Who we are
History of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal
The Tribunal has a long and rich history
| 1888 | The Board of Customs is established. Its powers include the review of matters such as value for duty, the re-determination of a rate of duty or the exemption of a good from duty. The decisions of the Board are subject to the approval of the Minister of Revenue. |
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| 1904 | Canada adopts its first anti-dumping legislation.It is among the first countries in the world to have such legislative tools. Under this legislation, duties are automatically applied to dumped goods, without case-by-case investigations. |
| 1931 | The Tariff Board is established as a successor to the Board of Customs, and Board of Customs appellate powers are transferred to the Tariff Board. It is a court of record, independent from Customs. In addition to the appeal powers held by the Board of Customs, the Tariff Board inquires into economic matters referred to it by the Minister of Finance. |
| 1968 | The Anti-dumping Tribunal is established, following the adoption of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Anti-Dumping Code. The application of anti dumping duties is, from now on, subject to a determination by an independent tribunal of whether the dumping has caused material injury to domestic production. |
| 1969 | The Anti-dumping Tribunal becomes the Canadian Import Tribunal to reflect a broader mandate to conduct injury inquiries in both anti-dumping and countervailing duty proceedings under the newly adopted Anti-dumping Act, as well as in safeguard cases. |
| 1970 | The Textile and Clothing Board is formed and inquires into safeguard complaints by the Canadian textile and apparel industries. |
| 1988 | The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) begins operations following the merger of the Tariff Board, the Canadian Import Tribunal and the Textile and Clothing Board. |
| 1994 | The Tribunal absorbs the Procurement Review Board, established in 1988, extending the Tribunal’s mandate to include inquiries into whether federal procurement processes have been conducted in accordance with Canada’s domestic and international trade obligations. |
| 2014 | The Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) is established to provide operational support and corporate services to a group of tribunals, including the CITT. Staff and resources associated with the CITT Secretariat are transferred to the new entity while remaining mainly dedicated to the CITT. |
Members of the Tribunal
The Tribunal may be composed of up to seven full-time permanent members, including the Chairperson and the Vice-chairperson. In addition to his duties as a member of the Tribunal, the Chairperson assigns cases to members and manages the Tribunal’s work. Permanent members are appointed by the Governor in Council for a term of up to five years, which can be renewed once. Up to five temporary members may also be appointed. Members have a variety of educational backgrounds and experience.
Mr. Frédéric Seppey is the Chairperson of the Tribunal. Ms. Bree Jamieson-Holloway was appointed Vice-chairperson in December 2022. In 2022-23, the Tribunal operated with seven permanent members and two temporary members. As of March 31, 2023, the Tribunal’s members are:
- Susan Beaubien (Permanent member, mandate effective until March 3, 2024)
- Cheryl Beckett (Permanent member, mandate effective until September 30, 2023)
- Georges Bujold (Permanent member, mandate effective until September 30, 2023)
- Peter Burn (Permanent member, mandate concluded on January 30, 2023)
- Serge Fréchette (Temporary part-time member, mandate effective until June 10, 2025)
- Randolph W. Heggart (Permanent member, mandate effective until June 17, 2024)
- Bree Jamieson-Holloway (Vice-chairperson, mandate effective until December 4, 2027)
- Frédéric Seppey (Chairperson, mandate effective until December 31, 2025)
- Eric Wildhaber (Temporary member, mandate effective until July 24, 2025)
Spotlight on the CITT Secretariat
The Tribunal is supported by a dedicated secretariat composed of about 60 professionals. CITT Secretariat staff are employees of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC).
The ATSSC is responsible and accountable for providing support services and facilities to the Tribunal and to 11 other federal administrative tribunals. These services include the specialized services required to support the mandate of each tribunal (Registry Services, Legal Services and Mandate and Member Services), as well as internal services (human resources, financial services, information management and technology, accommodation, security, planning and communications).
Secretariat management team
Gillian Burnett: Executive Director
Gillian is an experienced executive who has enjoyed a career in supporting various administrative tribunals. She is responsible for the delivery of registry operations, legal services and internal services to support the Tribunal in fulfilling its mandates. She is dedicated to improving access to justice for all Canadians and is recognized as having developed and delivered the first Navigator program, at the federal level, designed to support self-represented parties.
Greg Gallo: Director of Investigative Services and Chief Economist
Greg has over 30 years of experience providing advice and conducting research as an economist in the federal public service on a wide range of financial, international and social policy issues. He brings his considerable knowledge of and experience in many areas of economics to support the Tribunal in conducting trade remedies investigations, promote interest in global economic issues and strengthen the capacity of the CITT Secretariat to perform economic analysis.
Lune Arpin: General Counsel
Lune is an experienced lawyer, professor and leader with a focus on innovation and change management. She has mainly worked in health law, tax recovery and tariff classification as legal counsel and as a litigator. She has acquired substantial knowledge and diversified experience in administrative law through teaching the subject matter at university, at the Barreau du Québec and at the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals for the last 20 years, as well as through advising several decision-makers at different levels of government and administrative tribunals. She has led numerous departmental initiatives to improve the practice of law and has led several teams to higher performance.
Michel Parent: Director of Registry Services
Michel has over 17 years of experience working in registry services for various quasi judicial administrative tribunals. He is responsible for the delivery of registry operations for the CITT Secretariat.
Martin Pelchat: A/Manager, Member and Mandate Services (Editing and Communications)
Martin has worked in federal government communications for 15 years. Since 2014, he has worked for various secretariats and held various positions within the ATSSC. Martin has led numerous initiatives regarding website renewal, editing and translation services, and corporate publications. Martin is responsible for editing and communications services at the CITT Secretariat.
Anja Grabundzija: Senior Counsel and Team Leader
Anja joined the CITT Legal Services team in 2012 and has been advising the Tribunal on matters relating to trade remedies, government procurement, and customs and administrative law. For the past several years, Anja has worked in the capacity of Senior Counsel and Team Leader, contributing to overseeing and coordinating the work of the branch and advising the Tribunal on systemic and emerging issues. Prior to joining the Tribunal, Anja served as law clerk to the Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein at the Supreme Court of Canada and worked in the private sector.
Alain Xatruch: A/Senior Counsel and Team Leader
Alain has nearly 20 years of experience in the areas of trade remedies and procurement law acquired primarily at the Tribunal but also through stints with the Canada Border Services Agency, Global Affairs Canada and Defence Construction Canada. In his role as Senior Counsel and Team Leader, Alain calls upon this experience on a daily basis as he assigns and reviews work, advises on complex cases and provides training and coaching to other counsel.
Bianca Zamor: Deputy Registrar
Bianca has 12 years of experience working in administrative tribunal registries, ten of which were spent working with the CITT Secretariat. Bianca is very action- and results-oriented, and she values intuitive and efficient registry operations for better access to justice for all. This is reflected in her contributions to the E-registry Service pilot project, among other projects that have had a substantial impact on streamlining Tribunal processes for stakeholders.
Stephanie Duffy: Deputy Registrar
Stephanie has 15 years of experience working in various court and tribunal registries. She brings her experience working in registry operations to support the Tribunal in developing strategies and tools to modernize appeal processes, record keeping systems and hearings.
Mark Howell: Lead Analyst, Trade Remedies Investigations Branch
Mark has been with the federal public service for over 20 years, including as a research officer and research director with the Tribunal. In his current role as Lead Analyst, Mark leads a team of analysts and advisors conducting economic and business research and analysis for anti dumping and countervailing investigations.
Shawn Jeffrey: Lead Analyst, Trade Remedies Investigations Branch
Shawn has more than 20 years of experience as an analyst regarding SIMA inquiries. He has worked on both steel safeguard cases that have been before the CITT. He also co-authored an important report for the CITT titled “The Direct Impact of Canadian Anti-dumping and Countervailing Measures on the Domestic Industries they Protect and on Imports”.