‘Dynamic’ Francois-Philippe Champagne set to be tested as foreign minister in new cabinet

François-Philippe Champagne is Canada’s new foreign affairs minister.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne was elected the Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice—Champlain on October 19, 2015.

Champagne, a former trade lawyer, has served as minister of international trade in the past.

Businessman, lawyer and international trade specialist, Minister Champagne has more than 20 years of experience at large international companies in Europe, particularly in the fields of energy, engineering, and innovation.

Minister Champagne earned an LLB and LLM in American law from the Université de Montréal and Case Western Reserve University respectively. During his legal education, Minister Champagne also studied public and private international law at The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands.

He was Vice-President and Senior Counsel of ABB Group, a leader in cutting-edge technology that operates in more than 100 countries. Later, he served as Strategic Development Director, acting General Counsel, and Chief Ethics Officer and Member of the Group Management Committee of AMEC Foster Wheeler, a world leader in the energy sector.

In 2009, Minister Champagne was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has also served on several boards over the years and was notably President of the Canadian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and the Banff Forum.

After his election in 2015, Minister Champagne served as a parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance until 2017, when he was appointed Minister of International Trade. During his time as Minister of International Trade, CETA, the Canada – EU trade agreement, entered into force and Canada signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). In 2018, he was named Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, overseeing the federal government’s ambitious, $187 billion infrastructure investment plan.

Re-elected on October 21, 2019, Minister Champagne currently serves as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs