Keith Smith, High Commissioner of Canada to New Zealand

Biography

Keith Smith (BA Hon [French Studies], University of Ottawa, 1997) has held various positions within Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, including as director of Intergovernmental and International Relations. From 2013 to 2016, he was the director of Policy, Research and International at the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). He also served as the director general of Policy and Communications at the CHRC. From 2016 to 2018, he worked for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada as the director of policy. In this role, he dealt with a wide range of justice files, including an Indigenous rights framework, criminal justice system and family law reform, 2SLGBTQI+ issues and international human rights and justice matters. He joined Justice Canada in August 2021 as the director general of the UN Declaration Act Implementation Secretariat, leading on the development of a whole-of-government action plan to achieve the objectives of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He is a member of the Thessalon First Nation, a signatory to the Robinson Huron Treaty.