Evan Siddall

Evan Siddall is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. He is the CEO of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), an asset management firm that invests $120 billion (Cdn$150 billion) on behalf of pension fund and endowment clients. Siddall also teaches at McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, where he is a member of the Advisory Board. 

Before joining AIMCo, Siddall served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and as de facto deputy minister of housing in Canada, reporting to the federal minister responsible for CMHC. Siddall is well known as an affordable housing advocate in Canada. Under his leadership, CMHC shrunk its commercial mortgage insurance and securitization activities in favor of increased affordable housing supply programs. This strategy was centered around the mission that “by 2030, everyone in Canada will have a home they can afford, and that meets their needs.”  

Siddall’s tenure at CMHC corresponded with a rapid acceleration in federal housing policy, notably including Canada’s first ever National Housing Strategy, by which Canada’s federal government recovered it leadership role in housing in Canada. That Cdn$70+ billion, ten-year program was heavily weighted to supply, as well as renovation and repair funding to preserve existing affordable housing stock. 

The corresponding National Housing Strategy Act also proposed a “right to housing” in Canada and institutionalized a novel non-judicial review of systemic barriers to housing. This innovative construct, which includes the appointment of a Federal Housing Advocate and a National Housing Council co-chaired by the CEO of CMHC, earned the support of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing. 

Siddall’s public sector career began in 2011, when he joined the Bank of Canada as Special Advisor to then Governor Mark Carney. At the Bank, he led an effort that resulted in additional “bail-in” loss absorbing capital requirements for large global banks. Along with work he also led on central clearing, these initiatives help promise to address the “too big to fail” challenge that confounds crisis management and invites moral hazard. His three-decade career in finance also includes experience as a Managing Director at Lazard, Goldman Sachs and initially BMO Nesbitt Burns. Siddall left investment banking in 2008 to join Irving Oil Limited as CFO.  

Siddall remains a sought-after speaker and authority on housing matters and inclusive growth in Canada and his publications include several speeches available on CMHC’s website, as well as op-ed articles in leading Canadian periodicals. In addition to his appointment at McGill University, Siddall has taught two Harvard Business School case studies on CMHC to students at HBS, the Smith School of Business at Queens University and the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. 

Siddall has a B.A. in Management Economics from the University of Guelph, which has honored him with a Notable Alumni Award, a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, and has completed Harvard Business School’s Presidents Program in Leadership. He is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and the Institute of Corporate Directors. He is the former Chair of the Board of Governors of his alma mater, the University of Guelph. 

Siddall is the 2021 CEO Catalyst Honours Champion in recognition of his efforts in promoting women and disadvantaged groups in the workplace and in housing policy in Canada. An avid cyclist, Evan also started the Growling Beaver Brevet, a unique day-long cycling event that has raised over $2 million for Parkinson’s charities since 2015. He was a co-founder of Side Launch Brewing Company, named 2016 Canadian Brewery of the Year, and is a long-time member of the Young Presidents Organization. 

Siddall is a dedicated cyclist, skier and a voracious reader. He has two adult children, Zack and Zoë, who live in New York and California, respectively.