Marcia Nelson

Marcia Nelson was appointed Deputy Minister of Alberta Health and Wellness in October 2011.  In her role as Deputy Minister, Ms. Nelson is responsible for leading and supporting quality health services, leading the health system, and working collaboratively with partners.

In March 2008, Ms. Nelson was appointed Deputy Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs.  Ms. Nelson was responsible for leading the development of 11,000 affordable housing units by 2012, the implementation of Alberta’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, and ensuring public land is made available for affordable housing purposes.

Prior to her Deputy Minister appointments, Ms. Nelson served as head of the Policy Coordination Office of Executive Council, where she was responsible for coordinating the Government of Alberta’s annual strategic planning process, promoting cross-ministry collaboration and advising on policy initiatives as they moved through the decision-making process.  In this role, Ms. Nelson led the Government of Alberta’s initiative to improve policy capacity.

Ms. Nelson joined the Alberta public service in 2002 as Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Services for Alberta Human Resources and Employment where she was responsible for developing Alberta’s policy framework on immigration, strategic and business planning, inter-governmental relations, applied research and evaluation, and legislative services.

Before moving to Alberta, Ms. Nelson worked for the Ontario government for 14 years in a variety of policy, planning, and research positions in several ministries.  Her last position was Director of Corporate Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Ministry of Community and Social Services where she negotiatedOntario’s Early Childhood Development FPT agreements.

Ms. Nelson has a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration and a BA in Canadian Studies and Sociology both from McMaster University.

Ms. Nelson is currently Vice Chair of the Institute for Public Administration of Canada, Edmonton Regional Group.  She is also an Advisory Committee Member forAthabascaUniversity’s Bachelor of Professional Arts in Governance Law & Management program. Her past volunteer commitments include several executive positions for non-profit social service organizations.