Paul Plater

Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer, Paul oversees financial management, investments, information technology, philanthropy, corporate and government grants, payroll, and administration. He also oversees the Deloitte First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan's Principle team supporting First Nations youth and families.

Paul joined the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) in 2017 as Director of Finance and Operations before being appointed CFO in January 2022. Guided by commitments to impact, accountability, transparency, and governance, he has helped grow the organization's capacity, funding, and reserves. The IRSSS now employs 77 staff and 35 elders and cultural workers serving First Nations communities, families, and individuals across BC, working out of 6 offices with an annual operating budget of $12–$15 million.

Before joining the IRSSS, Paul served as Interim CFO and VP Finance in the resource extraction sector for seven years, as a senior manager at a Big Four public accounting firm, and as a Senior Analyst at a Crown Agency. More recently, and concurrent with his work at IRSSS, he was called upon to serve as part-time Interim CFO at one of BC's largest housing providers. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Pacific Opera Victoria.

Paul has his CPA, CA designation and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. Paul's values are centered on honesty, trust, clarity, accountability, and transparency. He brings these values to everything he does.

Paul shares his time between the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen), Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples and the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Each day he is challenged by the impacts that colonization has had on Indigenous peoples in Canada, and he strongly supports Indigenous rights and title.