Margaret Andrade

Margaret works as a policy advisor in aquaculture management for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Ottawa. She supports the development and implementation of a federal aquaculture framework for Canada that supports the development of aquaculture in a sustainable manner, protecting marine ecosystems and conserving wild fish populations.

Previously, she has worked for the Canadian Coast Guard as a strategic advisor to the regional director of Incident Management programs, supporting strategic planning and acting as liaison officer for events such as the G7 in Charlevoix. She has also worked as an analyst for the Office of the Chief Human Resource Officer at the Treasury Board Secretariat in Ottawa, supporting the development of senior officials through advice, research, analysis, and for the Canada School of Public Service as a Learning Consultant for Quebec and Nunavut, advising on developmental needs that met new arising local challenges. 

She started her career in the federal public service at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, in Montreal, where she worked extensively as a program manager, ultimately discovering a passion for public policy. Her work experience at Citizenship and Immigration led her to pursue an education that supported her interest and values in fields related to social justice. For years, she was a board member of the Immigrant Workers Center in Montreal where she volunteered and offered a weekly clinic on immigration rights.

She holds a bachelor from Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs (2014) and a Master degree in Political Science, Public and International Affairs, from Université de Montréal (2017). She is passionate about food policy, environmental sustainability and Indigenous issues. Her experience with the School of Community and Public Affairs offered her the foundation on which her thoughts and actions related to social change are based. She considers it to be her Alma Matter.