{"id":4384,"date":"2026-03-09T10:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/?post_type=cu_story&p=4384"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:53:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:53:58","slug":"desiree-sauve-from-summer-student-to-chief-of-staff-at-transport-canada","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/story\/desiree-sauve-from-summer-student-to-chief-of-staff-at-transport-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Sauve: From Summer Student to Chief of Staff at Transport Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Sauve: From Summer Student to Chief of Staff at Transport Canada\n <\/h1>\n \n \n\n

Chief of Staff, Deputy Minister of Transport
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science (\u201997)<\/p>\n\n\n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

From her 29th<\/sup> floor office on Sparks Street, D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Sauve looks out over Parliament, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ottawa River, and the Gatineau Hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That expansive view is reflected in her duties, as well. As Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister of Transport, D\u00e9sir\u00e9e has a bird\u2019s eye view of the Ministry as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMy favourite part of the job is having that kind of ten-thousand-foot view of everything happening in the department,\u201d says D\u00e9sir\u00e9e, who oversees the office and advises the Deputy Minister. \u201cEvery day is different; you never  know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As with many leaders in the public service, D\u00e9sir\u00e9e moved up the ranks, changing ministries and positions along the way. She started as a summer student in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, kept that job as she finished her degrees (she also has a B.A. in French Literature), and then moved on to Transport Canada. She served as director of real property, director of policy and regulatory affairs, Director General of the Oceans Protections Plan, and now Chief of Staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Sauve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am a generalist at heart and that has served me very well in the federal government,\u201d says D\u00e9sir\u00e9e. \u201cI\u2019m not someone who can do the same thing over and over and that\u2019s what I like about the public service: you can work on a variety of different projects and files throughout your career. I\u2019ve done everything from auditing to program delivery to even buying a ferry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, D\u00e9sir\u00e9e is sharing her enthusiasm with students she\u2019s mentoring from the Faculty of Public and Global Affairs. In fact, she expanded the mentorship program to include colleagues within Transport Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe offer tips and tricks and tell them what they should be focusing on,\u201d she says. \u201cPrograms like FSWEP are really good opportunities for students because when you graduate, there is an opportunity to get bridged into a permanent job in the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

She also encourages them to make the most of their degree: she has experienced the benefits first-hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing you learn in university is strategic thinking, the ability to organize information and apply it to the big picture. I couldn\u2019t do my job without it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FPGA alumna D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Sauve built a wide-ranging career in the federal public service and now mentors the next generation as Chief of Staff at Transport Canad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":4383,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[208],"cu_story_tag":[216],"class_list":["post-4384","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni-stories","cu_story_tag-political-science"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/4384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/4384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4393,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/4384\/revisions\/4393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=4384"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=4384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}