Board of Directors

Our board of directors is composed of a majority of independent directors, augmented with member representatives who are experts in the payments industry.

Under the leadership of Eileen Mercier, the 12-elected directors are charged with governing and managing the affairs of the organization with a focus on strategic and policy matters.

Every year, directors are appointed at the Annual Meeting of Members, following a nomination process. The Payments Canada’s Board of Directors is composed of 12 elected directors -- seven independent directors and five member representative directors -- and the President and CEO of Payments Canada.  

The board has overall responsibility to direct and manage the affairs of Payments Canada, with a focus on strategic and policy matters. The board of directors delivers a critical function to the success of the Canadian payments systems and in turn, the economy.

A message from our chair

Ms. Mercier is a professional director, and was Chair of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board from 2007 to 2014.

Her career encompasses over 40 years of general management experience in the financial services, communications, integrated oil, and paper and forest products sectors. From 1995 to 2003, Ms. Mercier headed her own management consulting firm. Prior to that time, she was Senior Vice-President and CFO of Abitibi-Price Inc.

Ms. Mercier currently serves on the boards of Intact Financial Corporation and the Royal Conservatory of Music. She formerly served on the boards of Teekay Shipping Corporation and the University Health Network. She holds an MBA from York University, and a Master's degree from the University of Alberta.

In 2010, Ms. Mercier received an honorary LLD from York University. In 2011, she was named as one of Canada's Top 25 Women of Influence; and in 2012, 2015 and 2017, she was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.  In 2013, Ms. Mercier was awarded an honorary LLD from Wilfrid Laurier University and in 2016, she became Chancellor of the University. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors of Canada.

She resides in Toronto, Ontario

Mr. Knight is an economist, banker and policymaker. He was General Manager and CEO of the Bank for International Settlements—the central bankers' bank--in Basel Switzerland (2003-8), Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada (1999-2003), and held senior positions at the International Monetary Fund (1975-99).

He has served as Visiting Professor of Finance at the London School of Economics, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank. He has published widely in the fields of macroeconomics, international finance and regulation.
 
Mr. Knight also served on the Financial Stability Forum (now the Financial Stability Board); as a Trustee of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation; a Director of Swiss Re AG; a Trustee of the International Valuation Standards Council; and a Director of the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services. He is a Trustee of the Per Jacobsson Foundation, a member of the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars, and an Honorary Senator of the Lindau Nobel Prizewinners Foundation. 

Mr. Knight earned his Honor BA in Political Science and Economics from the University of Toronto and his M.Sc. (Econ.) and Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. He has held teaching positions at the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Trinity College, University of Toronto. 

He is a Canadian citizen currently residing in Summit, New Jersey, USA.

Mr. Barnard is an experienced senior executive with a record of building and leading high-performance executive teams and effectively communicating with partners, stakeholders, government and the public. Mr. Barnard has served on a number of different, high-profile boards in the past, including as Lead Director for the Bank of Canada, Board Chair of Universities Canada, as a member of the board of Greystone Managed Investments and many others.

At present, Mr. Barnard is President and Vice-Chancellor, and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Manitoba. He previously served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Regina and as Associate to Vice-Principals at Queen’s University. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Member of the Order of Manitoba.

Mr. Barnard holds a PhD, MSc and BSc in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, a DipCS from Regent College (University of British Columbia) and an LLM from Osgoode Hall (York University), and resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

Ms. Doniz has served on more than a dozen public corporate, private, and non-profit boards in governance, finance and compensation committees with particular attention to financial, digital, technology, retail and consumer goods. 

Ms. Doniz previously held the position of of Group CIO Qantas Airlines, Global Product, Digital Strategy and Chief Information Officer at Aimia, the world’s largest loyalty and data analytics company as well as Chief Information Officer for Global Beauty and Grooming Business at Procter and Gamble. In 2012, she was named as one of Canada’s most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network. She is currently the CIO and Data Analytics for Boeing.

She received her Bachelor of Applied Science and Engineering; Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto and completed post-graduate work at Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands and Harvard Business School. She resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Mr. Foster is a Corporate Director and is a results-oriented, business leader with extensive experience in board governance, and facilitating the growth and transformation of complex businesses. He currently sits on the boards of SmartCentres REIT and Real Matters Inc., where he chairs the Audit Committee; the Presto Fare Card sub-committee of Metrolinx, where he is the Chair of the committee; and is a member of the Board of Directors of Ontario Health, where he chairs the Finance, Audit and Risk committee. Mr. Foster is the past Chair of Baycrest Health Sciences, the Baycrest Foundation and Cogniciti Inc, the commercialization arm of Baycrest Health Sciences.

Mr. Foster had a long career at Deloitte, where he led the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Practice and was Vice Chair of the firm. He sat on the boards of Deloitte Canada and Deloitte US. From 2013 to 2017, Mr. Foster served as the President and CEO of the Baycrest Foundation. He also served two elected terms on the Board of Directors of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

Mr. Foster received a MBA and BBA from the Schulich School of Business, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants and received his ICD.D diploma from the Rotman School of Management.

He resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Two of Ms. Gibson's key strengths are grasping strategic business imperatives and leading high-performance software teams to develop smart technical solutions. As CEO of Bell Globemedia Interactive, Canada's largest Internet media company during the Internet boom, she was responsible for their enviable portfolio of web assets that included GlobeInvestor, Workopolis, Globeandmail.com, GlobeFund, Sympatico, TSN.ca, Discovery.ca, CTV.ca.

Ms. Gibson is an independent innovation specialist, educator and director. She has taught innovation in MBA programs at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and Queens School of Business, and is a sought-after board member with deep experience at the forefront of communications, software, and the application of these technologies.

Ms. Gibson has served on boards in various capacities including ING Direct Bank of Canada, Computershare, and Cogeco, as well as on many advisory boards such as BCE Capital, the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) and Queen's University's MBA Advisory Council.

She holds a M.Sc. Mathematics from Carleton University and an ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Ms. Gibson has been recognized as a Women of Influence, and has received the New Media Pioneer Award, and the CWC Trailblazer of the Year award. She is a co-author of a Harvard Business Review article entitled Mapping Your Innovation Strategy.

She resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Mike Henry was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer for Scotiabank in November 2017. In this newly-created role at Scotiabank, Mike is responsible for the creation of an enterprise-wide data strategy for the Bank and a governance operating model that both manages risks and directly enables the Bank’s business priorities.

Mike joined Scotiabank in 1996 and has held progressively senior positions in Sales Management, Marketing, Wealth Management, Distribution Strategy, and Product Development. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President of Retail Payments, Deposits and Unsecured Lending on the Canadian Banking leadership team. Mike’s broad experience across Scotiabank, combined with his wide-ranging understanding of data from a customer, business and regulatory perspective, provide him with a unique vantage point for this strategic role.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.

Mike has served on a variety of Scotiabank subsidiary and other external boards, and is an active member of the community supporting a number of not for profit organizations in a board or advisory capacity. Mike is a passionate champion for gender equality, and a founder of Scotiabank’s HeForShe movement.

He resides in Toronto, Ontario.

John Landry is the Head of Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) business in Canada. He is responsible for Citi’s team of professionals across Toronto, Montreal and Calgary and their delivery of class-leading Cash Management, Commercial Card and Trade Finance & Services. John has also served on Payments Canada’s Member Advisory Council and on The Canadian Banker’s Association Payments Modernization Specialist Group.

Citi’s Canadian business was established in Canada more than 100 years ago and offers multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations the full suite of traditional transaction banking capabilities. TTS in Canada leverages innovations across Citi’s global network of more than 100 countries to bring innovative solutions to Canadian clients. Transaction Services brings innovation to Canada, and brings Citi’s Canadian clients to the world.

John came to head TTS Canada in March 2010 after having spent the previous 5 years as TTS Product Head for Citi in Australia and New Zealand. During that period John led the team in reestablishing itself as a leader in Cash and Trade services with particular success in the Global Subsidiary Group, Public, Banking and Local Corporate sectors. Simultaneously reinforcing Citi’s core capabilities while also launching innovative, market-shifting solutions drove a doubling of revenues and tripling of net income during his tenure.

John has also served at Citi as Global Worldlink Product Development Head, Co-CTO for CitiCapital, and a Product Manager for mobile payment initiatives.

John graduated from University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business prior to joining Signet Bank. He held a series of roles in Consumer Finance and Marketing with First Union and Wachovia following successive mergers. In 1998 he joined GE Capital in a leadership role in Card Services. John serves on the Board of Directors for Citibank Canada Investment Funds Limited and DAREarts.

Mr. Patterson is Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Technology and Operations, at CIBC. He is responsible for the technology and operations required to run CIBC's businesses worldwide. As part of this work, Mr. Patterson and his team play a key role in delivering excellent client and employee experiences, while at the same time providing specialized service and advice to internal business partners. His responsibilities include technology infrastructure and governance, application delivery, enterprise security, enterprise payments, enterprise programs and delivery, processing and settlement activities, currency services, corporate real estate, and sourcing.

Mr. Patterson has been with CIBC for his entire career, joining the Officer-InTraining Program in 1984 in the retail branch network. During the past 30 years, he has held a number of increasingly senior roles in retail, technology and operations, audit, corporate security, control, and governance prior to assuming the leadership of Technology and Operations in 2010.

Mr. Patterson is the chair of CIBC’s Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council and co-chairs the bank’s employee giving campaign. He is a member of the Board and past Chair of Covenant House Toronto, Canada's largest homeless youth agency, and a Board member of the Shaw Festival Theatre. Mr. Patterson graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1984, and holds a Master of Business Administration from the same institution.

Mr. Paterson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Alterna Savings and Alterna Bank, a position he has held since April 2013. He has worked in Financial service for over 30 years. Prior to joining Alterna, Mr. Paterson has held executive positions within such companies as CIBC, JP Morgan CHASE, Aon Corp, and McKinsey & Company.

Mr. Paterson is a director of The Co-operators Group, Central 1, Alterna Bank and Enactus Canada. He also sits on the advisory board of the Dean of the Arts & Humanities at the University of Western Ontario as well as the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Sprott School of Business at the University of Carleton.

Mr. Paterson’s employment experience includes all aspects of retail, small business and commercial banking. He is a pioneer of emerging payment and mobile technologies, and has also championed innovative lending solutions. In addition, he has positioned himself as a leader, and mentor, in the fintech space. He is an active educator on social media and is a regular speaker at industry events. Mr. Paterson is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.

He resides in Toronto, Ontario.

 

John Sheridan is a retired CEO with extensive operating experience and broad corporate governance experience. Over his career, he was CEO of Ballard Power Systems, President & COO of Bell Canada and CEO of ENCOM plc. He has been a director on numerous Corporate boards including Bell Canada, MTS, Aliant, Sun Media Corp, NewPage Corp, Ballard Power Systems and Dantherm Power.

He has also served in public leadership roles including Chair of the Canadian Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association, Chair of the UK Cable Communications Association, Governor of Ryerson University, Member of the Dean’s advisory board of Wilfrid Laurier University and Chair of the United Way Campaign for Greater Toronto.

He holds undergraduate degrees in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Masters Degree in Economics from Queen’s University and has attended executive development programs at Harvard, USC and Western University.

He resides in Kingston, Ontario.