Professional Development Day: Public Accounts, Authorities, and Charging

Assistant Comptroller General, Financial Management, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Martin joined the Office of the Comptroller General in January 2025 as the new Assistant Comptroller General, Financial Management. In this role, Martin leads the development and implementation of innovative frameworks and policies to enhance financial management, oversight and reporting across the federal public service. This work focusses on driving excellence in comptrollership and accounting, and empowering the financial community through capacity-building initiatives.

Previously, Martin served as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada where he played a pivotal role in providing financial leadership during the pandemic – helping navigate one of the most complex challenges of our time. In this role, Martin was responsible for strategic leadership, stewardship, risk management, control and performance of Agency financial resources. This also included responsibility for business transformation and renewal during the coronavirus pandemic.

Martin also held the position of Executive Director in Program Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat from April 2018 to November 2020. Martin supported Treasury Board in its role as the management board of the Government of Canada and as the budget office in the government-wide expenditure cycle.  In this role, he presented to Treasury Board Ministers directly and responded to their questions in support of Treasury Board Submissions for Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.

Martin started his career in the Public Service in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans where he held a number of roles across all aspects of financial management, culminating in his role as Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

Martin is a CPA, CMA and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, specialization in accounting from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Chief Financial Officer and Vice President

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) /Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

Dominique Osterrath rejoined NSERC and SSRHC in July 2021 as Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President of the Common Administrative Services Directorate (CASD). She leads a team of professionals who work to support both NSERC and SSHRC in delivering human resources, finance and awards administration, security, and information and innovation solutions. As the lead CASD executive, Dominique supports the accountability of the agency presidents by ensuring CASD’s effectiveness as a strategic partner, business enabler, steward and service provider.

Before rejoining NSERC and SSHRC, Dominique was the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Security Officer, and Vice-President of the Corporate Management Branch at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). In previous appointments, she was the Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Financial Services for CFIA, the Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Director General of Finance and Awards Administration for NSERC and SSHRC, and the Director of Financial Planning, Budgeting and Advisory Services for the National Research Council Canada.

Dominique is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Université du Québec en Outaouais, and is a graduate of the Public Sector Leadership and Governance executive program at the University of Ottawa.

Partner, Niewe Consulting

Claire is a Partner at Nīewe Consulting. Claire has over 20 years of experience in management consulting, financial management and accounting-related services.  She has worked in industries as diverse as the Public Sector, Financial Services, High Tech and IT, Automotive, Energy and Engineering. In addition, her career spans the Globe, as she has provided advice and counsel to companies and organizations in countries including Canada, the USA, the UK, France, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, absorbing business knowledge and best practices along the way.  

Claire’s focus on financial management stems from her training as a professional accountant and her extensive experience working with Chief Financial Officers and their offices.  Claire has used her exposure to multiple industries and cultures to develop a breadth of expertise and experience including the review and transformation of the CFO function within organizations; the development and implementation of financial management governance structures including financial policy instruments and supporting tools; design, development, implementation and testing of internal control frameworks including internal controls over financial reporting; re-engineering of operational processes and development of continuous improvement programs, and organizational improvement including organizational and operational structure re-design, transformation and change management.