Daniel Schwanen, Background

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Daniel Schwanen completed his B.Sc. (Université de Montréal) and M.A. (Queen’s University) in economics before starting his career in the private sector as an economist with Wood Gundy Inc. (now CIBC Wood Gundy) in 1983. While there, Daniel became interested in the globalization of economics when he produced the new Canada in the World Economy quarterly report. This interest grew when Daniel joined the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as international economist, where he was in charge of forecasting economic developments in Asia and Europe, as well as conducting country credit risk analysis.

As the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations began in the early 1990s, Daniel moved to the C.D. Howe Institute as a senior policy analyst to research and formulate recommendations on these negotiations and other Canadian external trade and investment issues. In this role, he gained prominence in the national media as an authority on North American trade and integration, and he fondly remembers participating in the tough public debate surrounding NAFTA in those years. In 2000, Daniel joined the Institute for Research on Public Policy, where he continued to research North American economic governance, particularly in the context of heightened global security concerns post 9/11. In 2001, Daniel received the Outstanding Research Contribution Award from the Canadian government’s Policy Research Initiative for his paper “A Room of Our Own: Cultural Policies and Trade Agreements.”

Since joining CIGI as director of research and strategic planning in 2004, Daniel has held both senior executive and research roles within the organization, including acting executive director from 2008 to 2009. In 2011, Daniel re-joined the C.D. Howe Institute as associate vice-president, trade and international policy, but retains a substantive role at CIGI as a senior fellow analyzing global economic issues. While at CIGI, Daniel helped shape the organization’s early research programs and operations, and worked on the Caribbean Papers and the Canada Among Nations series. He is particularly proud of links developed with Chinese think tanks during this period, and the policy recommendations both he and CIGI have made surrounding the G20. Daniel remains an active commentator on these issues in the national and international media.

An avid trivia player, traveler, walker, dancer and occasional cyclist, Daniel lives in Waterloo and is fluent in English and French.