Gil McGowan, AFL President

In 2025, Gil McGowan was re-elected to a record eleventh two-year term as president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), Alberta’s largest union advocacy organization, representing more than 170,000 workers in both the public and private sectors.

McGowan, a father of three, has presided over a period of substantial growth for the AFL. He has been instrumental in putting many important issues forward for public discussion in Alberta.

He has led public discussion that led to policy changes on resource development, reform of the temporary foreign worker program, new energy jobs at union wages, sustainable jobs in new energy industries, reforms to the labour code, and reforms to occupational health and safety and WCB legislation. He was a member of the Federal Just Transition Task Force, which developed transition strategies for workers and communities affected by the phase out of coal fired electricity across Canada. He served as Co-Chair of the Energy Diversification Advisory Committee (EDAC), a special committee established by the Notley government to make recommendations about how to add more value to Alberta’s energy resources.

Gil has been instrumental in coordinating the AFL’s political action campaigns, including the campaign that helped elect Alberta’s first NDP government in May 2015. That same year, Gil was named one of Alberta’s 50 most influential people. In 2022, he received the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for “significant contribution to the province.”

In addition to his position with the AFL, Gil currently sits on the Canadian Council, the governing body of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Gil is the Chair of the Sponsor Board for the Local Authorities Pension Plan, Alberta’s largest pension plan, and currently serves as Vice-Chair.