Suzanne Cowan

Suzanne Cowan is a Canadian political administrator based in Toronto, Ontario. She served as the President of the Liberal Party of Canada from April 21, 2018 to May 6, 2023.

Suzanne Cowan
President of the Liberal Party of Canada
In office 21 April 2018 – 6 May 2023
Leader	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Anna Gainey
Succeeded by	Sachit Mehra[1]
Vice President (English) of the Liberal Party of Canada
In office 24 August 2016 – 21 April 2018
President	Anna Gainey
Leader	Justin Trudeau
Personal details
Born	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Parent	Jim Cowan (father)
Residence(s)	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	Mount Allison University Université de Strasbourg

Biography

Suzanne Cowan is a native of Halifax.^[2] Cowan's father is former Liberal senator Jim Cowan who was leader of the opposition Liberal caucus in the Senate from 2008 to 2016.^[3] Cowan received degrees from Mount Allison University and Université de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France.^[4]

Cowan worked as an communications aide and advisor to liberal Deputy Prime Minister Herb Grey, minister Carolyn Bennett, Senate Government Leader Bernie Boudreau and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. She was a key advisor to Justin Trudeau’s successful 2013 leadership bid, and served as a senior advisor to Trudeau as party leader from 2013 through the 2015 election. In 2014, whilst Cowan was senior advisor to Trudeau, Trudeau removed her all Liberal Senators from the Liberal caucus, including her father who was at the time Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and leader of the Senate Liberal Caucus.^[5]

Cowan was became national vice president of the Liberal Party of Canada at its 2016 convention held in Winnipeg, the first convention held since the party returned to power.^[3][6][7] At the Winnipeg convention, the freshly elected PM Trudeau implored delegates to adopt a revamped party constitution that drastically altered the party's governance and organization model. Cowan led the drafting of much of the new rules needed to operationally implement the revamped constitution following the convention. In 2018, she was elected unopposed as party president at its 2018 convention held in Halifax, ^[3] and served until the party's 2023 convention in Ottawa. In the 2025 leadership contest that elected Mark Carney as leader, Cowan co-chaired the committee responsible for planning and organizing Leadership vote.

Personal life

Cowan lives in Toronto.^[4] She has two daughters, Grace and Clara Cunningham.^[4]