Appointee is a lawyer and previously worked for Department of Justice Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed lawyer Kirsten Hillman as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. She is the first woman in the country's history to be appointed to this role.
Hillman has been working at the Canadian Embassy, in Washington, D.C., since August 2017. She first served as deputy ambassador, then as acting ambassador, before being permanently appointed to the role.
Prior to her employment at the Embassy, she previously worked at Global Affairs Canada, serving the roles of assistant deputy minister of the trade agreements and negotiations branch, Canada’s chief negotiator for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, associate assistant deputy minister of the trade policy branch and senior legal adviser at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
Hillman also has experience working as a lawyer with the Department of Justice in Ottawa, as well as a private practitioner in Montreal. She holds civil law and common law degrees from McGill University.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said that, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hillman would serve well in this key role as the country’s point person in the U.S. owing to her calmness, competence and wisdom. “Her work on trade, on the new NAFTA, as Acting Ambassador, and most recently on our cross-border response to COVID- 19, makes her the obvious, outstanding candidate for this role,” Freeland said.
Freeland also agreed with the Prime Minister’s assessment of Hillman as a “brilliant lawyer, skilled diplomat, and gifted team leader.”
Upon her designation as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Hillman stated that she was very honoured to be chosen for the post. She emphasized the unique relationship between Canada and the U.S., who share deep ties in terms of economy and security.
“Today, our two countries share the top priority of tackling the Coronavirus pandemic,” Hillman said. “My immediate priority remains working together with the United States for the protection of our people and our economies.”
