Born in Jonquière on August 16, 1948, son of Louis Reid and Georgette Tremblay, Pierre Reid holds a B.A. in science from Université Laval and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Paris XI.

He started working as a computer scientist at IBM from 1973 to 1976, and then advised organizations on management and information systems from 1976 to 1989. Simultaneously, he pursued an academic career, first as a Professor at the University du Quebec à Chicoutimi, and then at the University of Sherbrooke, where he was Professor, Vice-Dean, Director of the MBA programme and President, serving for two years as President of the Conference of Quebec University Presidents. Beginning in 2001, he became Assistant Deputy Minister at Industry Canada and Special Advisor to the Deputy Minister of the Canada Development Agency for Quebec until 2003.

In addition, Mr. Reid was a member of the Board of the Petit Théâtre de Sherbrooke for nearly a decade, as well as a member and then Chairman of the Board of the Musica-Nova Ensemble.

Elected MNA for Orford in 2003, he was re-elected in 2007 and 2008. He was Minister of Education until February 2005, and then Minister of Government Services until February 2006. He now occupies the position of Temporary Committee Chair.