Before joining Air Canada, Rovinescu was the managing partner of Montreal law firm
Stikeman Elliott LLP, and for over 20 years practiced in the areas of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. While a lawyer at Stikeman Elliott LLP, Rovinescu served as lead external counsel on Air Canada's privatization and public offering in 1988 and continued advising the airline on significant transactions and events thereafter. and served as its Chief Restructuring Officer during its 2003–2004 restructuring. Between 2004 and returning to Air Canada in 2009, Rovinescu was a co-founder and principal of independent investment bank Genuity Capital Markets, which subsequently merged with Canaccord Capital to form Canaccord Genuity Group. Rovinescu was elected chairman of the
Star Alliance chief executive board, the controlling body of
Star Alliance, the world's largest global airline alliance, and served in that role from 2012 to 2016. a global trade association representing some 240 airlines since 2010. He served as chairman of IATA from June 2014 to June 2015. and of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third largest bank. He is a Senior Advisor to
Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest asset managers and of
Teneo, a global public affairs advisory to CEOs. He previously served on the Board of directors of the
Business Council of Canada (BCC), an organization composed of the CEOs of Canada's largest enterprises, representing all sectors of the Canadian economy. Rovinescu is broadly credited with having saved Air Canada from bankruptcy and having set it on a course for sustainable profitability, better labour relations and continued success. In the ten years following his appointment, Air Canada's shares had appreciated more than 4,000% and the airline had achieved record revenues, record profitability and carried a record number of passengers. Its common shares had the greatest share price appreciation of all companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange over the decade ended December 31, 2019. It has expanded dramatically and serves 220 destinations on all six inhabited continents. During his tenure, Air Canada was recognized by Skytrax as the Best Airline in North America in eight out of ten years, and as the only four star network carrier in North America. In addition, it won numerous other awards including Air Transport World's 2018 Eco Airline of the Year and is one of Canada's Top Employers. On October 3, 2019, together with his wife Elaine, he announced the creation of the Rovinescu Admission Scholarships for new Canadians, to benefit students at both the University of Ottawa and Université de Montréal through a gift of $2M, to be divided equally between the two institutions. The Rovinescu Scholarships will provide first-generation Canadians or children of immigrants, with the opportunity to pursue a bachelor’s or professional degree designation at either university. Since November 9, 2015, he was named 14th Chancellor of the
University of Ottawa, replacing former Governor General Michaëlle Jean. He was replaced by
Algonquin Elder
Claudette Commanda in 2022. ==Awards and honours==