Rob Tinline has been British High Commissioner to Canada since February 2025. He represents the British Government in Canada and oversees the High Commission in Ottawa and Consulates in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.
He is a career diplomat. Prior to arriving in Canada, he was Director Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office from May 2022 to January 2025, advising on policy and overseeing the UK diplomatic network across the region. Before that he worked on the response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, having been Director for COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022 and Chief of the Assessments Staff for the Joint Intelligence Committee from 2017 to 2019. He was the founding head of the UK Government Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre. His overseas postings have included to British Embassies in Bogota and Madrid, to the UK Mission to the UN in New York, as Head of the Multinational Provincial Reconstruction Team in Basra, and as Deputy Head of Mission at the (then) UK Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels.
The High Commissioner is the UK government’s representative in a Commonwealth nation. They are responsible for the direction and work of the High Commission and its Deputy High Commissions and/or Consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.
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