SOUBLIERE, Jean-Pierre
Jean-Pierre “JP” Soublière, age 78, of Ottawa passed away on July 3rd 2025 at his home overlooking the Ottawa River. Preceded in death by his parents Horace & Cecile (Blais) Soublière, his sister Lise and survived by his wife Catherine Anderson Soublière, his sister Anne Marie (Normand), and his children Daniel (Teresa), Alexander (Lorraine), Anna (Gaylord), and Eric (Kathryn) and his grandkids Matthieu; Thomas; Katrina; Anthony; Elisa; Noah; Sequoia; Sophie; Chloe; Beatrice; Emile & Benjamin.
JP lived life to the fullest. He was a winner in all aspects of his life. From very humble beginnings, he achieved a Bachelors Degree from the University of Ottawa in 1967 and then an MBA from UBC in 1971. Although his first career was in the public service, he eventually transitioned to the private sector and worked his way up to President of SHL Systemhouse Canada & International as well as President & COO of Alis Technologies and an advisor to corporations such as Merrill Lynch, Adobe, CGI, Dell Computer, NEC Pearson, SAP, Open Text, and SAS. Directorships included International DataCastings, Above Security, UniMédia, ACL, and Provence Technologies (Chair). JP was also a member of several Councils and Boards including the advisory board of Talent Map, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, and the IM/IT Committee for the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (Chair).
In addition to serving on boards of not-for-profit organizations, he also participated on the City of Gatineau’s Strategic Planning Committee, the Inter-American Development Bank’s Industry Advisory Council, and in 1998 he chaired the task force that coordinated health care re-structuring in Eastern Ontario. He also chaired the Canadian Federal Government’s Ad Hoc Industry Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce and participated on the Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable, and the GOL Advisory Committee to the President of the Treasury Board of the Government of Canada.
JP earned national recognition for his leadership and service. His countless awards include the Order of Ottawa economic development (2004); Governor General’s Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal (2002); Trudeau Medal (1997); and Business Person of the Year (1995).
But he was not content with simply being a local business champion. He always counted himself as being a very lucky person, crediting his upbringing in a catholic boarding school and having married right. “The harder I work, the luckier I get” was a quote repeated many, many times over his lifetime. As such, part of this appreciation of life was giving back to his community. Some of his giving back included important volunteer positions at the University of Ottawa, United Way of Ottawa (President & Chair), Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Harmony Foundation (Chair), and Compassion Ottawa.
Business Leader; volunteer extraordinaire and community champion – but to those who knew him best, JP’s proudest achievements were never in the boardroom, they were at home and on memorable family vacations as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. A public celebration of life will occur at Highland Park Cemetery at 2037 McGee Side Rd, in Carp, ON, on Monday July 14th (1PM start, 2:30 short speeches, 4PM end). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Terry Fox Foundation, a cause that was very close to JP’s heart. “La vie est belle”….
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