Monique F. Leroux

In 2018, Leroux was co-chair of the B7 Summit in Canada. She chaired the High Level Contact Group of the European Cooperative Banking Group. She was a member of the B20 Working Group on Financing for Growth and co-chair of the B20 Working Group on Small and Medium Enterprises (Germany 2017). Ms. Leroux represented the Canadian business group at the B7 Summit in Berlin in 2015. She also participated in the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women and the G20 Leaders' Summit.

During her mandate, which ended in April 2016, Desjardins Group experienced remarkable growth and overall performance. Under her leadership, Desjardins completed major transactions and entered into strategic partnerships, thereby contributing to the positioning of Desjardins at the Canadian and international levels. Desjardins Group, the largest private employer in Québec and among the top twenty in Canada, was also recognized as an employer of choice in Canada and as the strongest financial institution in North America and fifth in the world according to Bloomberg, based on the quality of its balance sheet and capital.

She devotes her time to several non-profit organizations and has a particular interest in education and youth. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Chair of the Governance Committee of the Université de Sherbrooke. She has served as chair of the Board of Governors of the Société des célébrations du 375e anniversaire de Montréal. She has been a member of the Board and executive committee of the Rideau Hall Foundation since 2015, as well as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Order of Canada for the Governor-General of Canada. She also co-chaired the annual campaign of Centraide of Greater Montreal in 2014 and chaired the Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke in 2013.

From 2013 to 2017, Leroux also served as a board member and then President of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) a global organization representing more than 2.5 million businesses, generating more than $3 trillion in sales, in more than 100 countries, and was the first Canadian and North American woman to hold this prestigious position. She was also the founder and president of the International Co-operative Summit, a biennial world-class economic and cooperative event.

From March 2008 to April 2016, Leroux was chair of the Board and chief executive officer of Desjardins Group, Canada's largest cooperative financial group, as well as its executive committee and its Governance and Human Resources Committees. She chaired the Board of Directors of Caisse centrale Desjardins and Desjardins Financial Corporation, and also served as chief executive officer of Desjardins General Insurance Group and Desjardins Financial Security.

Before joining Desjardins Group in 2001, Leroux was Chief Operating Officer of Québecor Inc., Senior Vice-President, Finance (Head Office) and Senior Vice-President, Quebec Operations of RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), and Managing Partner for the financial services sector at Ernst & Young in Canada.  She was also President of the Ordre des CPA du Québec and Governor of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Monique F. Leroux CM OQ (born August 11, 1954 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian businesswoman. From 2008 to 2016, she was chair of the Board and chief executive officer of Desjardins Group.