President and Chief Executive Officer
Hugues Simon has worked in the forest products sector for over 30 years. An accountant by training, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Université de Sherbrooke in 1993 and worked as a plant controller in Québec and British Columbia until the early 2000s. From 2005 to 2012, Hugues served as President and Vice-President, Sales & Marketing and Value-Added Operations – Wood Products, at Resolute Forest Products. During that time, he applied his management skills and passion for sales to initiatives that would enable the company to expand its retail customer base, reduce its operating costs, better manage its resources and improve its profitability.
In 2012, he joined BarretteWood Inc. as Vice President, Sales and Procurement, and became the company’s President four years later. In that role, he supervised four companies and more than 3,000 employees. His other responsibilities included overseeing the management of financial results, the creation and rollout of a large-scale strategic plan and the launch of innovative structural products.
Hugues returned to Resolute Forest Products in 2021 as President of the Wood Products business unit. Over the next three years, he managed a portfolio comprising several sawmills, plants and other facilities, as well as 50 million acres of certified forest land. His many other achievements include implementing modernization projects, launching initiatives to enhance shareholder value and forging alliances with First Nations communities.
Ready to take on a new challenge, he succeeded Mario Plourde at the helm of Cascades in 2024, becoming the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. For Hugues, this was a dream come true: he always knew he wanted to work for the Québec flagship company, which he sees as a model of innovation and excellence.
Hugues has extensive hands-on experience and stands out through his unparalleled leadership and negotiating skills, in-depth financial knowledge and focus on innovation and continuous improvement. Teamwork and customer satisfaction are particularly important to him.
In keeping with Cascades’ philosophy and values, Hugues is also driven by a desire to give back to the community and has actively contributed to the Fondation Charles-Bruneau for many years. On a personal note, Hugues grew up in Saint-Paul-de-l’Île-aux-Noix, Montérégie, and has four children. An avid outdoorsman, he regularly enjoys running, cycling, swimming and telemark skiing. For him, sports are synonymous with balance, and he believes that staying active leads to a better performance.