Marcel Desautels
LLD'07
Mr. Desautels was the President and CEO of the Canadian Credit Management Foundation, and the former President and CEO of Creditel of Canada Ltd. Born in Manitoba, he earned both his bachelor and master of laws degrees from the University of Manitoba before joining the Federal Treasury Board.
In 1970, he became president and general manager of Creditel of Canada Ltd.,the country's largest commercial credit reporting and debt recovery bureau. Under his leadership, Creditel grew to serve more than 12,000 corporations across Canada. When the firm was sold, Marcel became president of a private charitable foundation formed with its assets. Called the Canadian Credit Management Foundation, it supports higher education, particularly through endowment of scholarships and chairs in faculties of management. To date, Canadian Credit Management Foundation has made commitments of over 100 million dollars to Canadian Universities. Marcel’s long interest in professional and post‐secondary education included 15 years as a director of the National Council of the Credit Institute of Canada, an institute that offers professional designation courses in credit management and finance associated with HEC, U of T, and Simon Fraser universities.
He established the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking at the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto and the Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba bears his name. He held honorary doctor of laws from the University of Manitoba, Toronto and McGill, and was a member of the Order of Canada. Learn more
A tremendous supporter of higher education in Canada, Mr. Desautels died on January 31, 2023 at the age of 88.
Feature articles
McGill Desautels International Advisory and Advancement Board
Comprised of highly successful industry leaders from around the globe, who provide regular support and recommendations to our Dean and the Faculty.
