Description

Canada is entering an era of major projects and transformative initiatives. Governments are being asked to move faster while maintaining sound governance, accountability and public confidence.

Public Sector Leadership for Major Projects is a two-day executive program for leaders who advance, oversee, challenge or support complex, high-consequence initiatives. The focus is not project management mechanics, but leading across complexity - aligning institutions and decision-makers when mandates, risks and timelines collide.

Through Canadian case studies, practitioner-led discussion, interactive exercises and a culminating Cabinet simulation, participants examine how senior leaders shape initiatives, test assumptions, manage risk and remove barriers to execution.

The program covers the following modules:

Module 1: Foundations of Major Projects and Initiatives - What makes an initiative "major," why governments pursue them, the roles the public sector may play, and lessons from Canadian successes and failures.

Module 2: Governance, Accountability and Strategic Alignment - Ownership, mandates, decision rights, accountability, Crown and central agency roles, and the structures needed to sustain alignment.

Module 3: Building and Challenging the Case for Action - Problem definition, options, business cases, cost and schedule realism, delivery models, readiness, value for money and independent challenge.

Module 4: Risk, Regulation, Partnerships and Public Confidence - Regulatory and environmental processes, Indigenous partnerships, intergovernmental coordination, public accountability and enterprise-level risk.

Module 5: Leading Across Boundaries and Accelerating Delivery - How leaders overcome silos and bottlenecks, influence without direct authority and accelerate decisions while maintaining due diligence.

Module 6: Executive Cabinet Simulation - Participants prepare and defend advice on a major initiative while balancing economic, fiscal, regulatory, Indigenous, environmental, stakeholder, implementation and political considerations.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the leadership challenges unique to major projects and transformative initiatives.
• Establish governance, accountability and decision structures suited to complex initiatives.
• Challenge business cases, delivery strategies, funding models and major investment proposals more effectively.
• Make timely decisions under uncertainty and distinguish risks to accept, mitigate or escalate.
• Build alignment across governments, Crowns, regulators, Indigenous partners, communities and the private sector.
• Use influence and judgment to remove barriers, accelerate delivery and provide decision-ready advice.

Duration:

• 2-day, in-person course held at IOG’s offices in Ottawa’s ByWard Market from 9 am - 4 pm each day. A light breakfast, coffee and refreshments, and lunch are included.

Who should take this course

The Public Sector Leadership for Major Projects is designed for public servants and professionals who:

• Federal, provincial, territorial and municipal executives, Directors and Directors General

• Executives in Crown corporations, agencies and regulatory organizations

• Policy and program leaders responsible for major horizontal or transformative initiatives

• Leaders in infrastructure, energy, transportation, housing, natural resources, defence and digital transformation

• Indigenous, private-sector and advisory professionals working with governments on major initiatives

Especially relevant for leaders whose judgment, challenge, influence or governance decisions can determine whether a major initiative succeeds.

Special Offers

Take advantage of these exclusive discounts available when registering for IOG courses:

• Group Course Discount: Register 3 or more colleagues together for the same course and receive 10% off your total registration fee.  
  Learning together builds team capacity—and helps you save on training costs. 

• Individual Bundle Discount: Register as an individual for 3 or more courses at the same time and save 10% on your total registration fee.
  Advance your professional development while maximizing value

Facilitators

Facilitators

Mairead Lavery and Glenn Campbell bring extensive senior-level experience in leadership, governance, investment and complex public initiatives, with a practical focus on how difficult decisions are made and projects advanced.

 Mairead Lavery is recently retired from Export Development Canada (EDC) in 2025, Mairead Lavery has proven to be a visionary leader, who has created winning business strategies to seize business opportunities, inspired teams and developed trust with a wide range of stakeholders including Boards, Government and International Organizations. Under her direction, Canada’s export credit agency (EDC) facilitated over $100 billion in trade and investment annually by more than 30,000 Canadian companies doing business in 200 markets around the world. She pursued ambitious objectives domestically with a focus on Medium sized Canadian companies, emerging sectors of Canadian capability and on International expansion while achieving strong financial results, customer growth and employee satisfaction.

She was also the first woman to occupy EDC’s chief executive role in its 80-plus year history. Prior to joining EDC, Mairead held executive roles at Bombardier, including Vice President of Finance and Vice President. Strategy, Business Development & Structured Finance during a significant period of capital expenditure and restructuring.

Mairead is currently a member of the Conference Board of Canada Board and an independent Director for Payments Canada. She is also a proud member of the Canadian Advisory Council for the Northern Ireland Department of the Economy which was established in September 2024. She is an advisor on Project Arrow – an APMA initiative to showcase Canadian Automotive technology .

She is a native of Northern Ireland, has a degree in Management and Accounting from Queen’s University Belfast, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. She has always been passionate about international business and since arriving in Canada in 2000 has been a passionate advocate for the opportunities and challenges facing Canadian companies in international trade.

In 2015, Mairead experienced another very proud milestone: becoming a Canadian citizen. She currently resides in Montreal and is married to Martin who is a corporate pilot.

 Glenn Campbell is a strategic advisor and former senior executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across several departments and central agencies in Canada’s federal public service, with a strong focus on governance, oversight, and intergovernmental and international cooperation. He most recently served as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister at Infrastructure Canada, overseeing portfolio Crown corporations and agencies and advancing private investment in major infrastructure projects. He also led the team that established the signature Canada Infrastructure Bank.