Linda Hasenfratz

Executive Chair & CEO / Linamar Corporation

Linda Hasenfratz is the Executive Chair & Chief Executive Officer of Linamar Corporation, a global, diversified manufacturing company focused in the automotive, access equipment and harvesting equipment markets. Hasenfratz joined her father’s company in 1990 and worked her way up from the ground floor, experiencing all aspects of the business, including running a machine, engineering, and operations management. Since her tenure as the Chief Executive Officer started, Hasenfratz has grown the company from an $800 million enterprise to nearly an $8 billion company.
 
Hasenfratz has been a member of the Board of Advisors for Catalyst Canada since 2003. In February 2017, Hasenfratz was announced as the Canadian Chair of the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders.
 
Strengthening her position as a Canadian and global leader, Hasenfratz sat on the board of CIBC from 2004 to 2020, including four years as the Chair of their Management Resources Compensation Committee. She was Canadian Chair of the North American Competitiveness Council in 2008, a trilateral group of executives from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico convened by the countries’ leaders to debate and advise on key recommendations regarding enhancement of the NAFTA region and recently served on Minister Freeland’s NAFTA Advisory Council during the NAFTA renegotiations.
 
Hasenfratz became a member of the Board of the Business Council of Canada (formerly the Canadian Council of Chief Executives) in 2010 and was Chair from 2016 to 2018. Hasenfratz supported one of Linamar’s key industries—the automotive industry—through her appointment as the first female Director to the Faurecia Board of Directors. Hasenfratz was on the board from 2011 to 2021 including four years as the Chair of the Compensation Committee. AEM asked Hasenfratz to join their board in 2018 and was appointed Treasurer in 2021. The California Mobility Center asked Hasenfratz to join its board in 2020, however she retired from the board in 2023.
 
Hasenfratz was named the Canadian Outstanding CEO in November 2018 and was made a member of the Order of Canada in December of the same year. Hasenfratz has been named one of the Automotive News 100 Leading Women in each year of its publication in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Hasenfratz was recognized for her contributions to Canadian business through many leadership awards, including the 2014 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Canada.
 
The Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario honored Hasenfratz in October 2017 with their Ivey Business Leader Award, as has the University of Manitoba with their International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award. In May of 2016 Linda Hasenfratz, along with her father Frank Hasenfratz, was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. In October 2019 she was installed as University of Western Ontario’s 23rd Chancellor and concluded her term in October 2023.