Mark S. Saunders

Mark Saunders, Corporate Director

Prior to retirement from Sun Life Financial, Mark was Executive Vice President, Enterprise Services, leading areas including real estate, procurement, and shared business services. He previously served as Sun Life’s Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer for over 11 years.

Mark is known for his commitment to excellence and strong track record in business transformation leveraging the latest in IT innovation to meet client and business partner needs. He led Sun Life’s move to a new global headquarters in 2017, and more recently oversaw the company’s COVID-19 business continuity efforts.

Over the years, Mark played a key role on Sun Life’s Executive Team supporting business growth globally. He also led significant advancements in Sun Life’s digital, data and analytics capabilities, and technology architecture and infrastructure, significantly improving IT systems stability.

He was honored to be named 2018 Canadian CIO of the Year for the private sector by the Information Technology Association of Canada, recognizing his vision and focus on digital transformation and top talent, including recruiting more women in technology.

Prior to joining Sun Life in 2009, Mark was with Barclays PLC as Senior Technology Officer for Barclays Commercial Bank and Wealth Management. He also held senior executive roles with BMO Financial Group where he led Enterprise Infrastructure and as CIO for BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc.

Mark is a member of the Board of Directors of HSBC Canada and serves as a Board Trustee of Collingwood General & Marine Hospital.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Greenwich University in London and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).