Andrew Cardozo

Senator Andrew Cardozo was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Governor General Mary Simon on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in November 2022. An independent senator, he is a member of the Progressive Senate Group.

Priority policy areas

Since becoming a senator Cardozo has focused on the number one job of senators, which is to review legislation introduced by the elected government in the House of Commons. He has been a member of two Senate Committees, namely, Security and National Defence, and Transport and Communications. He chairs the Arts and Heritage Advisory Working Group which focuses on the arts and heritage of the current Senate Building and plans for the return to Centre Block.

He has also sought to prioritise issues of Canada-US relations, polarization in political discourse, the crisis afflicting Canada’s news media, and the future of the important Canadian national broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada. The pedestrianization of Wellington Street (the street in front of the Parliament Buildings) is also a priority—to enhance this iconic venue and increase security for Parliamentarians and the visiting public.

Professional experience

Senator Cardozo is a public policy expert, with expertise that spans Canadian government and politics, broadcasting and cultural policy, multiculturalism, diversity, and skills development, especially the future of work.

Before joining the Senate, he was the President and co-founder of the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy. Over a decade in that role, he worked to elevate open public policy dialogue by bringing together thought leaders from all political backgrounds, from business, labour, NGOs, and the broader public to address the major challenges facing Canadian society. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the Alliance of Sector Councils, working on skills development across some 30 economic sectors, and Executive Director of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council, where he worked on policies and legislation on employment equity, immigration, multiculturalism, and the Canadian constitution.

He has served as a Commissioner of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) where he championed Canadian content and diversity in broadcasting. Additionally, he played a key role in the licensing of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).  Since then, he has volunteered as an adjudicator for the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and is a regular speaker at industry events.

Senator Cardozo has been an Adjunct Professor and Lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University and over the years has been a columnist for the Toronto Star, Broadcast Dialogue, and the Hill Times.

Awards

Senator Cardozo has been the recipient of numerous awards: the 2023 DreamKeepers Citation for Outstanding Leadership award, an award honouring an individual who exemplifies the values of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Reelworld Film Festival Guardian Angel Award (Toronto), le Prix annuel du Centre de recherche-action sur les relations raciales, CRARR (Montreal), Big Brother of the Year (Ottawa), and, most recently, the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Education, training and personal

Senator Cardozo holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science from York University and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Carleton University. He has also studied art at the Ottawa School of Art. 

Senator Cardozo was a stay-at-home dad when his children were young. An immigrant from South Asia with origins in Goa, India and Karachi, Pakistan, he has worked on integrating diversity issues into the mainstream of Canadian public policy. As a volunteer, he has been a board member of the Catholic Centre for Immigrants (Ottawa), the YMCA-YWCA of the National Capital Region, the Media Awareness Network, the Institute of Media Policy, Arts and Civil Society (Vancouver), and has been active with Big Brothers of Ottawa and the Glebe Art Tour network.

An accomplished artist, generally of abstract and impressionist landscapes, his art has been featured in several art shows in the Ottawa area and is currently displayed in many countries. He has two adult children who live and work in Ottawa.