Rakesh Patry is Director General of International and Intergovernmental Labour Affairs for the Government of Canada’s Department of Employment and Social Development (ESDC). In this capacity, he is responsible for overseeing all of the Government’s international labour activities, including the negotiation and implementation of labour provisions in Canada’s Free Trade Agreements, technical assistance programming, and Canadian engagement in multilateral labour fora such as the International Labour Organization (ILO). Mr. Patry also chaired the standard-setting discussions over a two-year period that led to the adoption of the ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in 2019. He is currently chairing the steering committee of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), an international initiative led by the ILO, UN Women and the OECD.
Previously, Mr. Patry was Director of International Policy and Agreements for ESDC where he served as the Government of Canada’s lead negotiator of international social security agreements from 2008 to 2014. During that time, he successfully led negotiations on bilateral treaties with a number of countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Prior to joining the Government of Canada, Mr. Patry worked with the Canadian Education Centre Network (CECN), a joint public-private initiative developed to promote Canadian education and training services globally. After establishing and launching the India country office in New Delhi, Mr. Patry returned to Canada to assume the position of Director, International Projects. In 2004, Mr. Patry was appointed Vice President, Global Education Enterprises overseeing a division responsible for negotiating and implementing civil service and private sector training projects in 30 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East before undertaking a posting to Rabat, Morocco from 2006 to 2008 to establish North African operations for the organization.
Mr. Patry holds a degree in International Relations from York University in Toronto and began his career with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as National Marketing Manager for Canada.