Senator Yuen Pau Woo

Appointed to the Senate of Canada in November 2016, the Honourable Yuen Pau Woo sits as an independent representing British Columbia. He served as Facilitator of the Independent Senators Group from 2017 to 2021.

Senator Woo has worked on public policy issues related to Canada’s relations with Asian countries for more than 30 years. From 2005-2014, he was President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, during which he also served on the Standing Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and as Chair of PECC’s State of the Region Report. He is a Senior Fellow at Simon Fraser University’s Graduate School of Business, and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He also serves on the Board of the Canadian Ditchley Foundation. He has previously served on the boards or advisory councils of the Vancouver Academy of Music (chair), Public Policy Forum, Standards Council of Canada, British Columbia Institute of Technology (Technology Training Associates), Salvation Army (Greater Vancouver), The Mosaic Institute, the Asia Society (New York), the York Centre for Asian Research, Action: Chinese Canadians Together, China Global: Vancouver Society for Promotion of Chinese Art and Culture, the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, and the Shanghai WTO Consultation Centre. 

Before immigrating to Canada, Senator Woo worked at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.  

Senator Woo is a joint chair of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations and a member of the following Senate Standing Committees: Foreign Affairs and International Trade; and Rules, Procedures, and the Rights of Parliament. He has previously served on the following committees: Agriculture and Forestry; Banking, Commerce, and the Economy; and Rules, Procedures, and the Rights of Parliament.

Senator Woo had published widely on international economic and public policy issues and was awarded the Marcel Cadieux Award for the best article on Foreign Policy in International Journal in 2015.

In 2025, Senator Woo founded Canadians United Against Modern Exclusion (CUAME) and is Chair of the Board of Directors.