Canadian Statistics Advisory Council

Chairperson, Dr. Howard Ramos

Chairperson

Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Western University

Dr. Howard Ramos is the Chair of the Department of Sociology at Western University and Professor. He investigates issues of social justice and social change and has published five books and over 50 articles and chapters on social movements, human rights, Indigenous issues, environmental advocacy, urban change, economic and tourism development, technology, ethnicity, race, immigration, and equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education. Dr. Ramos has worked with a wide range of advocacy and community organizations and is committed to knowledge translation and evidence-based policy.

Catherine Beaudry

CSAC Member

Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal

Catherine Beaudry is a full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal. A graduate in electrical engineering from Polytechnique Montreal and a graduate in economics from the University of Oxford (master’s and doctorate), Professor Beaudry also holds a Canada Research Chair (CRC) level 1 (senior) in management and economics of innovation in addition to leading the Partnership for the Organization of Innovation and New Technologies (4POINT0). She is a member of the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (interuniversity centre for research on science and technology – CIRST), a fellow and main researcher of the Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO). Recognized for her contributions, Professor Beaudry is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of the Royal Society of Canada and has received the Prix Acfas Jacques-Rousseau in 2022 and the Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC) Trailblazer Award for Innovation Policy in 2023.

Professor Beaudry specializes in the economics of innovation and its impact on business performance, as well as in the evaluation of research and the science and technology system. Her main research interests are collaboration and support mechanisms for public and private organisations within knowledge and innovation ecosystems. Her research aims to create multi-level (organisations-ecosystem-society) analysis models and indicators on which governance and public policies specific to innovation ecosystems can be based. Through her multidisciplinary approach, she comprehensively addresses the science, technology, and innovation system, breaking down traditional compartmentalization in the innovation process.

David Chaundy

CSAC Member

President and CEO, Atlantic Economic Council

David Chaundy was appointed President and CEO of the Atlantic Economic Council in November 2018 after serving for many years as an economist and director of research. Mr. Chaundy has directed research projects on a wide variety of topics, including international trade and global value chains, international investment, immigration and labour market issues, interprovincial regulatory trade barriers, and policies to promote clean growth and the expansion of clean technology firms in Atlantic Canada.

Mr. Chaundy is a member of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council and the National Stakeholder Advisory Panel for the Labour Market Information Council. He is Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics, a Director and Past President of the Atlantic Association of Applied Economists and a Director of the Atlantic Canada Economics Association. He holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Cambridge and a M.Sc. in economics from the University of York (England).

Benoit Dostie

CSAC Member

Professor at the Department of applied economics of HEC Montréal

Benoit Dostie is a full professor at the Department of applied economics of HEC Montréal, the business school affiliated with l’Université de Montréal. He is also the academic director of the Québec inter-University Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS) and member of the board of the Canadian Research Data Center Network (CRDCN). He is a Fellow at the Institute for the study of labor (IZA) in Germany and Fellow at CIRANO where he is the main researcher for the theme Innovation and Digital Transformation and is in charge of the CIRANO Pole on the Socio-economic Impacts of Digital Innovation and AI.

He received his Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University in 2001, and his research interests include statistical models for linked employer-employee data, duration models, returns to human capital, firm-sponsored training, productivity, turnover, and labour reallocation. His work has appeared in numerous scientific journals like the Canadian Journal of Economics, Journal of Econometrics, ILR Review, Industrial Relations, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Journal of Human Capital, Journal of Human Resources, and the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics.

Annette Hester

CSAC Member

Head of TheHesterView Inc.

Annette Hester heads TheHesterView Inc. and focuses on new approaches to working with data. She collaborates with leading experts in their field to deliver excellence in data structuring and in data visualization.

Ms. Hester was a faculty member of the University of Calgary Haskayne Global Energy EMBA, served as a senior advisor to the Deputy Minister of the Government of Alberta and was part of the policy team for the leadership campaign of Alberta's Premier, Alison Redford, Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Ms. Hester has extensive experience as a consultant for leading oil, gas, and energy companies in North and Latin America, and to governmental agencies in several countries of the Americas, primarily Brazil and Canada.

Ms. Hester has a master's degree in economics and has written for a variety of multilateral institutions, academic publications and think tanks.

Anke Kessler

CSAC Member

Professor and the current Chair at the Department of Economics at Simon Fraser University 

Anke Kessler is a full professor and the current Chair of the Department of Economics at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, British Columbia). She is a member of the Indigenous Research Institute at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and is a member of the Canadian Economic Association executive council. She has previously served as the president of the Canadian Women Economists Committee and as member of the SFU Board of Governors. 

Anke pursues an active research agenda at the intersection of political economy and development economics, with emphasis on the connections between institutions, governance, and well-being. Her work has appeared in numerous scientific journals, including the Journal of Political Economy, the American Economic Review, and the Review of Economic Studies. 

Originally from Germany, Anke completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Freiburg and received her Ph.D. from the University at Bonn. She held a position at the University of Bonn and visiting positions at the Universities of Oslo and Berkeley, before coming to SFU in 2003. 

Jan Kestle

CSAC Member

President and CEO, Environics Analytics

President and CEO of Environics Analytics (EA), Jan Kestle is a leader in the marketing information industry. Over the years, she's helped hundreds of customers—in areas ranging from finance and retail to the not-for-profit sector—turn data and analytics into insight, strategy and engagement. Prior to founding EA in 2003, Ms. Kestle was president of Compusearch, a pioneer private sector distributor of Statistics Canada data.

Ms. Kestle's past experience includes being the statistical focal point for Ontario at the Ontario Statistical Centre and a member of the Federal-Provincial Statistics Council. She was a member of the National Statistics Council and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Marketing Association, the Dean's Advisory Council of the Ted Rogers School of Management, the Canadian Council of Innovators and the Advisory Board of Ryerson University School of Geography. A frequent conference speaker, she is the recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics from the University of Western Ontario.