Jonathan T. Fried

Jonathan T. Fried

Independent Consultant

Jonathan T. Fried is a Senior Advisor with Bennett Jones, LLP in Ottawa and the Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington, DC, Senior Associate to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, and Advisor to Independent Economics Consulting in London, UK.

Prior to his retirement from the Government of Canada in 2020, he was Coordinator for International Economic Relations, with a mandate encompassing Canada-Asia and international trade and economic policy, and concurrently the Personal Representative of Prime Minister Trudeau for the G20.

Jonathan was previously Canada’s Ambassador to the WTO, Canada’s Ambassador to Japan; Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean at the IMF; Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister; Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance and Canada's G7 and G20 Finance Deputy, and earlier Chief Negotiator on China’s WTO accession; and chief counsel for NAFTA. Jonathan is a Distinguished Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Foundation and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Health Standards Organization and the Advisory Boards of the World Trade Board and the Central and East European Law Institute.

Starting his professional life as Professor of International Law at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, Jonathan has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Ottawa, and the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs of Carleton University. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on international legal, trade and financial topics. He was honoured by the Government of Japan with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star in November 2022. Jonathan received his B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Toronto, and LL.M. from Columbia University. "