Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategy and Innovation Policy Sector, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Mark Schaan is the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategy and Innovation Policy at the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). In this role he is responsible for advancing the government's microeconomic policy agenda; supporting the development of the department's horizontal policy and strategic priorities, including by ensuring robust marketplace frameworks telecommunications policy, and the deepening of external relations; and, providing support to regional economic development.
Prior to becoming an ADM, Mark was the Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch at ISED. In this role, Mark advised on the policy, legislative, and stakeholder issues relating to laws of general economic application, including privacy and data protection, patents, trademarks, copyright, competitions and insolvency, all in support of an innovative and high-functioning Canadian economy.
Mark has served as the Director of Operations, Business Transformation and Renewal Secretariat, Privy Council Office, where he was responsible for the Innovation Hub and assisted in providing strategic advice to the Clerk of the Privy Council and the Prime Minister on the transformation of the Public Service.
Mark's public service career has also included work in the life sciences sector, support to restructure the automotive industry, and analysis to advance the retirement income security of Canadians. These roles have earned him a number of accolades, including Departmental and public service awards of excellence, as well a Deputy Minister's Public Service Award for Management Excellence.
Throughout his time in the public service, Mark has also been actively involved in the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program, an initiative aimed at bringing exceptional Canadian graduates into the public service and enriching the Government's policy capacity. Mark served as Coordinator of this initiative from 2007 to 2009.
Mark earned his BA (Honours) from the University of Waterloo in Political Science with an Honours Option in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2002, where he studied as a Loran Scholar. Mark earned his MPhil in Comparative Social Policy, conferred in 2004, and his DPhil in Social Policy, conferred in 2010 from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Mark has been awarded the Nathalie des Rosiers Audacity of Imagination Award, the Barnett Prize in Social Policy, and the University of Waterloo Young Alumni Award. Mark is also actively involved in his community: chairing the board of the Ottawa Art Gallery; founding a new initiative at the National Gallery of Canada; active involvement in the Ten Oaks Project, including helping to launch Project Acorn, a community building space for youth of LGBTQ+ identities, families, and communities; and continued involvement with the Loran Scholars Foundation.
Participating in: Data: When to use it and when not to use it
