Board of Directors
The Board of Directors exercises decision-making power over the SAAQ's policies and operations to ensure that it fulfills its obligations and achieves the expected level of performance. The Board of Directors exercises the functions prescribed in the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises .
It is composed of 9 to 15 members appointed by the government and subject to the Code d'éthique et de déontologie des administrateurs et vice-présidents de la Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (PDF, 7.7 MB) (the code of ethics and rules of conduct for administrators and vice-presidents of the SAAQ - in French only).
Principal roles of the SAAQ Board of Directors
The Board of Directors meets around thirty times a year. After each meeting of the Board and its committees, the Board meets behind closed doors to give directord an opportunity to discuss issues in the absence of the SAAQ’s management.
In addition to assuming the functions and holding the powers conferred on it by law, the Board of Directors:
- participates in strategic planning, from start to approval
- approves general and specific policies, including those found in the strategic plan
- approves the annual report
- approves the budget and the financial management plan
- administers the Fonds d’assurance automobile du Québec, of which the SAAQ is the trustee
Members of the SAAQ Board of Directors
Independent Member
Chair of the Board of Directors since January 20, 2025
- Montréal
- Public service
- Appointed on January 20, 2025
- Five-year term
- Administratrice de sociétés certifiée (ASC)
Dominique Savoie holds a master’s degree in psychology from the Université de Montréal and has 38 years’ experience in the Québec public service. She has held a variety of key positions, including Deputy Minister at the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, the Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources naturelles, the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable and the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale.
On July 10, 2023, she took office as the Secretary General and Clerk of the Conseil exécutif. Administratrice de sociétés certifiée, Ms. Savoie was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of the SAAQ on January 20, 2025.
- Capitale-Nationale
- Public service
- Appointed on July 9, 2025
- Interim
Annie Lafond holds degrees in marketing and law from Université Laval and has over 20 years of management experience. Since 2014, she has held positions as vice-president of Beneva and SSQ Assurance in customer service, digital services and marketing. Over the course of her career, Ms. Lafond has also managed major service sector programs in which customer experience is a core focus of their strategies (Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Desjardins, Industrielle Alliance and CAA-Québec).
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Client Service Committee
- Capitale-Nationale
- Law
- Appointed on December 1, 2022
- Four-year term
- Named Avocatus Emeritus by the Barreau du Québec
- Attorney and corporate director
Michel Bouchard holds a law degree from Université Laval and has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 1973. He has held the title of Avocatus Emeritus since 2007. From 1978 to 1988, he was a Québec crown prosecutor and Chief Crown Prosecutor in criminal and penal matters. From 1988 to 1993, he was Associate Deputy Minister of Justice in Québec and then Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Québec until 2003. He was Associate Deputy Minister of Justice Canada until 2007. In 2007 he once again became Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Québec, a position he held until 2010. From 2011 to 2017 he was President of the board of directors of Éducaloi. He has also been a member of the board of directors of Revenu Québec, as well as a member of the Federal Judicial Advisory Committee.
Chair of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Chair of the Integrated Risk Management Committee
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
- Montréal
- Business
- Appointed on September 3, 2024
- Four-year term
- President and Founder of Perspectives Pragma
Nancy Chahwan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in finance and management from the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal (HEC) and is a graduate of the Institut des administrateurs de sociétés. After nearly 15 years in management for the Canadian public service in Ottawa and the Province of Québec, she worked as deputy minister for close to 5 years at the Canada Revenue Agency, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Department of National Defence. Currently the President and Founder of Perspectives Pragma, Ms. Chahwan works as an executive advisor for managers in the public and private sectors around the world. She is also a management coach for master’s students in business administration at HEC Montréal. With more than 14 years of experience as a corporate director, Ms. Chahwan is currently the Second Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Chambre de la sécurité financière du Québec, where she also serves on the Governance and Ethics Committee and Human Resources Committee.
Chair of the Governance and Ethics Committee
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Client Service Committee
Member of the Integrated Risk Management Committee
- Montréal
- Business
- Appointed on February 26, 2014
- Reappointed on June 6, 2018
- Reappointed on November 23, 2022
- Four-year term
- Economist, MBA
- Co-director, Barry F. Lorenzetti Centre for Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership (Concordia University)
- Administratrice de sociétés certifiée (ASC)
Louise Champoux-Paillé is an economist and holds a master’s degree with distinction in management and a master’s degree in museology. She has worked in the financial and professional services sector for 30 years, holding various strategic positions, including Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau des services financiers du Québec, a provincial regulatory agency that governs the distribution of insurance products, mutual funds and financial planning services. She is currently co-director of the Barry F. Lorenzetti Centre for Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Concordia University and teaches governance and risk management at UQAM’s School of Management. She was appointed Knight of the Ordre national du Québec in 2012 and received the Order of Canada in 2016. In 2023, she was named Administratrice de sociétés certifiée (certified corporate director) emeritus by the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés. She is also Vice-President and member of the CHU Sainte-Justine Board of Directors, and a board member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec and Canada Post. She also sits on the committee of inquiry in ethics and professional conduct of the Ordre des architectes du Québec.
Member of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
- Montréal
- Business
- Appointed on June 6, 2018
- Reappointed on November 23, 2022
- Four-year term
- Assistant Professor, Concordia University
- Engineer, member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec
Corinne Charette holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Concordia University. She has several years of experience in both the private sector and the Canadian public service. She has notably served as the Chief Information Officer of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and as the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of the Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications Sector at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. She has also held management positions at Transat, CANAFE, CIBC and KPMG. She currently mentors startups at Concordia University’s District 3 Innovation Hub. In 2012, Concordia University honoured her with the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. Ms. Charette is an external member of the Elections Canada Audit Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation of Greater Montréal. She is also a member of the Foundation’s Community Engagement and Audit committees.
Chair of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Client Service Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
Member of the Integrated Risk Management Committee
- Montréal
- Business
- Appointed on March 20, 2019
- Reappointed on June 7, 2023
- Four-year term
Christian Cyr holds an MBA from Concordia University and a degree in actuarial science from Université Laval. He has held senior executive and strategic advisor positions in various financial institutions and insurance companies. His responsibilities have led him to lead and support teams of professionals specialized in strategic planning, marketing, solution and product development, customer service, actuarial sciences and project management. He was a member of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the American Society of Actuaries. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec.
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Client Service Committee
Member of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
- Capitale-Nationale
- Academia and road safety
- Appointed on April 1, 2015
- Reappointed on December 18, 2019
- Reappointed on September 3, 2024
- Four-year term
- Professor Emeritus at the Département de mathématiques et de statistique
Université Laval
Jean-Marie De Koninck holds a bachelor of science degree from Université Laval and a master’s degree and doctorate in mathematics from Temple University in Pennsylvania. He is Professor Emeritus at Université Laval’s Département de mathématiques et de statistique and the president and founder of Operation Red Nose. He was also very active in the media during the ten years in which he served as Chair of the Table québécoise de la sécurité routière Jean-Marie De Koninck heads several projects, including Science and Mathematics in Action (SMAC), which aims to stimulate young people’s interest in science and mathematics, and to make mathematics more accessible to the general public. He has authored 17 books and has had 178 articles published in scientific journals. He is also an excellent popular mathematics and science writer, as demonstrated by his contributions to the “En chair et en maths” collection, a book on road safety entitled Routes et déroutes, and his most recent collection entitled Cette science qui ne cesse de nous étonner. He also serves on the boards of directors of Operation Red Nose and Université Laval’s Club de natation du Rouge et Or.
Member of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
Member of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
- Montérégie
- Road safety
- Appointed on December 13, 2021
- Four-year term
- Engineer,
Member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec
Stéphan Deschênes holds a bachelor’s degree in rural engineering from Université Laval and is a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec. He has worked mainly for Québec’s Ministère des Transports where he has acted as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for major roadwork projects and the Montréal metropolitan region, as well as General Manager of major projects such as the Turcot Interchange and the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine Bridge-Tunnel. Mr. Deschênes is currently a retired public administrator.
Member of the Road Safety, Human Resources and Client Service Committee
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
- Montréal
- Road safety and law
- Appointed on July 4, 2017
- Reappointed on December 1, 2021
- Four-year term
- Attorney
- Student in business administration, École supérieure de commerce de Paris
With a law degree from McGill University and a master’s degree in international management from the École supérieure de commerce de Paris, Claudia Di Iorio draws on her varied expertise in business, commercial and civil law at the head of her own law firm. She is also a technology entrepreneur.
Ms. Di Iorio was involved in a serious car accident in 2010 and has since devoted a lot of time and energy to raising awareness about dangerous driving. She uses her talks in schools and universities todrive home the importance of prevention in making our roads safer for everyone.
Ms. Di Iorio is also Vice-President of the board of directors of the Fondation de la Croix Bleue.
Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee
- Estrie
- Law
- Appointed on December 13, 2021
- Four-year term
- Attorney
Normandin Gravel Rhéaume Avocats inc.
Olivier Normandin holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa and a certificate in international relations from the Université de Sherbrooke and has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 2010. He practises business law and is a partner at Normandin Gravel Rhéaume Avocats inc. Mr. Normandin sits on the board of directors of the Barreau de Bedford. He has also been a member of several other boards of directors, including the boards of the Centre de prévention du suicide de la Haute-Yamaska and the Fondation du Centre hospitalier de Granby. Mr. Normandin also works as an instructor for entrepreneurs in his region as part of a program created by the Cégep de Granby’s business services office.
Chair of the Liabilities and Assets and Audit Committee
Member of the Integrated Risk Management Committee
- Montérégie
- Business
- Appointed on December 13, 2021
- Four-year term
- Head of Financial Management and Performance (CPA, CFA, MBA)
Finance Group, Business Development Bank of Canada
Lisa To holds an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Université du Québec à Montréal a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and a certificate in ESG investing from the CFA Institute. She has held various management positions at the National Bank of Canada. She is currently Head of Financial Management and Performance at the Business Development Bank of Canada, where she has worked since 2013. She has two decades of experience in the banking industry and in the areas of management and process improvement. She also sits on the board of directors of the Association du Québec pour enfants avec problèmes auditifs.
As of December 31, 2024, the Board of Directors has 15 members, of which 13 are independent members, 7 are women, 1 is 35 years of age or younger, and 3 are representatives of diversity.
Director training
In 2024, members of the board of directors were able to take part in two workshops, one on governance and the other on ethics. The workshop on governance aimed to stimulate reflection around the effectiveness of boards of directors of state-owned enterprises. The workshop on ethics dealt specifically with the SAAQ’s values and how they are reflected in the board of directors. Board members also had the opportunity to attend a conference about ethical principles and the transition to AI, and visit the new service centre at Place Versailles.
Last update: November 27, 2025