Simon Coakeley

Executive Director
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Simon Coakeley has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the University of Ottawa. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

After graduation from university, he worked at Canada Post Corporation, before joining the Federal Public Service in 1989 as Executive Director of the RCMP External Review Committee. Prior to his appointment as Chief Pensions Advocate at Veterans Affairs Canada, in 1996, he was Director of Public Programs at Justice Canada. In October 1997, Mr. Coakeley was asked to take on responsibility for discussing, with the Province of Québec and Montréal-area health officials, the possibility of transferring Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Hospital from Veterans Affairs Canada to the Québec long-term health-care network.

In 1998, Mr. Coakeley was a successful candidate in the Assistant Deputy Minister Pre-Qualified Program and was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Commemoration and Public Relations, in addition to his responsibilities as Chief Pensions Advocate, at Veterans Affairs Canada. In May, 2001, he joined the Privy Council Office as Visiting ADM and Special Advisor, Management Priorities. He joined Correctional Services Canada (CSC) in September 2003 and was appointed Assistant Commissioner for Human Resources Management in March 2004 and then Deputy Commissioner for CSC's Atlantic Region, in Moncton, NB, in June 2006. In September 2007, he returned to Ottawa as the Deputy Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

In September 2008, he was appointed Executive Director of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. In addition, Mr. Coakeley was elected President of APEX — the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada — in January 2007.