Sophie Brochu joined CAE’s board in 2023. From 2020 to April 2023, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hydro-Québec, Canada’s largest electricity producer and one of the world’s largest hydropower producers. Ms. Brochu spent most of her career at Énergir (formerly known as Gaz Métro), where she served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2007 to 2019. Under her leadership, the Québec gas distributor added renewable natural gas to its supply portfolio and became a major player in the wind and solar energy spaces in both Canada and the U.S. Ms. Brochu began her career as a financial analyst at Société Québécoise d’Initiatives Pétrolières in 1987.
Experience, Qualifications, Attributes, and Skills
Ms. Brochu has over 30 years of experience leading large publicly traded organizations. She is a seasoned government relations expert, developed through her 35 years of deep experience with energy utilities and regulated entities, both in Canada and the U.S., where she navigated complex governmental relations, at both the political and administrative level. Ms. Brochu also brings human resources and compensation expertise gained during her service in CEO roles where she had ultimate oversight for succession planning, talent management and retention, and alignment of HR compensation programs with strategic orientations, as well as during her service on HR and Compensation committees of various public boards. She also brings significant sustainability expertise through her over 25 years of experience in the deployment of health and safety programs, establishment of environmental frameworks, fostering of deep relationships with various stakeholders, and advancing of diversity and inclusion practices at the organizations that she oversaw. Ms. Brochu holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Université Laval and sits on the boards of CGI Inc. and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. She was also awarded honorary doctorates by Université de Montréal (HEC Montréal) and Bishop’s University. Ms. Brochu is a member of the Order of Canada and an officer of the Ordre national du Québec.
