Nicole Bourque-Bouchier

Nicole Bourque-Bouchier is co-owner and CEO of the Bouchier Group and an advocate for Indigenous women’s economic empowerment. A member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, Bourque-Bouchier was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, and raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta. She studied computer systems at the Northern Alberta Institute for Technology before starting her career in the Alberta oil industry with Syncrude. Bourque-Bouchier operated her own consulting company before joining TrueNorth Energy as Manager of Aboriginal Affairs. She moved on to Shell Canada and by the age of 27 was a successful stakeholder relations advisor in Alberta’s Wood Buffalo region. It was around this time that she met and married David Bouchier. Together they launched the Bouchier Group, now one of the biggest Indigenous-owned and –operated companies in the Athabasca Oil Sands region. Trailblazer, dedicated community activist and advocate for Indigenous women’s economic empowerment, Bourque-Bouchier has received numerous honours, including the 2018 Indspire Award for Business and Commerce. In 2015, she was one of Scotiabank’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.