Destination Canada is delighted to announce that, after an extensive national search which elicited significant interest from a broad cross section of executive talent, our very own Richard Gagnon has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Talent, Culture & Corporate Services.

Richard came to DC with a diverse background in Human Resources from different sectors, including hospitality and tourism with Fairmont Hotels and several years of experience in the financial sector. Before joining DC, Richard held Vice President and Director of Human Resources roles where he led teams to implement innovative and strategic programs that had a significant effect on employee engagement and retention, resulting in his employer being recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Small Medium Employers.

Over the past six years with Destination Canada, Richard led our human resources team to hire top talent, enabling and engaging our people to fulfill our mandate and achieve our strategic objectives. He is proud of the way the team pulled together to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, transitioning to a fully remote work environment, and then adopting our new Hybrid working model. During this time, he was instrumental in leading the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) working group to create DC’s first DEI strategy and emphasizing the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. More recently, Richard stepped up to lead the Corporate Services team in an acting capacity for the past 15 months, ensuring the smooth continuity of operations and championing innovation across departments.

As the new Senior Vice President, Talent, Culture & Corporate Services, Richard will collaborate closely with the senior management team to ensure that DC remains an employer of choice and to offer high quality corporate services and partnership to our business to achieve our 2030 goals.