Cape Breton to Council President:
How CBU’s MBA Shaped Dr. Gordon Giddings’ Journey Beyond Medicine
For Dr. Gordon Giddings, the decision to pursue an MBA at Cape Breton University became a turning point that forever changed the course of his professional life. In October 2025, he was named President of the Medical Council of Canada, after serving on its Council since 2021 and contributing to the Governance and Nominating Committee. The Medical Council of Canada (MCC),founded in 1912 by the Canada Medical Act, is the national organization responsible for assessing and credentialing physicians seeking to practice in Canada, upholding rigorous standards of medical competence, professionalism, and patient safety. “I am honoured to have been chosen as the Medical Council of Canada’s president,” he said following his appointment. “I look forward to ensuring that physicians in Canada have the competencies to support safe, accessible health care.”
A practicing physician since 2004, Gordon had long been passionate about medicine, but he felt the pull toward something broader; leadership, governance, and systems-level impact. In 2017, while riding the train in Edmonton, a simple advertisement for CBU’s MBA program in partnership with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) caught his eye. “It felt like the right message at the right time,” he recalls. “I wanted to understand health care not just from the bedside, but from the boardroom.”
That chance encounter led Gordon to enroll in CBU’s MBA program, which he completed in just 17 months. He spent a summer in Cape Breton to end the program, after attending classes at NAIT, while working full-time in Alberta. “It was an incredible balance of academics and real-world relevance,” he says. “The program opened doors I didn’t even know were there.”
After earning his MBA in 2018, Gordon went on to complete a fellowship in health systems and, by 2020, was promoted to Assistant Registrar at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), overseeing professional conduct. He credits CBU’s program directly for helping him earn that advancement. “It gave me the tools to see the bigger picture,” he says. “My MBA in Community Economic Development gave me confidence in leadership and strategy that I still draw on every day.”
He recalls one moment that perfectly captured the power of connection that CBU fosters. “I was walking into what I thought would be a tense meeting with an MLA,” he says. “But when I arrived, I realized the person across the table was one of my classmates from the MBA program. The ice broke immediately and we could get right to business.”
Today, Dr. Giddings continues to lead with empathy and purpose. Beyond his leadership with the MCC and CPSA, Gordon maintains double-board certification in Palliative Medicine and Behavioral Sleep Medicine, with periodic clinical work in Alberta and New Brunswick. He has held editorial and directorial roles with the Canadian Medical Association Journal and Hospice Waikato in New Zealand.
Reflecting on his journey, Gordon says CBU was more than a degree, it was a catalyst. “The MBA helped me find my voice as a leader,” he says. “It gave me the confidence to bridge medicine and management, and to help shape the future of health care in Canada.”
Cape Breton University proudly congratulates Dr. Giddings on his appointment as President of the Medical Council of Canada and celebrates all that he continues to achieve in service to his profession and community.
