Sheri Meyerhoffer was appointed as Canada’s first Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise on April 8, 2019 by the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification.  Ms. Meyerhoffer established the office of the Ombudsperson at the beginning of May 2019.

Ms. Meyerhoffer is a Canadian lawyer with seventeen years experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, and thirteen years experience in international governance, rule of law and human rights. She has worked in Bhutan, Bolivia, Cuba, China, India, Jamaica, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia and the USA.  Ms. Meyerhoffer has a Juris Doctor from the University of Saskatchewan, and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School with a Master in Public Administration and Certificate in Management, Leadership and Decision Sciences.

The Ombudsperson has the mandate to review alleged human rights abuses arising from a Canadian company’s operations abroad, make recommendations, monitor those recommendations, recommend trade measures for companies that do not co-operate in good faith, and report publicly throughout the process. The Ombudsperson will focus on the mining, oil and gas and garment sectors.