Prior to his appointment to the Senate, Shugart held a number of senior roles within the Public Service of Canada, including as the 24th clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet from 2019 to 2021.
[3][4][5][6] Mulroney formed government in 1984 and Shugart worked as a senior policy advisor to the minister of national health and welfare, Jake Epp.
[3][4][5] In 1991, Shugart joined the Public Service of Canada, taking a job as the assistant secretary for the social policy and programs branch in the Federal-Provincial Relations Office.
[3] Shugart was promoted to deputy minister for Environment Canada in 2006, where he supported international climate change negotiations and the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
[7] In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Shugart would become the 24th clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet – the head of the Public Service – following the resignation of Michael Wernick.