Jacques Demers

Jacques Demers is co-founder of AGAWA and brings over forty years of experience in investment, law and pensions, both in Canada and globally. Jacques co-founded and led one of Canada’s most respected business law firms (now Norton Rose Fulbright) and pioneered a number of “first of-a-kind” corporate and project financings and infrastructure-related investments (e.g. Canada’s first diamond projects and related agreements with developers, First Nations and governments; and projects in developing markets). A private investor since 1987, (initial investor in Cashway, Porter Airlines, and others), he served, between 2008-2015, as a member of OMERS Senior Executive Leadership and President & CEO of the OMERS fund’s strategic investment division, OMERS Strategic Investments, where he worked closely with then (and now continuing) colleague, James Donegan, managed $3.5B of investments and led a number of innovative, strategic investment initiatives for the OMERS fund, including the $12.6B Global Strategic Investment Alliance infrastructure fund (with long-term institutional investors from Japan and USA). Jacques serves as a member of the York University Board of Governors, as Chair of the York University Investment Committee, Chair of the York University Pension (and active member of its Pension Fund Investment Committee). Jacques is a member of the Japan-Canada Chamber Council, the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Advisory Board, and the World Ocean Council’s Board of Directors. He is a respected speaker on investment, legal, and regulatory matters, addressing in 2018 a number of institutional investor gatherings in Asia, Europe and USA, as well as the United Nations Session on Financing Sustainable Ocean Development held at UN HQ in New York, Roundtable Japan in Tokyo, and the Sustainable Ocean Summits in Halifax and Hong Kong. He is Chairman of several private corporations and foundations. Following studies in economics, history and philosophy at McGill University, Jacques studied law at Université Laval. He is fluent in English and French and has basic proficiency in Japanese.