Alexander Reford has been the director of Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens since 1995. Born in Ottawa in 1962, he grew up on a farm in Aylmer, Quebec, and attended high school and CEGEP in Hull. He holds degrees in history from the University of Toronto and Oxford University. He held the position of Dean of College at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto from 1986 to 1995

The great-grandson of Elsie Reford, creator of Reford Gardens, he has directed the charitable organization, Les Amis des Jardins de Métis, that has transformed the gardens into a vibrant cultural destination and open-air museum recognized the world over for its unique horticulture collections and embrace of contemporary design. He is the co-founder of the International Garden Festival, which has been acclaimed by critics and garden writers as one of the premier garden design events in the world and which celebrated its 25th edition in 2024. The gardens capped a successful 2024 season with more than 60,000 visitors and welcoming live performances and exhibitions by architects, landscape architects, artists, musicians and performers from Quebec, Canada and France.

Alexander Reford is the author of several books, including Des jardins oubliés 1860-1960, an album of photographs of Quebec’s historic gardens, a guidebook to Reford Gardens as well as Elsie’s Paradise – Reford Gardens and its sequel on the garden’s plant collections, Treasures of Reford Gardens. Elsie Reford’s Floral Legacy. He is also the author of Au rythme du train 1859-1970, an album of photographs illustrating the history of trains and train travel in Quebec and of The Metis Lighthouse, part of an effort to preserve and protect this local landmark. He has written biographies of leading political and business figures for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and articles on the history of Métis-sur-Mer for Magazine Gaspésie.

His leadership and dedication have been recognized with the Top Forty Under Forty (2000), the Prix Frederick-Todd from the Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec (2009) and the Prix Henry-Teuscher (2009), with Elsie Reford, from the Montreal Botanical Garden. He received an honorary doctorate from Bishop’s University in 2018. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2021 for his services to tourism, heritage, culture and environmental conservation.

A dedicated volunteer, he has served as president of Le Québec maritime, Association touristique régional de la Gaspésie, Canadian Garden Council and the Association des Jardins du Québec. He served on the board of directors of the Canadian Tourism Commission from 2004 to 2014. He is currently president of the Carrefour de la littérature, des arts et de la culture (CLAC) and Heritage Lower St. Lawrence. He is a board member of Horizon Nature Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Foundation du Centre de recherche de biologie marine (CRBM).