Mark Berman, High Commissioner of Canada to Jamaica
Biography
Mark Berman was appointed as the high commissioner of Canada to Jamaica and The Bahamas in July 2024 for a three-year mandate. He is also consul general (with responsibility for trade and consular affairs) for the Turks & Caicos and Cayman Islands.
Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Berman served as the high commissioner of Canada to Guyana and as the ambassador of Canada to Suriname and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) from 2021 to 2024.
Mr. Berman joined the Government of Canada in 1990, beginning his career as an adviser to the Minister of the Environment and later serving as the executive assistant to the Deputy Minister of the Environment. In 1993, he joined the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya, as a legal officer, where he spent six years working in Nairobi and Geneva. Upon returning to Canada, he held the position of director in the Office of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
In 2000, Mr. Berman joined the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) as the deputy director for Human Security and Peacebuilding. He returned to Environment Canada in 2005 as the director for Climate Change Negotiations, where he played a key role in shaping Canada’s climate policy. In 2008, he was seconded to CIDA’s Multilateral Branch as acting director general for Environmental Sustainability and Economic Growth. The following year, he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as executive director for Climate and Energy, serving as Canada’s representative on the Compliance Committee of the Kyoto Protocol.
In 2012, Mr. Berman took on the role of executive director for International Crime and Terrorism and was appointed director general for Consular Policy in 2017, where he was responsible for overseeing Canada's global consular operations and policies.
Mr. Berman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations (1982) and a Bachelor of Laws (1986) from the University of Saskatchewan, as well as a Master of Laws (1989) from the London School of Economics.
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