Rick Hillier

Senior Advisor

General (ret’d) Rick Hillier was born in Newfoundland and joined the Canadian Armed Forces as soon as he could. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege of commanding troops from Platoon to Multinational Formation in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia, in peace and in war. He assumed duties as Chief of Defence Staff in February 2005 and retired in July 2008. 

As noted by Globe and Mail, "[General] Rick Hillier's rise through the ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces can be linked to a gale force wind. Few individuals in our history have been as single-handedly accomplished at recrafting the nation's image".

Hillier's leadership was crucial to restoring servicemen and women to a place of pride in Canada and to re-equipping and rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces with the largest and most rapid military procurement programs in our nation's history, including the C17, C130J, Chinook helicopters and Leopard II tanks among others.

Since retirement from the Military in 2008, General Hillier has written several books, including the bestseller "Leadership Matters", using his unprecedented experience to help leaders in all areas navigate through tough economic times and rethink their roles and impacts.