Ali Ghiassi

Ali Ghiassi is Vice-President of Industry Affairs and Government Relations at Canada Life where he leads the national public policy team.  He has extensive experience in government and regulatory affairs having served for nearly 10 years as a senior advisor in the Ontario government including as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance between 2014-18. 

At Finance, Ali was responsible for the design, development and delivery of four provincial budgets and led Ontario’s 2016 negotiations with the federal and provincial governments to enhance the Canada Pension Plan.  Prior to this, Ali was Vice-President, General Counsel and Public Affairs at Mohawk College.  He has taught politics at McMaster University and has been a guest lecturer at Ryerson, University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto. Ali previously practiced international law in Toronto and at the World Bank in Washington DC.