Executive team

Rajiv Gupta

Rajiv Gupta is the Associate Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre). In this role Rajiv is responsible for advancing the Cyber Centre’s strategic vision to enable a secure digital Canada.

Prior to this role, Rajiv was the Director General of Cyber Defence Capabilities where he was responsible for the development and operations of sensors, threat discovery analytics and autonomous defence technologies deployed to protect Government of Canada networks. In this role Rajiv was also responsible for achieving national level cyber security outcomes for Canada through collaborative efforts with industry partners.

Rajiv began his career in 1998 as a software engineer in the telecommunications sector. He later joined the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in 2007 and has since worked in a variety of cyber security disciplines. Prior to his role in Cyber Defence, Rajiv served as the Director of Security Architecture and Risk Mitigation where he was responsible for supply chain risk assessments for the Government of Canada, analytic support to Investment Canada Act national security reviews, and the implementation of a cyber security risk mitigation framework for Canada’s telecommunications sector.

Rajiv holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in engineering and is a Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario.

Melanie Anderson

Melanie Anderson is the Director General, Secure Solutions and Services Directorate at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, responsible for applied cryptographic research, architecture, engineering and development of secure cryptographic solutions.

In her previous role as Director, Cryptographic Security and Systems Development, Melanie and her teams were responsible for Canadian Communications Security (COMSEC) policy and compliance, evaluating the security of cryptographic products, providing cryptographic advice and guidance including preparations for the quantum threat to Cryptography, and modernizing the Government of Canada’s classified infrastructure. Melanie is an Executive Champion of the Women in Cyber and Intelligence (WICI) group at CSE, and CSE’s Co-Executive Champion for Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) in Canada. She is passionate about promoting the well-being of women in the workplace, and mentoring and encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM.

Melanie began her career at CSE in 2003 and has held numerous technical and leadership roles in cyber security and IT, including Manager of Cryptographic Systems Development, Manager of Cyber Threat Relationships and Incident Management, and Supervisor of Cyber Health and Trend Reporting. She was a technical liaison for CSE in the United States, and has held roles as a software developer, a technical trainer, and a project manager for IT systems used by Government of Canada clients.

She holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of New Brunswick and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program through the Harvard Kennedy School in 2020. In 2023, Melanie was recognized by Deloitte as one of 30 Women in Cyber at the forefront of the cyber revolution and she was named one of Canada’s Top 20 Women in Cyber Security by IT World Canada.

Eric Belzile

Eric Belzile is Director General, Incident Management and Threat Mitigation at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre). The Incident Management and Threat Mitigation directorate is responsible for the entire incident management lifecycle, which includes the operations of the Cyber Centre Contact Center, the monitoring, detection, intake, triage, analysis and response to cyber incidents. His directorate is also responsible for monitoring the evolution of cyber threats against Canada and produce assessments and trending reports.

Eric started his career in the Public Service at Statistics Canada in 1989. He has occupied various positions with increasing levels of responsibility covering System Development and IT Infrastructure Service Management. At Statistics Canada, he became Director, IT Infrastructure Services, responsible for delivering and defining the strategy for all IT Infrastructure, Data Center and end-user services. In 2012, he transferred to Shared Services Canada and consolidated the security operations resources and functions to create the Government of Canada Security Operations Center (SOC), the Government of Canada Computer Incident Response Team (GC-CIRT) and the Vulnerability Management Program. In this role, he was responsible for the monitoring, detection and response of cyber incidents affecting the Government of Canada.

Eric holds a Bachelor’s degree in Informatics-Mathematics from Laval University and a Master’s degree in Management from the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Eric Bisaillon

Dr. Eric Bisaillon is the Director General of Cyber Defence Capabilities at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre). The Cyber Defence Capabilities directorate is responsible for the development and operations of sensors, threat discovery analytics and autonomous defence technologies deployed to protect Government of Canada networks.

Prior to this role, Dr. Bisaillon was the Director for the Security Architecture group, where he focused on security assessments and advice across a wide range of industries and technology applications. Prior to joining the Cyber Centre, Dr. Bisaillon was the Director of Technical Solutions for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), enabling digital investigations support to police investigations and operations.

Dr. Bisaillon has held a variety of engineering and management positions at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) as well as at the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Dr. Bisaillon has more than 15 years of experience in domains ranging from national telecommunications networks, cloud computing, cyber security and risk mitigation, as well as compliance, privacy, and national security policy.

Dr. Bisaillon holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Francis Castonguay

Francis Castonguay is the Senior Engagement Advisor at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre), responsible for improving everyone’s understanding of the Cyber Centre’s efforts and value to Canadians.

Francis initially joined CSE as Director General of Partnerships and Risk Mitigation and subsequently was Director General of Change Engagement. Prior to joining CSE, Francis led Deloitte’s Cyber Risk Services team in Ottawa, providing cybersecurity advice to government and private sector organizations. He started his cyber security career as a Communications and Electronics Engineering Officer where he had the privilege of leading operational cyber teams at the Canadian Forces Network Operations Centre (CFNOC), managing the Department of National Defence’s telecommunications services and being the Commander of the Canadian Forces Cyber Task Force. Francis also deployed to Bosnia Herzegovina where he led the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) IT security team.

Francis holds a Bachelor of Sciences (Computer) degree from le Collège militaire royal (CMR), a Master’s certificate in Program Management from York University and a Master of Defence Studies degree from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMCC).

Daniel Couillard

Daniel Couillard is the Director General of Partnerships and Risk Mitigation at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre). The objective of the Partnerships and Risk Mitigation directorate is to increase the cyber resilience of Canada, in collaboration with partners. As such the directorate is responsible for advancing the Cyber Centre’s strategic partnerships with governments, critical infrastructure owners and stakeholders, private sector and academia. To that aim, his directorate provides cyber security advice and guidance as well as architectural assessments in key technology areas. It also implements the Cyber Resilience Program and leads the cyber supply chain integrity program in support to the Government of Canada IT procurements.

Daniel was previously Director General of Program Evolution at the Cyber Centre. He was responsible for leading strategic business change and enabling agile decision-making in the context of the complex and dynamic cyber security ecosystem. This ensures CSE meets future cyber security demands from governments, operators of systems of importance and Canadians at large.

Prior to his current role, Daniel was the Director of Cyber Futures, where he was responsible for setting the strategic direction of where the Cyber Centre needs to be in order to remain the centre of Canada’s cyber security expertise.

Daniel previously worked as a military officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, where he held appointments in the operational and technological domains, including overseas deployments. After spending 20 years with the military, he joined CSE’s Cyber Defence team in 2006 to oversee the management of its Technical Threat and Analysis capability.

In 2011, he joined the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat where he led the newly formed Government of Canada Chief Information Officer Branch Cyber Security team, where he worked until he returned to CSE in 2017.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Master’s in Science from the Université du Québec à Montréal.