Steve Verheul

Fellow

Mr. Verheul retired from the Federal Public Service in October 2022 and is now a Principal with GT and Company Executive Advisors, as well as President of Steve Verheul Consulting Inc. Prior to his retirement from the Public Service in 2022, he served as a Special Advisor on Trade Policy to the Deputy Minister of Finance. From 2017 to 2021, Mr. Verheul was Assistant Deputy Minister of the Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch at Global Affairs Canada, managing a Branch of more than 300 employees. In addition to this position, Mr. Verheul was Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator. In this role, he led the negotiations that resulted in the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement (the new NAFTA) and oversaw various other negotiations. Prior to that, Mr. Verheul served as Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator for negotiations between Canada and the European Union from 2009-2016, leading that negotiation from its beginning through to its successful conclusion. Before that, he worked in international trade policy at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from 1989 to 2009, where he worked on the NAFTA negotiations, the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. He was Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, responsible for leading Canada’s involvement in international trade negotiations on agriculture. Among various other awards from government and industry, Mr. Verheul received the Career Contribution Award from the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada, as well as the Innovative Team Award as leader of the Canada-EU Trade Negotiations Team. Mr. Verheul graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1984, after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science.