Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #8, Katie Telford

By Toronto Life

| November 28, 2016

Copy link

Katie Telford

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister

8Trudeau’s chief of staff is a major reason he has remained powerful and popular since taking office. Telford, who is only the second woman ever to have the job, has dominion over the entire PMO—hirings, firings, discipline—and as a longtime Trudeau confidante, she has a key influence on policy. Her fingerprints were all over Trudeau’s gender-equal cabinet and diplomatic corps, and she and Gerald Butts lobbied the premiers behind the scenes to work toward a national climate accord in March.

Friends in high places:

Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton was her boss at consulting firm StrategyCorp.

Katie Telford

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister

Friends in high places:

Toronto's Most Influential People of 2016

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Justin Trudeau

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #2, Drake

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #3, John Tory

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #4, Kathleen Wynne

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #5, Gerald Butts

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Bill Morneau

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #7, George Cope

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #9, Jennifer Keesmaat

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #10, Masai Ujiri

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #11, Ratna Omidvar

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #12, David Thomson

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #13, Tracey Cook

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #14, Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Marie Henein

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #16, Larry Tanenbaum

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #17, Deb Matthews

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #18, The Weeknd

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Josh Donaldson

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #20, Doug Murphy

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #21, Charles Khabouth

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #22, Eric Hoskins

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #23, Gord Downie

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #24, Mark Shapiro

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #25, Patrick Brown

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #26, Kevin O’Leary

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #27, John Zerucelli

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #28, Ted Livingston

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #29, Tatiana Maslany

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Ian Black

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #31, Sandy Hudson and Janaya Khan

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #32, Rachel McAdams

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #33, Heather Reisman

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #34, Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #35, Karen Kain

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #36, Stephan Jost

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #37, Joshua Basseches

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #38, Michael Katchen

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #39, Kristin Cochrane

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #40, John Ruffolo

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #41, Mitzie Hunter

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #42, Sarah Polley

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #43, Iain Klugman

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #44, Maureen Taylor

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #45, Mary Ann Turcke

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #46, Mohamad Fakih

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #47, Matt Galloway

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #48, Penny Oleksiak

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #49, Carolyn Bennett

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #50, Michael Ford

The Latest

“We love a good drama queen or king”: This guy is bringing a Summer House–inspired reality series to Muskoka

Three destinations for Ontario golfaholics and their golf-averse companions

Affordable multiplexes in Etobicoke? Not if the neighbours have a say

Mimi Chinese now has three limited-time-only items on the menu at Shake Shack

Editor’s Letter: Toronto Life got a makeover

This piano teacher and wedding musician makes $170,000 a year. How does she spend it?