Paul Fortin

A native of Ottawa, Paul has over 20 years of domestic and international senior business development expertise working within the legal, defence and security, life sciences, and information technology sectors.

Paul began his career in product marketing, client capture, retention, and channel development for some of Canada’s leading internet, software, and hardware providers.

He has held senior positions within Canada’s largest law firms where he was responsible for the Defence and Life Sciences industry groups, and oversight of international revenue generating strategies. This involved work in the UK, the US, Asia Pacific, and the management of overseas offices in Hong Kong and Beijing China.

Specific to the defence sector, Paul has been involved in the development of market entry strategies to support domestic and foreign companies in bidding on Canada’s major defence procurement programs. He has also worked with companies in various sectors to set up operations, access foreign markets, staff up, raise capital, go public and pursue M&A activity.

His network includes exceptionally strong ties to influencers within the private, public, and diplomatic defence attaché network. Paul is a designated Global Affairs Canada “Champion” where he is frequently invited to participate in Government of Canada trade missions to speak on doing business in Canada and attracting foreign investment.

Paul sits on numerous boards and is a graduate of Carleton University and Algonquin College. Paul is very active in charitable endeavours and fundraising committees most notably with The Perley Foundation and in volunteering his time in building an Afghan refugee re-settlement network.