Kelly A. Burke is a bilingual senior administrator and lawyer with more than two decades of experience in public service, governance, and higher education. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at Western University, where she supported academic leadership and institutional priorities.
Ms. Burke spent over 20 years in the Ontario Public Service, in Toronto, where she held a range of senior executive and legal roles. From 2020 to 2023, she was Ontario’s French Language Services Commissioner, overseeing the protection and promotion of French language rights in the province. Prior to that, she was Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Colleges and Universities from 2019 to 2020, and Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Administrative Officer in the Ministry of Francophone Affairs from 2014 to 2019.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Burke held senior positions in the ministries of the Attorney General, Intergovernmental Affairs and Democratic Renewal, and Government and Consumer Services. In these roles, she served as counsel to the Government of Ontario and provided strategic legal and policy advice on complex governance issues to Ontario’s Conflict of Interest and French Language Services commissioners. She also played a key role in major initiatives, including the establishment of a monument at Queen’s Park marking the 400th anniversary of French presence in Ontario as well as community engagement on a pilot project to improve access to justice in French in Ottawa.
Ms. Burke is a native of Cornwall, Ontario. She began her career as a French immersion teacher and has always been an ardent defender of language rights in Canada, including when she served as Vice-Chair of the International Association of Language Commissioners and Co-Chair of the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie, where she supported the Ministers’ Council on the Canadian Francophonie.
Ms. Burke holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Queen’s University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa, and a Master of Laws from York University. She has been a member of the Law Society of Ontario since 1996.