Claudette Dumont-Smith Biography

Claudette Dumont-Smith is an Algonquin woman from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Québec, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Queen’s University. In October 2017, Claudette was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Guelph.

For more than three decades Claudette has worked to enhance Indigenous health across Canada, and to reduce violence against Indigenous women and girls. As a registered nurse, she has held executive positions at multiple national organizations that specialize in the health of Indigenous women and children.

Claudette worked as a consultant for various national, regional and local Aboriginal organizations. Organizations include the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada and the National Aboriginal Child Care Commission. Claudette served as a member of the Aboriginal circle of the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women. She also served as Associate Commissioner for the National Aboriginal Child Care Commission of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (Formerly the Native Council of Canada).

Claudette was the Health Director for the Native Women’s Association of Canada from 2005 to 2008. She was then appointed as a Commissioner on the Indian Residential School Commission for one year. In 2010, Claudette held the position of Executive Director of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). As the Executive Director, she helped lead an initiative that documented more than 1,000 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. She worked for NWAC until her retirement in 2016.