Foundation Fellow

Chantal Bernier is Counsel at the Privacy and Security practice of Dentons LLP. She joined Dentons LLP after 5 ½ years leading the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) as Interim Privacy Commissioner and as Assistant Commissioner. She oversaw the operations of the OPC, including national and international privacy investigations in the public and private sectors, privacy audits, privacy impact assessment reviews, as well as technological analysis, privacy policy development, and research.

Prior to leading the OPC, Chantal Bernier worked at the senior levels of the Government of Canada, including as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for Socio-Economic Development at Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Canada, as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for Community Safety and Partnerships at Public Safety Canada, and as Director of Operations for the Machinery of Government Secretariat of the Privy Council Office. Ms. Bernier also negotiated international conventions for Canada as part of the International and Constitutional Law Section of the Department of Justice.

Ms. Bernier brings to Dentons LLP Canada the unique insight of a former privacy regulator, as well as the unique mix of knowledge of both the public safety context and privacy law. Her experience as a senior executive also uniquely positions her to understand corporate management challenges and find solutions to both serve corporate interests and comply with the law.