COMMISSIONER SUSAN MCMILLAN

Susan McMillan has been a Salvation Army officer since 1979, with appointments in Canada, Mexico, South America and International Headquarters in London, England. Her appointments have varied in scope from corps officer to social services, hospital administration, finance and administration. She is currently the Territorial Commander (TC), Territorial President of Women’s Ministries (TPWM) and Executive Officer of the Canadian Staff Band for Canada and Bermuda.

Susan was born in Toronto, Canada, to Salvation Army officer parents. She holds a Bachelor of Administrative Studies and Masters of Business Administration from York University. She is also a Chartered Professional Accountant. She trained in the Joyful Evangelists session of cadets at The Salvation Army College for Officer Training in Toronto and was commissioned in 1979.

Her first appointment was Assistant Corps Officer for Rosemount, Montreal. Later that same year she became Private Secretary to the Territorial Commander for Mexico and Central America, performing administrative work and English-Spanish translation for the territorial leaders, including simultaneous translation.

In 1983 Susan returned to Canada as Corps Officer for Mimico, just outside Toronto. The following year she was appointed as Counsellor for the Dufferin Residence in Toronto, for post-psychiatric care in a residential environment. In 1988 she became Administrative Consultant for the 22 Homes for the Aged across Canada.

In 1990 Susan received an appointment as Financial Secretary in the South America East Territory, serving as Director of Finance for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

She returned to Canada in 1994 and was appointed as Administrative Assistant to the Chief Medical Officer, Scarborough Grace Hospital, Toronto. Susan acted as cultural interpreter and provided support for research and drafting of clinical practice guidelines, management evaluation of the hospital and preparation for accreditation.

In 1995 Susan became a representative of the Governing Council of The Salvation Army to the Board of the Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor, Ontario, as well as Chair of a planning committee and site manager for Grace Hospital during its merger with the Hotel-Dieu Hospital. As a member of the administrative committee she coordinated programs to ensure mission effectiveness in the organization and assisted departments in the preparation of their annual budgets.

In 1998, Susan was appointed as Financial Secretary at Territorial Headquarters, acting as the Director of Finance for Canada and Bermuda. In 2000 she was appointed as Secretary for Business Administration, serving as Chief Operating Officer managing 11 departments related to the temporal matters in Canada and Bermuda including: Emergency Disaster Services; Finance; Government Relations; Information Technology; Jackson’s Point Conference Centre; Legal Office; National Recycling Operations (Thrift Stores); Property; Public Relations and Development; Supplies and Purchasing; and World Missions.

2003 saw an appointment as Chief Secretary for the South America West Territory. The second-in-command position involved supervision of all the work in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru.

In 2008 Susan was appointed to International Headquarters (IHQ) in London, England, as Under Secretary for the Americas and Caribbean. This involved being liaison to all nine territories in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

She returned to South America East in 2010 with an appointment as Territorial Commander, in charge of The Salvation Army’s work in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

In 2014 Susan McMillan was appointed as Territorial Commander and Territorial President of Women’s Ministries for Canada and Bermuda, taking charge of The Salvation Army’s work across the territory. In addition to this responsibility she also became the Chancellor of Booth University College. In July 2018, in honour of the Canadian Staff Band 50th anniversary year, she became the band’s Executive Officer.