Leadership Team


Meet the team

Team

TRACY ROBINSON

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tracy Robinson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CN on February 28, 2022 and is responsible for CN’s strategic direction and leadership. Read more»

TRACY ROBINSON

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tracy Robinson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CN on February 28, 2022 and is responsible for CN’s strategic direction and leadership.

Prior to joining CN, Ms. Robinson was Executive Vice-President of TC Energy, President of Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines and President of Coastal GasLink, where she was responsible for the operation and profitability of the company’s federally- and provincially-regulated natural gas pipeline assets. Ms. Robinson helped advance TC Energy’s relationships with Indigenous partners across the country, including the development of agreements with a number of Indigenous communities in Alberta and the advancement of agreements with all 20 of the First Nations along the Coastal GasLink corridor.

Ms. Robinson’s deep experience in the railway industry stems from her 27 years at Canadian Pacific Railway. There, she served in executive roles in the commercial, finance and operation functions, including as General Manager of Transportation Services, Vice President and Treasurer, and Vice President of Marketing and Sales.

She is a member of the Campaign Committee and the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Edward’s School of Business of the University of Saskatchewan. She has also represented TC Energy on the Board of the Canadian Gas Association.

Ms. Robinson holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Saskatchewan. She received her Institute of Corporate Directors designation in 2015.

Ed Harris

Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer

Ed Harris was appointed CN’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer on November 28, 2022.  Read more»

Ed Harris

Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer

Ed Harris was appointed CN’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer on November 28, 2022. Prior to joining CN, Mr. Harris worked closely with the CN operations team in a consulting capacity as the team delivered meaningful rail operations performance and customer service improvements.

Mr. Harris has been one of the railroad industry’s top executives with a career that spans over 40 years, including as one of the pioneers of scheduled railroading. He began his career with Illinois Central Railroad serving as a key member of the operating team. Following CN’s acquisition of Illinois Central, Mr. Harris eventually became Executive Vice-President, Operations. Following his departure from CN, he joined Canadian Pacific (CP) where he served as Chief Operations Officer and subsequently joined the CP Board. Mr. Harris then served as CSX Transportation’s Executive Vice-President of Operations until his retirement in 2020.

Mr. Harris is responsible for taking scheduled railroading to the next level, and delivering safe and reliable services to customers. He will also serve as a mentor for the next generation of CN operations leaders.

Mr. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from the University of Illinois. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1969 to 1973 and was on active duty in Vietnam in 1971.

GHISLAIN HOULE

Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

Ghislain Houle was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer in July 2016, based in Montreal. Read more»

GHISLAIN HOULE

Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

Ghislain Houle was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer in July 2016, based in Montreal. His responsibilities at CN include financial management, strategic planning, strategic acquisitions, and investor relations. Previously, he had been Vice-President and Corporate Comptroller since March 2016, and Vice-President – Financial Planning since March 2007.

Mr. Houle joined CN in September 1997 as Chief of Internal Audit. In July 1998, he was appointed Managing Director, ISP Project, a three-year initiative to improve business processes by replacing CN's administrative support systems with the SAP integrated solution. He became Vice-President and Treasurer in 2001 and in 2004, he was responsible for the integration of the Business Development Group with CN Railway Properties, which he already managed since November 2002.

Prior to joining CN, Mr. Houle held the position of Senior Manager in tax and audit at a major accounting firm.

Mr. Houle is a CPA, CA and holds a bachelor of commerce degree from Laval University and an MBA from McGill University.

DOMINIQUE MALENFANT

Executive Vice-President and Chief Information and Technology Officer

Dominique Malenfant was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Information and Technology Officer in September 2020. Read more»

DOMINIQUE MALENFANT

Executive Vice-President and Chief Information and Technology Officer

Dominique Malenfant was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Information and Technology Officer in September 2020. Based in Montreal, Dominique is responsible to deliver CN’s technology strategy, with a focus on automation technology and the digitalization of CN’s network and operations.

Dominique has spent nearly 30 years in global leadership roles in the transportation and rail industries. In his most recent role, Dominique was Senior Vice-President, Engineering and Chief Technology Officer at Wabtec Corporation. Prior to his position at Wabtec Corporation, Dominique held the position of Vice-President of Global Technology at GE Transportation. During his tenure at Wabtec Corporation and GE Transportation, Dominique was focused on the next generation of Precision Scheduled Railroading and Positive Train Control technologies and spearheaded a major digital industrial evolution in rail.

Previous to GE Transportation, Dominique served as Vice-President of Product and Engineering for the Transportation Propulsion and Control Business at Bombardier Transport. He also managed Bombardier Transport’s North American group, where he was responsible for Product Management, Engineering and Supply Management. He also led the Center of Expertise R&D group, and has experience in Plant Management, Engineering Quality Assurance, Systems Engineering, and Project Management.

Dominique holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Laval University, Quebec.

DOUG MACDONALD

Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer

Doug MacDonald was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer in November 2022 after serving as Acting Chief Marketing Officer since April 2022. Read more»

DOUG MACDONALD

Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer

Doug MacDonald was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer in November 2022 after serving as Acting Chief Marketing Officer since April 2022. He oversees all customer-related business areas and activities, including the strategic commercial roadmap for CN.

Doug has more than 30 years of experience in the rail industry. Since joining CN in 1989, he has held diverse roles in Marketing, Sales, Information Technology and Operations, which have equipped him with a unique knowledge of the organization.

Most recently, Doug was the Senior Vice-President Special Projects, Office of the President and CEO, working on key strategic projects for the Company since September 2020. He previously led CN’s advanced technology deployments as Senior Vice-President, Information and Technology and prior to that, he spent time in Operations as Vice-President, Eastern Region since March 2019. During the course of his career at CN, Doug assumed roles in Sales and Marketing as Senior Vice-President, Rail Centric Supply Chain Growth in August 2018, Vice-President, Bulk in March 2016, Vice-President Industrial Products in May 2012, and Vice-President Corporate Marketing in March 2010.

Doug holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Concordia University, in Montreal.

OLIVIER CHOUC

Senior Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer

Olivier Chouc was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer on September 15, 2022. Read more»

OLIVIER CHOUC

Senior Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer

Olivier Chouc was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer on September 15, 2022. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Université Laval in 1990 and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1991. He left private practice in 1998 after seven years at Ogilvy Renault, to join Abitibi-Consolidated (Donohue Inc.) as in-house counsel, where he was responsible for supporting procurement management as well as the company's real estate, litigation and intellectual property portfolio. He was also entrusted with transactional work, including with some aspect of the major transaction leading to the sale of Donohue Inc. to Abitibi-Consolidated. In 2000, he joined the CN Law Department in a counsel capacity to support real estate, supply management, as well as transactional work. He then moved to a senior counsel position with increased responsibilities in the area of mergers and acquisitions and was eventually responsible for the management of the mergers and acquisition group. In 2006, he was named Assistant Vice-President, General Counsel and Managing Partner and in 2011, he was named Vice-President, Legal.

In 2005, he was named Canada's Top 40 under 40 In-House Counsel by the National Post.

Mr. Chouc is involved with charitable organizations, namely the Fondation Marie-Vincent, The Ted Nolan Foundation and the Fondation Enfants-Retour. He is currently the Chairman of the CN Employees' and Pensioners' Community Fund after ending a two year mandate as co-president.

JANET DRYSDALE

Senior Vice-President and Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer

Janet was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer in March 2023. Read more»

JANET DRYSDALE

Senior Vice-President and Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer

Janet was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer in March 2023. She drives the Company’s stakeholder engagement and communications strategies, which includes public and government affairs, media relations, corporate communications, as well as investor relations.

Janet Drysdale is a seasoned and versatile executive with nearly 30 years of cross-functional leadership having held executive positions in Finance, Sustainability, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations.

Janet has long been an advocate for the rail industry, North America’s critical supply chains, women in transportation, and the transition to a low carbon economy.

Janet is an independent director of Rumo S.A., Brazil’s largest freight railway. She also sits on the board of the Railway Association of Canada and is proud to be the executive sponsor of the Women’s Employee Resource Group at CN.

In 2020, Janet was recognized by WXN as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the executive leadership category, and by Railway Age for her leadership, collaboration, and innovation. In 2021, Janet completed the Competent Boards ESG program and certification (GCB.D).

Janet has an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from McGill University.

DOROTHEA KLEIN

Senior Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Dorothea Klein was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer in December 2019. Read more»

DOROTHEA KLEIN

Senior Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Dorothea Klein was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer in December 2019.

She came to CN from ABB, where she was most recently Senior Vice-President, Human Resources of the Electrification Business that counts over 50,000 employees.

Dorothea has an extensive human resources, finance and M&A background, having served other large North American and European companies in various industries, notably pharmaceuticals and healthcare, over the past 30 years. With this experience, she brings valuable cross-functional leadership and workforce transformation skills to CN.

Based in Montreal, she leads CN’s continuing journey of being a best-in-class employer by overseeing leading human resources and labour relations practices.

Dorothea is a graduate of Business Administration at the University of Reutlingen ESB Business School, Germany, and the CESEM-NEOMA business school in Reims, France. She also completed Executive Management programs at LSU in Baton Rouge, USA, as well as Wharton and INSEAD.

PATRICK LORTIE

Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer

Patrick Lortie was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer of CN in February 2023. Read more»

PATRICK LORTIE

Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer

Patrick Lortie was appointed Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer of CN in February 2023. In this role, he leads the development and implementation of CN’s corporate strategy, including an enhanced focus on network strategies and interline relationships.

Patrick is a recognized expert in designing growth strategies and leading business transformations in the transportation industry. He has advised Boards and Executive Teams on a global basis for more than two decades. Before joining CN, he was at Oliver Wyman, where he led the firm’s global Transportation and Services Practice and oversaw the firm’s activities in Canada. He was also a member of the firm’s Global Leadership Council. Prior to that, he worked for regional airlines in France and Argentina, and for Virgin Trains, a leading passenger train operator in the United Kingdom.

Patrick sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Club of Montréal, and is a member of the Business Advisory Committee of the Northwestern University Transportation Center, a leading interdisciplinary education and research institution serving the transportation industry.

Patrick holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the École Polytechnique de Montréal, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and a certificate in Strategies for Sustainable Business from MIT Sloan School of Management.




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