John Knubley is a corporate director, strategic advisor and former senior civil servant and is widely regarded as a leader in Canada’s innovation space. From 2012 to 2019, he served as the Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada, and previously was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Privy Council Office, Associate Deputy Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, as well as Associate Deputy Minister of Natural Resources.
John founded InnovAction Advisory Services, which provides strategic counsel to organizations across various sectors, and is currently a Senior Advisor to Longview Communications and Boston Consulting Group and a Senior Fellow for the Brookfield and C.D. Howe Institutes.
John holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, a Master’s of Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. A resident of Ottawa, John serves on the Board of Directors of the Conference Board of Canada, the Asia-Pacific Foundation, the Ontario Energy Board, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, and COVE Atlantic (Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship), and also sits on the selection committee for the Governor General’s Innovation Awards.
