Claire M. Morris

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Claire M. Morris holds a bachelor of arts and a master of social work from the University of Toronto. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of New Brunswick, Thompson Rivers University and Cape Breton University.

Morris’s career spans the provincial, federal and non-governmental sectors. Her work reflects her strong commitment to higher education, social and health policy, and public administration.

Morris served as president and CEO of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) from April 2004 until her retirement in May 2009.

Prior to joining AUCC (now Universities Canada), Morris was deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs in the Privy Council Office of Canada. This followed her three-and-a-half years as deputy minister of Human Resources Development Canada.

Before joining the federal government in 1998, Morris served as secretary to the cabinet and clerk of the Executive Council in the provincial government of New Brunswick. She joined the public service of New Brunswick in 1970, holding progressively responsible positions in the departments of Social Services and Health. She was appointed deputy minister of Health in 1983, and of the newly merged Health and Community Services in 1986. In 1988, Morris was appointed deputy minister of the Policy Secretariat in the Executive Council Office before becoming secretary to the cabinet in 1993.

Morris is a member of the board of governors of St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the senior advisory panel to the Auditor General of Canada. She has served on the board of directors of the Trans Canada Trail, Actua, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and the Vanier-Banting Secretariat. She also served as chair of the advisory board of the New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network.