Annette Verschuren
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{{COI|date=October 2014}}
{{Like resume|date=December 2023}}
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{{Infobox person
|name = Annette Verschuren
|image =ANNETTE VERSCHUREN.jpg
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_date =
|birth_place = North Sydney, Nova Scotia
|death_date =
|death_place =
|other_names =
|known_for = President of The Home Depot Canada and Asia
|occupation = Chair & CEO of [http://www.nrstor.com/ NRStor Inc.]
|nationality =
|awards = Order of Canada
}}
Annette Verschuren, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|OC}} is a Canadian business woman. She is currently the Chair & Chief Executive Officer of NRStor Inc.{{Cite web |url=https://enercom.eda-on.ca/imis15/ENERCOM/Speakers/Speakers/Coming_Soon_/ENERCOM/Annette_Verschuren.aspx?hkey=b39de272-aa73-4e9b-a9f7-edccafac6f2b |title=Annette Verschuren |access-date=2013-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006095314/https://enercom.eda-on.ca/imis15/ENERCOM/Speakers/Speakers/Coming_Soon_/ENERCOM/Annette_Verschuren.aspx?hkey=b39de272-aa73-4e9b-a9f7-edccafac6f2b |archive-date=2014-10-06 |url-status=dead }} The company develops and manages energy storage projects.
Prior to this, Ms. Verschuren was the President of The Home Depot Canada,{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/companies/article/920735--face-of-home-depot-canada-is-changing|title=Face of Home Depot Canada is changing|date=January 12, 2011|author=Dana Flavelle|work=Toronto Star}} overseeing the growth of the company's Canadian operations from 19 to 179 stores between 1996 and 2011, increasing revenue from $600 million to $6 billion.
Career
Verschuren began her career as a development officer with the Cape Breton Development Corporation, a coal mining operation, in Sydney, Nova Scotia. She then worked with Canada Development Investment Corporation as executive vice-president, to help privatize crown corporations. Her next stop was as a Vice President of Corporate Development at Imasco Ltd., one of Canada’s largest holding companies. Ms. Verschuren then launched Michaels of Canada, a chain of arts and crafts stores before landing at the helm of Home Depot Canada.
Ms. Verschuren has been appointed to numerous government advisory roles. Among them: Economic Advisory Council, during the economic crisis in 2008, the Canada-U.S. Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders and the Advisory Council for NAFTA. Recently, Ms Verschuren participated in our Government’s Roundtable on Decarbonization.
Verschuren is a board member of Liberty Mutual, Air Canada, Saputo Inc.{{Cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/saputo-announces-election-directors-193619987.html|title=Saputo Announces Election of Directors|newspaper=Yahoo Finance |date=7 August 2013 }} and Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL). In addition, Ms. Verschuren is the Chair of the MaRS Discovery District Board. Ms. Verschuren is on the board of the Ontario Energy Association.
= Corporate social responsibility =
In 2011, Verschuren was honoured as an Officer of The Order of Canada for her contribution to the retail industry and corporate social responsibility.{{cite web|url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14175&lan=eng|title=Appointments to the Order of Canada|date=June 30, 2011}} In 2010, she was appointed co-chair of the 2012 Governor General's Leadership Conference. Verschuren was honoured by the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2019.{{cn|date=February 2025}}
She is a founding member of the Rideau Hall Foundation.{{cn|date=February 2023}} She co-chairs the Smart Prosperity Initiative.{{cn|date=February 2023}}
=SDTC =
Verschuren served as a Chairperson of the Board of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, an arm’s-length agency created by the Canadian federal government in 2001 to fund Canadian cleantech projects with public money.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ottawa-orders-probe-of-cleantech-agency-after-allegations-of-conflict/ In the fall of 2023, the government suspended SDTC from funding new projects following a third-party investigation into allegations from former SDTC employees.{{Cite web | url=https://betakit.com/feds-resume-sdtc-funding-under-nrc-following-damning-ag-report/ | title=Feds resume SDTC funding under NRC following damning AG report | website=betakit.com}}
On 8 November 2023, Verschuren admitted to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics that she had approved grants worth more than $200,000 to her own company (energy storage firm NRStor Inc.), with the money having originally been part of the SDTC's efforts to fund SDTC-linked companies with existing funding arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-green-fund-sdtc-verschuren-1.7023725 | title=MPs grill federal green fund chair who took part in decision to grant her own firm $217,000 | website=www.cbc.ca}} Verschuren announced on 19 November 2023 that she would resign as chair of the Board of Directors to allow the board move forward on recommended changes effective 1 December 2023.{{Cite web | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-sustainable-development-technology-canada-chair-resigns-as-federal/ | title=Sustainable Development Technology Canada chair resigns as agency faces fresh probe | website=www.theglobeandmail.com}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/whistleblower-sdtc-testimony-1.7056296 | title=Whistleblower testifies about 'gross mismanagement' at federal green fund | website=www.cbc.ca}}
= Author =
Verschuren is the author of Bet On Me: Leading and Succeeding in Business and in Life (Harper-Collins, 2017; {{isbn|9781443437592}}).
Honours
Verschuren has received Honourary Doctorates from Canadian universities St. Francis Xavier University and Mount Saint Vincent University.{{cite web|title=Annette Verschuren President - The Home Depot Canada and Asia|url=http://www.cerclecanadien-montreal.ca/en/speakers/annette-verschuren|work=Canadian Club|access-date=2011-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006175600/http://www.cerclecanadien-montreal.ca/en/speakers/annette-verschuren|archive-date=2011-10-06|url-status=dead}}
References
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Category:Canadian women chief executives
Category:Chancellors by university and college in Canada
Category:Officers of the Order of Canada
Category:St. Francis Xavier University alumni
Category:People from North Sydney, Nova Scotia
Category:Canadian women academics
Category:Women academic administrators