Michael J. O'Connor

Michael O’Connor is Senior Vice-President, Strategic Finance Initiatives at Sun Life and is currently leading the enterprise wide efforts to implement the new accounting standard, IFRS 17, together with the systems, processes, business change and education required to support it. Michael acts as the training Principal for Sun Life’s CPA Pre-Approved Program and serves on a number of internal boards within the company.

Michael joined Sun Life in December 2007. He served as Senior Vice-President, Tax for eleven years. Michael is a chartered professional accountant and holds a BA degree from Simon Fraser University, in British-Columbia, Canada.

Prior to joining Sun Life, Michael was Chief Tax Officer for Alcan Inc. of Montreal in addition, he spent 17 years with Ernst & Young in Toronto, including three years working as Ernst & Young's Canadian Tax Desk in London, England. Michael is a past Governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation, has been involved in various tax related committees of various organizations including CPA Canada’s Income Tax Education Committee. Outside the tax world he is the Co-Chair of Open Studio, an artist run centre, Chair of the Okanagan Hockey Community Foundation, founder of GAARMAGEDDON.COM, co-founder of TRANSFERDICE.COM and is allegedly the Fiscal Artist formally known as Emjayo'see, whose work has been exhibited at tax festivals across Canada and internationally as well as being featured in an Exhibition at First Canadian Place in December 2018.