5-Day Program

Public Executive Program

A strategic approach to the policy issues facing today's public sector executives

About the program

This 5-day program has been developed to address the key leader-manager competencies identified by the Treasury Board of Canada and provincial public service counterparts. The program provides a unique overview of frameworks and processes for applying strategic thinking and planning to the policy issues facing today's public sector executives.

No other program in Canada provides the same kind of exciting and intensive opportunity to interact with public-sector leaders from a wide variety of jurisdictions across Canada.

The program focuses on:

  • The fundamentals of Strategic Thinking and Management Excellence
  • Public Sector Policy, Ethics, and Accountability
  • Strategic Issues in the Public Sector
  • The Impact of Shifting Demographics
  • Management of Risk

Who should attend

Public-sector executives at the federal, provincial and municipal levels who are looking for fresh perspectives on policy issues and public-sector strategy.

This program is designated an approved recertification program by the HRPA.

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Certificate of Achievement

Participants who complete the Program receive a Smith School of Business Certificate of Achievement

High impact learning

Leading-edge content presented by outstanding session leaders.

You might also be interested in: Queen's Executive Program, and Queen's Strategy Program

Benefits for you and your organization

Queen's Public Executive Program is designed to enhance the strategic thinking, policy-making and decision-making skills of public-sector managers.

  • Broaden your public policy perspective by interacting with a diverse group of session leaders and public-sector executives
  • Sharpen your management and leadership skills by working with a world-class faculty team
  • Bring in new ideas from respected session leaders and fellow public-sector executives
  • Benefit from a proven executive development process used by more than 1,400 Canadian organizations, including public-sector organizations from all levels of government and all jurisdictions in Canada
  • Network with federal, provincial, and municipal public-sector managers from across Canada
  • Improve performance in the most efficient way possible, at a cost much lower than that charged by consultants
  • Establish an ongoing relationship with Smith School of Business and create a culture of lifelong learning within your organization

Program Alumni

As an alumnus of this program, you will receive an invitation to the annual Public Policy Forum

The program includes the following topics

  • The Fundamentals of Strategic Thinking and Management Excellence: Develop an understanding of the strategic planning and execution processes
  • Public Sector Policy, Ethics, and Accountability: Manage your portfolio ethically and creating a culture of accountability
  • Strategic Issues: Review many aspects of the current political landscape and their ramifications for regional, national and international public sector strategies
  • The Impact of Shifting Demographics: Examine the issue of shifting demographics and how they affect your strategic plans
  • Management of Risk: Learn how to create strategies that maximize impact and minimize risk
  • Media and Government: Understand the power of the media and learn how to manage the message

Session leaders include senior professors from Smith School of Business and Queen’s Faculty of Policy Studies, as well as knowledgeable experts from the public and private sectors. These outstanding teachers are constantly in touch with government leadership and are well-versed in policy challenges through their own experiences.

Thomas Axworthy

Thomas Axworthy assumed his current position as the President and CEO of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in 2009.  In addition to his work with the Gordon Foundation, Tom has been Executive Director of the CRB Foundation in Montreal and the Historica Foundation in Toronto. As well, he is a longstanding board member of the Harmony Foundation, which specializes in environmental education.  He was Senior Policy Advisor and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.  In 1984, he went to Harvard University as a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, and was subsequently appointed visiting Mackenzie King Chair of Canadian Studies.  He is also a former Chair of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, School of Policy Studies and Queen’s University.  In 2002, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his achievements in heritage education, civics and citizenship.

Keith Banting

An authority on social and economic policy issues, Keith Banting is the author of Poverty, Politics and Policy and The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism. He is an editor and co-author of another dozen books dealing with public policy, including most recently Federalism and Health Policy: A Comparative Perspective on Multi-Level Governance.   He currently holds the Queen’s Research Chair in Public Policy.  Professor Banting served as Director of the School of Policy Studies from 1993 to 2003. Prior to that appointment, he served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Queen’s University.  In 1983-85, he was a Research Coordinator for the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada.  In 1986-92, he was a member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in 1990 was elected vice-president of the Council.  In 2005, Dr. Banting was invested as a member of the Order of Canada.

Michael Decter

Michael B. Decter, a Harvard trained economist is the Senior Portfolio Manager, President and CEO of LDIC.  He is also the author of three financial books, The Million Dollar Strategy, The DRIP Strategy, and Ten Good Reasons to Invest in Canada.  As a former Deputy Minister of Health for Ontario and Cabinet Secretary in the Government of Manitoba, Michael is a well-recognized speaker on broader political and economic issues. He was the founding and former Chair of the Health Council of Canada and continues to serve as the Chair of numerous non-profit health care organizations. He was appointed as Member of the Order of Canada in 2004.

David Detomasi

David Detomasi is an authority on globalization, corporate and non-profit governance, and corporate strategy. He is an active business case writer and researcher, and is regularly featured in the media.  In the private sector, he has consulted with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and The World Economic Forum, examining the strategic and governance practices of the world's most influential companies.

Tony Dimnik

Tony Dimnik is an authority on strategic control systems and the relationship between capital budgeting and strategy. He has contributed to the understanding and practice of Activity-Based Costing and the Balanced Scorecard and his current research is on Open Book Management. He was recently named one of the best university lecturers in Ontario and has served as the chair of the audit committee of several companies. One of his interests is cinema and he often writes and speaks on how accountants are portrayed in the movies. Past clients have included Microsoft, Financial Executives International, Alcan, VIA Rail, Canada Post, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Royal Bank, and Cirque du Soleil.

David Foot

David Foot is the best-selling author of Boom, Bust & Echo: Profiting from the Demographic Shift in the 21st Century, and is one of Canada’s most widely quoted demographers. Well known as a speaker to corporations, associations, and governments on the economic and policy ramifications of coming demographic changes, he has made many original contributions to the understanding of changing market trends. His other books include Canada’s Population Outlook and The Over Forty Society. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto and a recipient of the 3M Award for Teaching Excellence.

Allan R. Gregg

Mr. Allan Gregg founded Decima Research in 1979. He co-founded the Strategic Counsel of Decima Research in 1995 and left in 2007 to form Allan Gregg Strategies. He was one of the founding shareholders of Canada's children's network, YTV, was Chairman of Toronto Film Festival, Chairman of the Walrus Foundation and publisher of the award winning magazine, The Walrus.  For more than two decades, he has brought his skills to bear on such important policy issues as budget measures, transportation and fishery policy, physicians' fees and the privatization of Crown corporations. He is a Director of ZENN Motor Company Inc., a member of the Retirement Advisory Council of Bank of Montreal, and serves on General Motors of Canada's Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Public Policy Forum. He is a regular participant on CBC's “At Issue” panel and is the host of the TVO talk show - Allan Gregg in Conversation With. 

Michael Hart

Michael Hart, a former official of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, is an authority on trade policy and trade negotiations. He recently completed a year in Washington, DC, as the Fulbright-Woodrow Wilson Center Visiting Research Chair in Canada-U.S. Relations, the Scholar-in Residence in the School of International Service, and a Senior Fellow in the Center for North American Studies at American University. Mr. Hart was the founding Director of Carleton’s Centre for Trade Policy and Law, and is the author, editor or co-editor of over a dozen books on international trade issues including A Trading Nation and Decision at Midnight. 

John Moore

John Moore is an experienced and award-winning executive educator who is highly regarded in the accounting profession. He has conducted executive development seminars on financial tools for senior managers at Alcan, BMW, DuPont, Canon, Mitel, Shoppers Drug Mart, New Brunswick Power Corporation, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and Canada Post. He also works with members of senior management teams to integrate financial accounting concepts into strategic planning.  He is a 17-time winner of the MBA Teaching Excellence Award from Smith School of Business; a recipient of the Silver Medal from CMA Canada; Fellow of the Society of Management Accountants of Canada; and the author of five accounting textbooks, including a study guide for students preparing for the CA designation.

Elspeth Murray

Elspeth Murray has served as the Associate Dean - MBA and Masters Programs since 2012, and has been a professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Smith School of Business since 1996. She also holds the CIBC Fellowship in Entrepreneurship, and founded Queen's Centre for Business Venturing. Prior to joining Queen's, she worked in industry for 7 years for several firms including IBM, and Canadian Tire. As an integral part of her work in the strategy and new venture fields, Dr. Murray specializes in the management of change. In 2002, she co-authored a best-selling book, Fast Forward: Organizational Change in 100 Days, Oxford University Press, with Dr. Peter Richardson. She has recently co-developed (with Dr. David Saunders) the Analytics Climate Assessment Tool (ACAT), which is used to assess organizations technological capacity, skill sets, and analytics culture. Current research is focused on best practices in leading and managing change to create an analytics culture.

Dr. Murray teaches on many Smith MBA and Executive Education programs, and consults widely with a diversity of firms including BMW, Detour Gold, Wawanesa Insurance, Versacold Logistics and the Auditor General for Canada. She serves as a Director for several firms and is an advisor to several start-ups and CEO's. Dr. Murray received an undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics, and an MBA, both from Queen's University. Her doctorate in Strategy and Management Information Systems was completed at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

Shawna O'Grady

Shawna O'Grady is an authority on strategic human resources management, team-building, and the cross-cultural aspects of international business. She is an experienced team facilitator who is in high demand for her original approach to team-building.  She is also the author of Border Crossings – Doing Business in the U.S., an award-winning book on international business.  She has consulted with many organizations including Microsoft, MDS, Mattel, Shoppers Drug Mart, Enbridge Consumers Gas, Industry Canada, BMW, Novo Nordisk, Oracle, Xerox, Bell Canada, GlaxoSmithKline, Ministry of Finance, Canada Post Corporation, and TD Canada Trust.

Douglas Reid

Douglas Reid is an authority on corporate strategy, and has been widely quoted in the media. As a researcher, he specializes in inter-company alliance dynamics and large alliance evolution. Prior to joining Smith School of Business, he was vice president at Burson-Marsteller, an international consulting firm. He recently concluded six years of service as a director of Candela Energy, and is an active advisor to several companies including Bell Canada, Ontario Securities Commission, Canada Post, Shoppers Drug Mart and Royal and Sun Alliance.

William Richard

William (Bill) Richard is a former senior government executive (Brigadier General) in National Defence with extensive experience in strategic planning, leadership, information technology, program management, policy, and international affairs. He is an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University in the School of Policy Studies and a Senior Fellow in the Queen’s Centre for International Relations. Prior to his recent retirement from the Canadian Forces, Mr. Richard was the Commander Canadian Defence Liaison Staff (London, England), responsible to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Canadian High Commissioner for bilateral Defence Relations with the United Kingdom. As a management consultant, he has recently completed projects in strategic planning and change management at Queen’s University, National Defence, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Colin Robertson

A former Canadian diplomat, Colin Robertson is a Senior Strategic Advisor for McKenna, Long and Aldridge LLP and working with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. He is Vice President and Fellow at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, an Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. He is chair of the board of Canada World Youth. As well, a member of the board of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute and the advisory board of the North American Research Partnership. He is a past president of the National Capital Branch of the Canadian International Council. He is s regular contributor on foreign affairs to the Globe and Mail and other publications.

Hugh Segal

Hugh Segal joined the Canadian Senate in 2005, after four decades of public service which included Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada, Associate Cabinet Secretary (Ontario) for Federal-Provincial Affairs and Policies and Priorities, Legislative Assistant to the Leader of the Opposition (Ottawa), and President of the Independent Institute for Research on Public Policy. Chair of the Special Senate Committee on Anti-Terrorism, he is a former Chair and present member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. He headed a NATO parliamentary delegation to Washington and is a former Chair (Calgary 2004) of the annual Canada-UK Colloquium.  He was a Senior Fellow at Queen’s School of Policy Studies and was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003.

Janice Gross Stein

Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  She is the co-author, with Eugene Lang, of the prize-winning The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar. She was the Massey Lecturer in 2001 and a Trudeau Fellow. She was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for an outstanding contribution by a social scientist to public debate.  She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.  Dr. Stein currently serves as Co-Chair of the International Programs Committee on the Board of Care Canada.

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$8,900 CAD (plus applicable taxes)
fee includes accommodations and meals

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