Karen Jackson

Assistant Deputy Minister, Workplace Skills at Human Resources Development Canada

Karen Jackson is Assistant Deputy Minister, Workplace Skills at Human Resources Development Canada. She has policy and program responsibilities for Sector Councils, Apprenticeship, Foreign Credential Recognition, Essential Skills, Foreign Worker Program and Labour Market Information.

Since joining the federal public service in 1984, Karen has held a number of progressively senior positions with HRDC, Indian and Northern Affairs, Employment and Immigration and the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada.  She has extensive experience in policy development and program management in the areas of labour markets, learning, economic development, and aboriginal affairs.

She has also worked, through an executive interchange, in the not-for-profit sector as the Director of the Public Involvement Program with the Canadian Policy Research Networks.

Born in Niagara Falls Ontario, Karen has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies from Queen’s University and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Karen is married with two daughters.