Economist, civil servant.
Born at Winnipeg on 3 June 1927, she studied medicine at the University of Manitoba then received BA (1948) and MA (1950) degrees in Economics from McGill University and a PhD degree from Girton College (1954). After studying at Cambridge University, she was an Assistant Professor (1952-1955) at McGill and Associate Professor (1962-1974) at Universite de Montreal.
She held a succession of noted governmental and administrative posts, including Chief Statistician of Canada (1972-1975), Deputy Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs (1975-1978), Chair of the Economic Council of Canada (1978-1979), Head of the Department of Economics and Statistics at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (1979-1983), Deputy Minister of International Trade and Coordinator of International Economic Relations (1984-1985), and Chair of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. She was Chancellor at the University of Waterloo (1991-1996) and Chaires of the Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto (1990-1997).
In recognition of her service, she was inducted into the Order of Canada (1978) and Order of Manitoba (2009) and she received honorary doctorates from the University of Winnipeg (1984) and University of Manitoba (1986).
In 1956, she married Bernard A. Ostry in London, England and they had two sons.
She died at Toronto, Ontario on 7 May 2020.
“Sylvia Ostry keeps man out of economic council,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1969, page 19.
“Former public servant and economist Sylvia Ostry dies at 92,” Toronto Star, 7 May 2020.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 August 2023
Memorable Manitobans
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