Nancy Southern

Nancy Southern is Chair & Chief Executive Officer of ATCO Ltd., and Chair & Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Utilities Limited, an ATCO company. Reporting to the Boards of Directors, she is responsible for the leadership, strategic direction, and operations of both companies. She also serves as Executive Vice President of Spruce Meadows Ltd. and is a founding Director of AKITA Drilling Ltd., a Director of Sentgraf Enterprises Limited, an Honorary Director of BMO Financial Group, and a Director Emeritus of the Rideau Hall Foundation.

Ms. Southern has long played a prominent role in advocating on social issues of global importance—most notably, the rights of Indigenous peoples and the role of women in business. She is an Honorary Chief of the Kainai (Blood Tribe of Alberta) who bestowed the name Aksistoowa'paakii, or Brave Woman, upon her in 2012.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Southern has served with many respected business and academic organizations. She is a member of the Business Council of Canada, the U.S. Business Council, the American Society of Corporate Executives, and is a Canadian member of the Trilateral Commission. She is also a member of the University of Calgary School of Public Policy Advisory Council.

In 2023, Ms. Southern received the Lifetime Business Achievement in the Americas Award from the Canadian Council for the Americas. This recognition is a testament to Nancy's unwavering commitment to democratic principles in the Americas, and to her belief in commerce as a forerunner of global prosperity. In 2022, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce honoured Ms. Southern with the Canadian Business Leader Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of her corporate and community leadership. Also in 2022, she was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal and was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Lethbridge. In 2023, she received an Honourary Doctor of Laws from Mount Royal University.

In 2020, Ms. Southern was appointed to the Premier of Alberta’s Economic Recovery Council to help guide the province through the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. That same year, she was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to British equestrian, military, and commercial interests in Alberta. In 2018, she received the Canadian Business Leader Award from the University of Alberta and was named a Distinguished Policy Fellow by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy in recognition of her lifetime commitment to Canadian public policy. She was inducted as a Companion into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2017.

Ms. Southern has been recognized by Fortune on its list of the “50 Most Powerful Women Outside of the U.S.” as well as its list of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business: The Global 50.” She has been named one of the “50 Most Important People in Canada” by Maclean’s.