Minister Champagne announces four new members of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council

February 14, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario

Canadians deserve timely, consistent and disaggregated data produced by Statistics Canada to support decision making based on sound evidence.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, has announced the appointments of four new members of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council for three-year terms. The independent advisory council has a mandate to advise the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Chief Statistician of Canada on the overall quality of the national statistical system.

The four new members are:

Catherine Beaudry

• Dr. Beaudry is currently a full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal, specializing 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. She is the Canada Research Chair in Management and Economics of Innovation (Tier 1) and also leads the Partnership for the Organization of Innovation and New Technologies. Dr. Beaudry holds a master’s and PhD in economics from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Polytechnique Montréal.

Anke Kessler

• Dr. Kessler is a full professor and the current chair of the Department of Economics at Simon Fraser University. She 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. Dr. Kessler holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Willhelms-Universtät Bonn) in Germany.

Vinamra Mathur

• Mr. Mathur is currently an information technology specialist with the Canada Revenue Agency and is an innovative professional with experience in using cross-platform technologies and working on large-scale transformation projects in big data analytics at an enterprise level, winning multiple awards for his various work with data. Mr. Mathur holds a master’s degree in computing and data analytics from Saint Mary’s University and holds several certifications in big data analytics, web developing and programming.

Stephen Tapp

• Dr. Tapp is currently the Chief Economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, where he is responsible for leading business data and analytics. He worked for more than 20 years at many of Canada’s top economic organizations, the Bank of Canada, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the Department of Finance Canada and several think tanks, as well as in academia. Dr. Tapp holds a PhD and an MA in economics from Queen’s University and is an award-winning researcher in Canadian economic policy.

These new members join the existing council members: Dr. Howard Ramos (Chairperson), Annette Hester, David Chaundy, Jan Kestle, and Benoit Dostie, who was appointed on February 3, 2023.

Dr. Dostie is a full professor in the Department of Applied Economics at HEC Montréal and has a background in social statistics, innovation and digital transformation, and the socio-economic impacts of digital innovation and artificial intelligence. Dr Dostie’s research interests include statistical models for linked employer-employee data, duration models, returns to human capital, firm-sponsored training, productivity, turnover and labour reallocation. Dr. Dostie holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University.