CPO Sonia Boisvert comes from the business side but says people-centred skills are key for transformation
In a profession built on assurance, it’s easy to assume performance is defined by technical prowess and pristine process.
Sonia Boisvert doesn’t dismiss that foundation, but she’s quick to point to what really shows up when the stakes are high: “When you work with a complex, highly regulated organization, you learn very quickly that the performance is not just about technical excellence,” says Boisvert, the Chief People Officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada. “It’s about trust, judgment, and how people believe and behave when the pressure is on.”
Boisvert is a leader who has spent most of her career deep in the business, and she’s still a partner in assurance today. Now as the top HR person at PwC Canada, she sits at the intersection of client expectations, talent realities, and a work environment that’s changing at a rapid rate.
From a partner in assurance to people leadership
What stands out in Boisvert’s story isn’t a sudden pivot away from the business end of things into HR — it’s how deliberately she frames people strategy as operational strategy. “Coming from the business end helps me explain the ‘why’ behind people decisions,” she says. “When leaders and employees understand the rationale, what the business is trying to solve, and why certain questions are being asked, they feel much more empowered and more engaged.”
Boisvert describes credibility as a practical leadership tool, particularly in the professional services sector. In a firm where trust is currency — internally and with clients— her approach is rooted in consistency: “Trust, authenticity, transparency — I use them in my client relationships and I’m the same with people management,” she says. “And I really believe that when you invest in our people and culture, the performance comes — at the end of the day, if you give a great experience to your people, they will give a great experience to your clients.”
Her move into the Chief People Officer role also came with a message she repeats without dressing it up: raise your hand to get noticed. “I asked for the opportunity [to become CPO],” she says. “And this was my first lesson — that we need to communicate our ambition and ask for opportunities.”
Before asking about the opportunity, Boisvert never expected to have a career as a CPO, she says. “But I knew that my business background, combined with my passion for people and the strength of the HR team around me, would be the right recipe,” she says. “And with that came another important lesson about humility and learning — despite my business background, this transition allowed me to discover incredible HR talent across the firm and learn from them.”
For a leader coming from the business side, that acknowledgement signals something important: the people function isn’t there to translate leadership decisions — it’s there to help shape them, says Boivert.
Staying grounded while the pace accelerates
If timing has been a theme in Boisvert’s career, velocity is the reality of her current role. “The biggest shift has been the pace of change,” she says. “Between AI, evolving client expectations, and new ways of working, the environment is far more dynamic and complex than it was before.”
Boisvert believes that rapid transformation has widened her HR leader role: “It's no longer about only policies in isolation, it's about working side-by-side with leaders to help the business adapt, perform, and stay grounded,” she says.
Part of how she does that is old-school presence with the workforce, executed with purpose. “I travel across the country to spend time with our people through what I call ‘Talk to Me sessions’,” says Boisvert. “It really helps me stay grounded in how people are feeling, and it also allows me to bring those insights to our leadership team.”
‘Power skills’ the key to transformation
In a sector racing to integrate AI, Boisvert recognized the importance of technological transformation — but she’s firm that skills, not technology, are the key to organizational change. “We are very clear that AI is here to empower humans, not replace them,” she says. “Technology gave us skill and insights, but judgment, trust, and accountability always sit with people.”
With PwC, Boisvert says she’s focused on building a skills-based organization. “Skills are becoming our foundations in hiring, development, and career progression,” she says. “We’re moving away from static roles and focusing instead on the skills people bring, how those skills evolve, and how they can be applied in different contexts — this creates more agility, inclusion, and opportunity for our people.”
Then there are the capabilities Boisvert believes will outlast every tool cycle — the ‘power skill,’ in which she says PwC is investing heavily. “The power skills are, for me, what is the human capability that matters within the AI-enabled world — skills like curiosity, resilience, adaptability, and judgment, that permit people to navigate the change and build trust with clients.”
According to Boisvert, PwC has many young employees — she estimates the average age of the more than 6,000 staff and partners at PwC Canada at about 29 years old — and her advice for them is this: “Technology and AI will keep changing, but what won't change and what will keep you relevant are your human skills,” she says.
Well-being designed around real life
A people initiative at PwC that Boisvert is proud to be a part of has personal significance for her, she says — a partnership with a third-party company to support parental leave through career coaching and training for leaders on how to support someone on parental leave.
“As a mother of premature twin daughters myself, I understand firsthand how challenging the transition into parenthood can be,” she says. “We have reimagined our well-being strategy to better support our people through life’s pivotal moments, including starting and growing a family, so for those people it isn’t a source of stress or certainty anymore but rather a moment that it's handled with clarity and and confidence.”
Boisvert believes that this initiative is part of a philosophy of retention at PwC that doesn’t rely on perks or slogans. “When the organization supports people at those critical moments in their lives, they don't just stay, they really thrive personally and professionally,” she says.
Sustainable performance and a future that stays human
In professional services, pressure is part of the deal, but Boisvert refuses the premise that performance and well-being must compete. “We don't believe that high performance and well-being are trade-offs — in fact, they reinforce each other,” she says.
For her, the way to balance this is both cultural and structural — anchored in coaching and day-to-day connection. “Coaching creates real proximity between the leaders and their team,” she says. “It's not just about performance and conversation, it's about regular check-in and support, and truly understanding what people need to succeed and stay well. — that human connection, for me, is critical in preventing burnout and helping people feel seen and supported.”
Looking ahead, Boisvert expects the CPO role to keep expanding its strategic role, while becoming more individualized in how careers are supported. “I think we're moving away from managing fixed roles, static structure, and rigid processes,” she says. “Instead, HR will increasingly act as facilitators of personalized career journeys, helping individuals choose, develop, and mobilize their own skills in real time as both the business and the market evolve.”
Boisvert agrees that data and AI will play an increasingly important role in organizational transformation, but that won’t change the need for people-centred skills. “They will allow us to better anticipate the skills needed, identify talent wherever it exists in the organization, and build more flexible teams that can respond quickly to client challenges, but they don't replace human judgment,” she says. “Eighty per cent of a successful integration is about people, not technology — the HR function and the CPO role within will be connected, visionary, and profoundly human.”
