Bio
Raymond (Ray) Ivany was appointed to the Bank of Canada’s Board of Directors in September 2018.
Mr. Ivany is President Emeritus of Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
His career in higher education spanned more than three decades, beginning as a faculty member at the University College of Cape Breton (now known as Cape Breton University) where he also served as Dean and Executive Vice President. Mr. Ivany was appointed as President and CEO of Nova Scotia Community College in 1998, leading the institution through a period of rapid growth and transformation. He served as President and Vice-Chancellor of Acadia University between 2009 and 2017. Upon his retirement, Acadia University awarded Mr. Ivany the prestigious Arthur L. Irving Medal of Commitment for his leadership and contributions.
Mr. Ivany has also been active in public policy development throughout his career. He served as chair of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia and was a member of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Ontario government’s Investing in Students Task Force, Nova Scotia Business Inc. (now known as Invest Nova Scotia), the Perennia Food and Agriculture Corporation, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy and the Canadian Council on Learning. Between 2012 and 2014, he chaired an economic commission that resulted in a landmark report called Now or Never: An Urgent Call to Action for Nova Scotians.
Currently, Mr. Ivany is a private consultant in the areas of strategy, governance and leadership. He is also a director of Nova Scotia Power Incorporated.
He has received numerous awards, including being named in Maclean’s magazine’s 2004 Honour Roll of 10 Canadians who made a difference, as well as Canada’s Most Admired CEO in the public sector and Person of the Year by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. He was also inducted into Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEO Hall of Fame. Mr. Ivany was appointed to the Order of Nova Scotia in 2017 and invested in the Order of Canada in 2020.