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Daniel Schwanen is the Institute’s Senior Vice President. In this role, he ensures the coordination of the C.D. Howe Institute’s research, research development, publishing, and external engagement programs. He also leads the C.D. Howe Institute’s trade and international policy research and its digital and AI policy initiatives. An award-winning economist, he is passionate about

deepening our understanding of how trade and innovation policies impact Canadians’ standards of living.

Having earned degrees in economics from the Université de Montréal and Queen’s University, Daniel began his career in the financial services industry, becoming an International Economist at the CIBC in 1986. He first joined the C.D. Howe Institute in 1990, producing widely cited research on international trade, Canada’s economic union, climate change policy, and the economics of cultural policy. After joining the Institute for Research on Public Policy in 2001, Daniel earned the Policy Research Initiative’s Outstanding Research Contribution Award for his paper “A Room of Our Own: Cultural Policies and Trade Agreements.”.

Daniel joined the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario in 2005, serving in a number of senior research and executive positions. His own work there focused on the G20 and international economic policy coordination.

Daniel returned to the C.D. Howe Institute in March 2011 as Associate Vice President, Trade and International Policy. He was promoted to Assistant Vice President, Research in January 2013; Vice President, Research, as of June 2014; and to Senior Vice President in July 2024.