U of T economist makes headlines with Bank of Canada appointment

University of Toronto economist Michelle Alexopoulos made headlines at Bloomberg, the Canadian Press and other outlets with her recent appointment as the Bank of Canada’s second external deputy governor.

The Bank of Canada first created the role of an external deputy governor in 2023 to bring a greater diversity of perspectives to its regular monetary policy deliberations and financial stability assessments.

With addition of Alexopoulos, the central bank’s governing council grows from six to seven members.

“It is an honour being selected to serve the Bank of Canada and all Canadians in this role,” said Alexopoulos, a professor in the department of economics in U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science.

“I look forward to working collectively with the other members of the governing council to promote Canada’s economic and financial well-being and demonstrating the benefits of combining insights from academic research, industry consultation and public outreach to achieve the best outcomes.”

Alexopoulos will work with the central bank part time while maintaining her U of T teaching and research responsibilities. Her two-year appointment is effective March 17. The bank said her duties will include communicating with Canadians about the bank’s policy decisions and its outlook for the economy and inflation alongside other members of the council.

Alexopoulos completed her term as president of the Canadian Economics Association in May 2024. She is a two-term recipient of the Bank of Canada Fellowship Award and a three-time winner of the Faculty of Arts & Science's Dean’s Excellence Award.

Her research in the fields of macroeconomics and monetary economics employs business cycle models and advanced machine learning techniques to analyze how policies, media, technological developments and economic uncertainty affect markets, employment, productivity and the economy at large. Her teaching responsibilities focus on advanced macroeconomic models in the undergraduate program and macroeconomic theory at the graduate level.

“It is a great pleasure to congratulate Professor Alexopoulos on this remarkable achievement,” said Ettore Damiano, professor and chair of the department of economics.

“All of her colleagues have long been impressed with Michelle’s cutting-edge research and we are all proud to see her talents benefit the country’s monetary policies moving forward.”