Louise Champoux-Paillé earns Prix du CIQ and Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Exceptional Merit
As an economics student in the early 1970s, Louise Champoux-Paillé was one of only a handful of women in her program. After she graduated and started working, this didn’t change.
“When I was promoted to manager, I made sure a woman succeeded me in my previous role,” says Champoux-Paillé. “That was in 1981. After that, I gave myself the challenge to support women in succeeding me when I got a promotion.”
Her decades-long commitment to paving the way for more women to access leadership positions has been recognized with two awards.
On May 25, Champoux-Paillé received the Prix du CIQ 2023 from the Conseil interprofessionnel du Québec (CIQ). This lifetime achievement award recognizes her involvement in governance, her contribution to the professional system and her efforts in promoting the representation of women and overall diversity within organizational bodies.
Just two weeks later, she was awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Exceptional Merit on June 8.
“Louise is tirelessly committed to increasing the diversity of perspectives in organizational governance,” says Anne-Marie Croteau, dean of the John Molson School of Business.
“We are so pleased that her hard work and dedication have been recognized in these impressive ways.”
'Never lose hope'
A trailblazer in the fields of financial and professional services, she was the founding president of the Bureau des services financiers, the predecessor of the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Champoux-Paillé was a member of the Ordre des administrateurs agréés for 30 years. In addition, she has been involved with seven Quebec professional orders as a member of the board of directors or other committees.
In addition to these most recent honours, she earned the Medal of the National Assembly of Quebec in 2021. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2016 and in 2014 won the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, granted to women who have made outstanding contributions to the quality of life for women in Canada. In 2012, she was named Chevalière de l'Ordre national du Québec.
Despite the challenges she’s encountered over the years and the June 2023 World Economic Forum report putting gender parity 131 years away, she says will never lose hope.
“You have to forge your own path and trust in your skills and experience,” she says.
“And we must mentor other women and young people. It takes a long time to change a cultural mindset. You can’t do it in a decade – or in my case, in four. I would like to work two more decades so we can attain 40% of women and young people on boards. For those who dream of becoming a CEO or a board member, we must help them succeed.”
Learn more about the Barry F. Lorenzetti Centre for Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership.