Associate Deputy Minister

Nada Semaan was appointed Associate Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage on July 11, 2011.

Prior to this, Ms. Semaan held the position of Assistant Secretary, Economic Sector at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. In this role, she provided analysis and strategic advice to Treasury Board ministers and senior government officials on management capacity and risks, strategic resource allocation, and effective program design for the 43 departments and agencies in the economic portfolio. Ms. Semaan was instrumental in fast-tracking more than $14 billion or 52 percent of the funding committed in Canada’s Economic Action Plan: Budget 2009.

In addition, Ms. Semaan has held the positions of Assistant Deputy Minister, Farm Financial Programs Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Assistant Deputy Minister, Systems at Service Canada. She has also held various executive positions within Human Resources Development Canada, including Senior Director General, Systems Transformation and Director General, Program Policy and Strategic Direction at Income Security Programs, where she also played a key role in the conception, design, and implementation of the Service Canada initiative.

Before joining the federal government, Ms. Semaan worked in the technology sector at Cognos Incorporated and in psychiatric research at the Ottawa General Hospital. Ms. Semaan is published in the field of psychological research.

Ms. Semaan has an honours bachelor’s degree in psychology, cum laude, from the University of Ottawa. She is a graduate of the Advanced Leadership Program of the Public Service of Canada. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.