Joanna Carson appointed as OPB’s new Chief Financial Officer

We are pleased to announce that after an extensive recruitment process conducted in partnership with executive search firm LHH Knightsbridge, Joanna Carson will be joining OPB as our new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on November 10, 2025. Joanna’s appointment follows the upcoming retirement of our current CFO, Armand de Kemp. Joanna will be responsible for OPB’s corporate finance, procurement, enterprise risk management, and pension payroll functions.

Joanna joins the OPB team as a highly accomplished CFO with extensive experience in regulated, fiduciary environments, including finance leadership roles at British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA), TRIUMF (Canada’s particle accelerator centre), and as Audit Committee Chair for the UBC Staff Pension Plan. She brings a proven track record of financial stewardship, operational transformation, and collaborative leadership in both pension and public sector contexts. In addition, Joanna’s values-driven leadership approach, strategic mindset, excellent communication skills, and deep commitment to the pension promise make her a strong addition to our organization and our members and stakeholders.

In addition, she has overseen investment accounting and reporting for pension and insurance funds, including the $1B CUDIC (Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) deposit insurance fund and the UBC Staff Pension Plan.

Joanna has directly led enterprise risk management, integrating risk registers into senior-level decision-making, and modernized procurement in several organizations, transforming it from a compliance-focused function to a value-adding, strategic partner through technology, process redesign, and upskilling. She is recognized for her proactive approach to change management, stakeholder engagement, and communication.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank our retiring CFO, Armand de Kemp for his over 20 years of dedication and service to OPB. Armand has been instrumental in evolving our finance functions, close collaboration with our partners at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), and the oversight of reliable pension payroll for our members.” Darwin Bozek, President & CEO, Ontario Pension Board.

“Joanna has worked closely with CEOs and executive teams, serving as a key strategy advisor to drive transformation and deliver on organizational mandates, and she has extensive experience working with boards and Audit and Finance Committees. I look forward to welcoming her to our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and contributing to our mission to serve our 100,000 members of the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP).”