Michelle McLean

Vice-president and group leader,
public & corporate affairs

An experienced lawyer, public affairs and communications professional in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, Michelle provides strategic counsel and support to a wide array of communications and public affairs clients.

Michelle’s background includes a decade of public affairs and communications experience in the health sector, including almost three years as vice-president of public affairs at the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). During her time there, Michelle established and built a strong public affairs team and successfully integrated it with the communications team to form one cohesive unit. Michelle also played a leading role in developing corporate communications, stakeholder engagement and government relations strategies and campaigns, as well as rebranding MHCC. Reputation and issues management were also a key focus of her time with the Commission.

Michelle first joined H+K in 2008, where until 2010 she worked in the public affairs group in the Ottawa office as a health public affairs and stakeholder specialist. Her clients included Hoffmann-La Roche, Pfizer, Abbott, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Prior to 2008, Michelle held significant senior-level project and public affairs management positions in the non-profit sector, including leading the campaign for the funding of a national cancer strategy, to which the federal government committed $260 million in 2006–a record at the time.
Michelle completed her undergraduate degree at Queen’s University, and her law degree at the University of Western Ontario. She spent four years as a litigation associate at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, LLP.