Even in retirement, Louise Rousselle Trottier remains involved with numerous educational and other causes.
“I began work when I was 17. I’d received training as a business secretary,” says Rousselle Trottier. “In my family, the girls weren’t really encouraged to go to university.”
However, within years of starting her career — based in Montreal although working for the Government of Canada — Rousselle Trottier saw there wasn’t much room to grow. “I had a few promotions and then I realized I was going to be stuck there, I’m not going to be able to go anywhere else,” says Rousselle Trottier.
Her solution was to enroll in night classes at Concordia.
“I went to Concordia instead of a French university as, at the time, it was the only place offering a full degree by night,” says Rousselle Trottier, whose mother tongue is French. She learned English and completed her degree over a seven-year period while working full time and starting a family.
The hard work paid off as, after graduation, Rousselle Trottier pursued her career with the Canadian government as a junior economist and later in a senior position. “Concordia was fantastic for me,” says Rousselle Trottier.
Today, the Concordia alumna funds the Louise Rousselle Trottier Bursary in Arts and Science.
Various ways of support
Coupled with her contributions to Concordia’s Adopt-a-Student program, she has supported her alma mater for the past 12 years. “I found the Adopt-a-Student initiative interesting, so I gave to it,” says Rousselle-Trottier. She first donated to that cause in 2005.
“I think bursaries are important. Many students work while they study,” she says. “I view this as a safety net — as students are evaluated for this on the basis of need.”
Now retired, the grandmother of three keeps busy as a managing director of the Trottier Family Foundation. Her husband Lorne, co-founder of technology company Matrox, started the initiative to support causes that include science, education, climate change and healthcare.
