Karl Baldauf has spent over two decades at the centre of public policy and the political process, and in active leadership positions with a focus on regulatory affairs, strategic communications, and crisis and issues management. He leads people and organizations through periods of change with vision and determination, and has an expert ability to navigate key stakeholders at multiple levels of government with professionalism and integrity.
Karl served as Chief of Staff to the Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy from his appointment as Ontario’s President of the Treasury Board, until he was named Minister of Finance by Premier Doug Ford. During that time, the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) drove transformative change, while providing record emergency investments in support of the Government of Ontario’s COVID-19 response. TBS also managed the multi-year planning process, which served as a foundation for budget planning annually.
Previous to that, Karl served as Vice-President of Policy & Government Relations at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), the province’s largest business advocacy organization. While at the OCC, he built partnerships to advance non-partisan, economic development policy on behalf of Ontario’s business community and across a range of industries and sectors.
Karl has worked in public affairs, communications and government relations for one of Canada’s largest professional services firms. He worked as a strategist at Queen’s Park for the Leader of the Opposition, and for two ministers in the former governments of Premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.
Karl holds an MA in Political Communications (Distinction) from Goldsmiths College in the University of London, UK, with a dissertation that focused on socio-demographic marketing in political campaigns. He holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Toronto, Victoria College.
