Derek Nighbor, Chief Executive Officer & President, Forest Products Association of Canada

Derek was born and raised in Pembroke, Ontario and has been President and CEO at FPAC since March 2016.

He is proud to represent Canada’s forest products industry and the important role it plays in the lives of 230,000 forestry families in over 600 communities across Canada.

Prior to joining FPAC, Derek served for over 7 years as Senior Vice President with Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC), the country’s leading voice for consumer packaged goods companies like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, McCain Foods, and Unilever Canada. At FCPC, Derek worked closely with senior executives from over 90 top consumer products manufacturers and distributors and oversaw the association’s work in government relations, communications, and corporate, community, and regulatory affairs.

Prior to his time at FCPC, Derek served for over 3 years as Senior Vice President of Public Affairs with Retail Council of Canada (RCC) representing over 45,000 retail storefronts across Canada, including leading retailers like Canadian Tire, Walmart Canada, Home Depot and Home Hardware.

Derek has also held senior political positions with the Government of Ontario, including two years as chief of staff to Ontario’s Consumer and Business Services Minister.

In July 2019, Derek was elected President of the International Council of Forest & Paper Associations (ICFPA), where he chairs a group of forest products association leaders from 28 countries around the world. On the global stage, he also represents Canada’s forest products industry on the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-based Industries (ACSFI).

Derek has a keen personal interest in community health care and sport, and serves as Chair of Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada’s National Strategic Planning Committee and is a past Board Member of the Ontario Curling Association and the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Grant Review Team for the Greater Toronto Area.

He currently serves as a Board member for FPInnovations and also sits on Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Sub-Committee. 

He has an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an Option in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.