Accelerate appoints new president and CEO

Accelerate, Canada’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) supply chain alliance, has announced the appointment of Matthew Fortier as its president and CEO. To boost the ZEV supply chain, Fortier will leverage his experience in building progressive relationships with the Canadian industry and government.

“The global shift towards ZEVs offers an unprecedented economic opportunity for Canada to capitalize on our rich resources, talent and infrastructure to become a global ZEV leader, and to grow our domestic auto industry so that good jobs in the sector will exist in 10, 20, and 50 years from now,” said Fortier, president and CEO of Accelerate. “Canada has all the pieces of the puzzle to win the global ZEV race, and I look forward to putting my experience to work for Accelerate’s members and supporting the accelerated build-out of Canada’s ZEV supply chain.”

Fortier comes into this role with 20 years of experience as a public policy leader and executive. He previously held the position of vice-president at the Institute of Corporate Directors. Here, he worked closely with several senior business leaders in Canada to formulate approaches to climate change oversight, the future of work and Canadian innovation and global competitiveness. In this role, he built coalitions to shape federal legislation and regulation and developed partnerships and programming with the Government of Canada, provincial premiers’ offices, the UN Global Compact, the World Economic Forum, TMX Group and several private sector companies.

“Steering Canada’s ZEV supply chain towards success requires the right mix of business, government relations, public affairs and policy advocacy experience,” said Moe Kabbara, former acting executive director at Accelerate. “With Matthew’s extensive experience and excellent relationships with government and business stakeholders alike, we are thrilled to have him at the wheel to advocate for our members’ shared vision of creating a strong Canadian ZEV supply chain and setting Canada’s auto industry up to win in a net-zero world.”

Fortier has also served in several senior corporate and public affairs roles, including at Re:Sound, where he shaped successful approaches to Canadian and North American IP ownership and trade; at TD Bank, where he helped advance Canada’s banking agenda by creating the Conservative Party Financial Services Caucus; and at the Business Council of Canada.