to complete assessments on subjects such as women in university research, food security in the north, industrial research and development, and STEM skills for Canada’s future.

Prior to joining the Council, Janet served as Executive Director of the Federal Healthcare Partnership Secretariat in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Previous to that, she worked for six years in the Department of Public Safety where she was responsible for emergency preparedness and recovery. Before joining the Government of Canada, Janet worked in various capacities in the Government of Ontario, including the positions of Executive Secretary of the Ontario Quebec Permanent Commission, as a senior representative for Ontario in Brussels, as a special advisor to develop an overseas higher education marketing strategy for the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, and as a director in the Ontario Women’s Directorate.

Janet’s substantial career in the federal public service also included positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs as Director of the Academic Relations Division and as Consul of Cultural Affairs in New York. During her time at Environment Canada she worked in policy development on files such as climate change and federal/provincial and territorial relations. She also held positions in Heritage Canada as communications advisor to the minister and the Millennium Bureau.

Janet has a background in politics and French, having studied at the College of Europe in Belgium, the Sorbonne, the University of London and York and Trent Universities in Canada.