Denis Coderre was born on July 25, 1963. For 16 years, he represented voters in the district of Bourassa, who re-elected him six times to be their voice in the House of Commons.

Active in his area from a young age, Denis has been an active member of numerous organisations, including the Montréal-Nord Optimist Club, his alma mater student association, the Richelieu Club, the Montréal-Nord History and Genealogy Society, the Bourassa Young Liberal Committee and the Bourassa Federal Liberal Electoral District Association.

He has served as Secretary of State for Amateur Sport, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, President of the Queen’s Privy Council, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Minister responsible for La Francophonie, and Minister responsible for the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution. Denis has also been a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for Haiti and took part in the 2004 Montréal Haitian Diaspora Conference.

Denis has played an influential role in many projects, including the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s headquarters in Montréal (while Secretary of State for Amateur Sport), the adoption of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the implementation of measures designed to regulate immigration consultants, and the signing of a Safe Third Country agreement with the United States, which enabled both countries to better manage their refugee programs.

Denis earned a political science degree from the Université de Montréal and an executive MBA from the University of Ottawa, and was named a Commander of the Order of La Pléiade by the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie, which recognizes the achievements of individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the ideals of La Francophonie.