François Laurin held senior management positions with several large Canadian companies before joining Transat in May 2005. He served for two years as Vice-President, Investments, of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec's Private Investments Group, responsible for the media and communications portfolio. Prior to that, he was Vice-President and Controller of Bombardier Transportation in Berlin. He is also a former Vice-President, Finance and Administration, of Microcell i5, and worked for eight years as Vice-President, Finance, and Controller of Teleglobe. Other firms for which he worked during his career include Télévision Quatre-Saisons, Price Waterhouse, CP Rail and CFCF-12.

A chartered accountant by training, Mr. Laurin holds the CFA designation from the CFA Institute. He also earned a graduate diploma in Public Accountancy and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University.