Robert Poirier (businessman)

Robert Poirier, OOnt, is a Canadian businessman, and a 2022 recipient of the Order of Ontario for his work on infrastructure, environmental sustainability and community benefits.

Career
Poirier served as managing director of pensions, trusts and alternative investment servicing at State Street from 2006 to 2016 before joining in 2016 the board of Northern Trust Company, Canada. Previously he held senior financial services strategy roles at Bell Canada and Bank of Montreal.

Following a 1992 rule change by members of the Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration of the Senate of Canada, Poirier started his career on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as a policy researcher and speech writer and the first ever non-secretary to be hired directly by members of the Senate and, in 1995, as senior advisor to members of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, where he served until 1999 and was responsible for many bills, motions and reports including Senate Motion No. 45 leading to the eventual abolition of the foreign content rule on deferred registered income plans and Bill C-78, An Act to establish the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and a report on changes to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investment Board).

Poirier previously served as a policy researcher in 1993–1994 to the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons to review Canada's defence policy culminating in a report entitled, Security in a Changing World, tabled in both chambers on October 21, 1994.

In 2017, as chair of PortsToronto, including Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Poirier oversaw the sale of the historic Toronto Harbour Commission Building to the Oxford Properties Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $96-million.

In June 2022, he received the Professional Land Economist (PLE) designation by the Association of Ontario Land Economists (AOLE). Since 2019, he has operated his strategy advisory firm, NeuState Advisory.

Board work
In 2009, as a result of changes to the Canada Marine Act increasing the size of the board of directors, Poirier was appointed by the federal transport minister to the Toronto Port Authority which owns and operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. In 2015, he was elected chair of the board of directors composed of individuals appointed by all levels of government – city, provincial, and federal, and after almost 12 years, he left in 2021 due to legislative term limits, making him one of its longest serving board members. Prior to leaving in 2021, Poirier oversaw a process to identify a financial investor that would be interested in operating Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport under lease "to reduce PortsToronto’s overall debt position, restore and enhance liquidity; enable ongoing and future infrastructure investment; and ensure the Airport’s long-term viability."

Poirier is said to have helped transform Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport into one of the most successful, community-oriented, and environmentally sustainable urban airports in North America. In 2016, Poirier joined the board of directors for the Northern Trust Company, Canada and currently serves as chair.

In 2017, he was elected to the board of directors of the Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority and in 2020, he was elected chair. Also in 2017, Poirier received his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2019, he was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Transport to Metrolinx, where he served as chair of the Real Estate Committee, and in 2024, as chair of the Capital Oversight Committee. In 2022, Poirier was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Finance to The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and serves as the chair of the Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.

Published articles
In 2020, Poirier published an article in the Financial Post, Supercharge the economic recovery with small- and medium-sized businesses, and in 2021, in Renew Canada, Electric Ferry a First for Island Airport on the conversion of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport passenger and vehicle ferry to electric power using Canadian technology.

Personal life
Poirier currently resides in Oakville, Ontario with his wife and family. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson University, where he was elected to its governing body, the Senate, and the Student Union as Vice President representing the Business School.