Biography of Denis Simard

Denis Simard has been the representative of the Gouvernement du Québec on the Permanent Delegation of Canada to UNESCO since September 15, 2025.

Mr. Simard is an experienced communications and public affairs advisor. He was assistant director in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and senior advisor in the Office of the Minister of Finance and the Economy. He then held several positions as chief of staff, including with the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, the Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, and with the Minister of the French Language and Minister responsible for Canadian Relations and the Canadian Francophonie, where he helped design the Plan pour la langue française and the Act respecting integration into the Québec nation.

Mr. Simard has also worked in the private sector. Initially a senior consultant at National, he founded Axiome in 2000 and ran it for 8 years, advising numerous Québec companies and public bodies on image management, crisis management, and strategic communications. His clients included the Curateur public, the Conseil du statut de la femme, and the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. In 2008, he became general manager of Optimum Public Relations (Cossette). In 2011, he founded ARP Conseils to play an active role in modern public policy development and strategic planning, fields in which he has been highly regarded for over 20 years. Mr. Simard has also been involved in the design of numerous communications campaigns, mobilization campaigns, and national strategies in addition to leading committees on organizational, economic, social, and political issues.

A graduate of Université de Montréal with a degree in history, Mr. Simard pursued part of his graduate studies in political science at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris. He recently started graduate studies in international management at the École nationale d’administration publique (ENAP).