The Canadian Business Hall of Fame celebrates the outstanding achievements of Canada's most distinguished business leaders, past and present. Over 170 Order of the Business Hall of Fame Companions serve as inspiring examples for all young Canadians and are featured in a display in the Allen Lambert Galleria located at Brookfield Place in Toronto, Ontario. Companions are selected by an independent panel representing
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
business, academic and media institutions.
The Canadian Business Hall of Fame was established by
Junior Achievement
JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning ...
Charles Allard
Charles Alexander Allard (November 19, 1919August 11, 1991) was a Canadian surgeon, entrepreneur, and broadcaster, who set up the Canadian radio station CHQT and Edmonton's independent television station CITV-TV, and was also the founder of the ...
A. Charles Baillie Alexander Charles Baillie (born December 20, 1939) is the former CEO of TD Bank Financial Group; he served in this role until December, 2002.
He served as the 12th Chancellor of Queen's University. He was appointed on July 1, 2002 and completed ...
Jim Balsillie
James Laurence Balsillie (born February 3, 1961) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former Chair and co- CEO of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion (Blackberry), which at its prime made over $20B in sales annu ...
Laurent Beaudoin
Laurent Robert Beaudoin (; born May 13, 1938) is a Canadian businessman from Quebec. From 1979 to 2003, he was the CEO of the transportation company Bombardier.
Early life
Beaudoin was born in Laurier Station, Quebec. In 1959, while studying a ...
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Adam Beck
Sir Adam Beck (June 20, 1857 – August 15, 1925) was a Canadian politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
Biography
Beck was born in Baden, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to German i ...
Max Bell
George Maxwell Bell (October 13, 1912 – July 19, 1972) was a Canadian newspaper publisher, race horse owner and philanthropist. He was best known as the co-founder of FP Publications, Canada's largest newspaper syndicate in the 1960s. He built h ...
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Aldo Bensadoun
Albert "Aldo" Bensadoun (born 1939), is a Canadian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and executive chairman of the ALDO Group, a retail shoe company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bensadoun's family foundation donated $25 million t ...
Samuel Bronfman
Samuel Bronfman, (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited, and is a member of the Canadian Bronfman family.
Biography
Samuel Bronfman was born in Otaci, ...
André Chagnon
André Chagnon (March 17, 1928 – October 8, 2022) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was noted for being the founder of telecommunications company Vidéotron.
Early life
Chagnon was born in the Ahuntsic neighbourhood of Montr ...
John Clyne
John Valentine Clyne, (February 14, 1902 – August 22, 1989) was a Canadian lawyer and former Justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia he attended the University of British Columbia and graduated in 19 ...
George Albertus Cox
George Albertus Cox (May 7, 1840 – January 16, 1914) was a very prominent Canadian businessman and a member of the Senate of Canada.
Life and career
He was born in Colborne, Upper Canada, in 1840. He began work as a telegrapher for the Mont ...
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Purdy Crawford
Purdy Crawford, (November 7, 1931 – August 12, 2014) was a Canadian lawyer and businessman.
Education
Born in Five Islands, Nova Scotia, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Allison University in 1952, a bachelor of laws degre ...
Graham Day
Sir Judson Graham Day, (born 3 May 1933) is a British-Canadian business executive, lawyer and corporate director who now lives in Hantsport, Nova Scotia.
Early life and education
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he graduated from Dalhousie Law ...
Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien
Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien (born 1928) is a Canadian media proprietor, who was chairman and CEO of Telemedia. He founded the company in 1968, and went on to acquire a number of radio stations in Quebec and Ontario, and launched magazines such as ...
James Hamet Dunn
Sir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet (October 29, 1874 – January 1, 1956) was a Canadian financier and industrialist during the first half of the 20th century. He is recognized chiefly for his 1935 rescue and subsequent 20-year presidency and propri ...
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Timothy Eaton
Timothy Eaton (March 1834 – 31 January 1907) was an Irish businessman who founded the Eaton's department store, one of the most important retail businesses in Canada's history.
Early life and family
He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, ...
Joseph Flavelle
Sir Joseph Wesley Flavelle, 1st Baronet (February 15, 1858 – March 7, 1939) was a Canadian businessman.
Life and career
Joseph Wesley Flavelle was born on February 15, 1858, in Peterbough, Canada West, to John and Dorothea (Dundas) Flavelle. ...
Peter Godsoe
Peter Cowperthwaite Godsoe, BSc, MBA, (born May 2, 1938) is a Canadians, Canadian businessman and former President, Chairman and Chief executive officer of the Bank of Nova Scotia from 1992 to 2003. He is a member of the board of directors of mult ...
James K. Gray
James Kenneth Gray O.C., A.O.E. was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario in 1933. He was educated at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Canada. He came to Calgary in 1956 to pursue a career in Alberta's energy sector. In 1973, he co-founded Canadian Hunt ...
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Ian Greenberg
Ian Greenberg (15 June 1942 – 10 January 2022) was a Canadian businessman and media pioneer. He was the co-founder of Astral Media Inc. and served as its president and chief executive officer from 1996 until 2013.
Early life
Greenberg was born ...
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Frank Griffiths
Frank A. Griffiths (December 17, 1916 – April 7, 1994) was a Canadian media executive through his company, Western International Communications Ltd. (WIC).
Frank Griffiths was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. In 1956, along with ...
Herbert Samuel Holt
Sir Herbert Samuel Holt (February 12, 1856 – September 29, 1941) was an Irish-born Canadian civil engineer who became a businessman, banker, and corporate director with a ruthless business reputation. He was President of the Royal Bank o ...
Arthur Irving
Arthur Lee Irving, (born 1930) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, the second son of industrialist K.C. Irving. He is the sole owner, through the Arthur Irving Family Trust, of Irving Oil Ltd. As of June 2022, his net worth was estimated at ...
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James K. Irving
James Kenneth Irving, (born March 20, 1928) is a Canadian billionaire businessman who is the eldest son of industrialist K.C. Irving. With an estimated net worth of US$6.9 billion (as of 2019), Irving was ranked by ''Forbes'' as the 4th richest ...
K.C. Irving
Kenneth Colin Irving, (March 14, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was a Canadian businessman whose business began with a family sawmill in Bouctouche, N.B., in 1882. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Biography Early life
Bor ...
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Hal Jackman
Henry Newton Rowell Jackman (born June 10, 1932) is a Canadian billionaire businessman who served as the 25th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1991 to 1997. He is the son of former Member of Parliament Harry Jackman and philanthropist Mary R ...
Izaak Walton Killam
Izaak Walton Killam (July 23, 1885 – August 5, 1955) was a Canadian financier.
Early life
Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, he was the son of William Dudman Killam and Arabella Hunter (Belle) Cann.
Business ventures
As a young banker with the ...
Murray Koffler
Murray Bernard Koffler, (January 22, 1924 – November 5, 2017) was a Canadian pharmacist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was best known for founding the Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, establishing the Koffler Centre of the Arts ...
Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté, (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil. In January 2018, Laliberté was ranked by ''Forbes'' as the 11th wealthiest ...
Mike Lazaridis
Mihal "Mike" Lazaridis (born March 14, 1961) is a Canadian businessman, investor in quantum computing technologies, and founder of BlackBerry, which created and manufactured the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. With an estimated net worth of ...
Jean-Louis Lévesque
Jean-Louis Lévesque, (April 13, 1911 – December 28, 1994) was a Canadian entrepreneur, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist.
J. Louis Lévesque was born in Nouvelle in Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula to an Acadian father and an I ...
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Theodore Loblaw Theodore Pringle Loblaw (July 1, 1872 – April 2, 1933) was a Canadian grocer. Loblaw founded the Loblaws chain of grocery stores, which is now a nationwide retail empire.
Biography
Loblaw was born in Elmgrove, northeast of Alliston, the so ...
John Bayne Maclean
Lieutenant Colonel John Bayne Maclean (26 September 1862 – 25 September 1950) was a Canadian publisher. He founded ''Maclean's Magazine'', the ''Financial Post'' and the Maclean Publishing Company, later known as Maclean-Hunter.
Life and c ...
Hart Massey
Hart Almerrin Massey (April 29, 1823 – February 20, 1896) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Massey family. He was an industrialist who built the agricultural equipment firm that became Massey Fer ...
Wallace McCain
George Wallace Ferguson McCain (April 9, 1930 – May 13, 2011) was a Canadian businessman and co-founder of McCain Foods. With an estimated net worth of $US 4.15 billion (as of 2018), McCain was ranked by ''Forbes'' as the 13th wealthiest ...
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Harrison McCain
Harrison McCain (3 November 1927 – 18 March 2004) was a Canadian businessman and co-founder, along with his three brothers, of international frozen foods giant McCain Foods.
Early life
McCain was born in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunsw ...
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Grant McConachie
George William Grant McConachie (24 April 1909 – 29 June 1965) was a Canadian Bush flying, bush pilot and businessman who became CEO of Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPA).
He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up in Calder, Alberta. He de ...
David Mirvish
David Mirvish, (born August 29, 1944) is a Canadian art collector, art dealer, theatre producer, real estate developer and son of the late Toronto discount department store owner "Honest" Ed Mirvish and artist Anne Lazar Macklin.
Life and caree ...
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Ed Mirvish
Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish, (July 24, 1914 – July 11, 2007) was an American-Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark disc ...
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John Molson
John Molson (December 28, 1763 – January 11, 1836) was an English-born brewer and entrepreneur in colonial Quebec, which during his lifetime became Lower Canada. In addition to founding Molson Brewery, he built the first steamship and the fir ...
Peter Munk
Peter Munk (November 8, 1927 – March 28, 2018) was a Hungarian-Canadian businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of a number of high-profile business ventures, including the hi-fi electronics co ...
Ted Newall
James Edward Malcolm "Ted" Newall, (August 20, 1935 – April 26, 2012) was a Canadian businessman and leading oil and manufacturing executive.
Life and career
Born in Holden, Alberta, the son of Robert Robertson Newall and Lillian Alice She ...
Jim Pattison
James Allen Pattison (born October 1, 1928) is a Canadian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he holds the position of chief executive officer, chairman and sole owner of the Jim Pa ...
Pierre Péladeau
Pierre Péladeau, (April 11, 1925 – December 24, 1997) was a French-Canadian businessman. He was the founder of Quebecor Inc., a Canadian media and telecommunications conglomerate in Quebec.
He was the father of billionaire Pierre Karl Pé ...
Alfred Powis Alfred Powis, OC (September 16, 1930, Montreal, Canada – October 10, 2007, Toronto, Canada) was a Canadian businessman. After graduating from Westmount High School, he earned a BComm degree from McGill University. At McGill University, Powis ...
James Armstrong Richardson
James Armstrong Richardson Jr. (March 28, 1922 – May 17, 2004) was a Canadian Cabinet minister under Pierre Trudeau and a Winnipeg businessman.
Early life
Richardson was born on March 28, 1922, in Winnipeg, Manitoba to James Armstrong Ri ...
Stephen Boleslav Roman
Stephen Boleslav Roman (17 April 1921 – 23 March 1988) was a prominent Canadian mining engineer and mining executive of a Slovak origin.
Business commentator Diane Francis described him as a self-made man in her book ''Controlling Interest''.
A ...
Guy Saint-Pierre
Guy Saint-Pierre, (born August 3, 1934 – January 23, 2022) was a Canadian entrepreneur, business executive, politician and philanthropist. He is best known for having orchestrated the merger of SNC and Lavalin to create SNC Lavalin, the lar ...
JR Shaw
James Robert Shaw (August 14, 1934 – March 23, 2020) was a Canadian businessman. He founded Alberta-based Shaw Communications in 1966 and was the executive chairman of the company. As of 2016, Shaw and other members of his family controlled 85 ...
Clifford Sifton
Sir Clifford Sifton, (March 10, 1861 – April 17, 1929), was a Canadian lawyer and a long-time Liberal politician, best known for being Minister of the Interior under Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He was responsible for encouraging the massive amount ...
E. P. Taylor
Edward Plunket Taylor, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (January 29, 1901 – May 14, 1989) was a Canadians, Canadian business tycoon, investor and philanthropist. He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred horse racing, race ...
Noah Timmins Noah Anthony Timmins (March 31, 1867 – January 22, 1936) was a Canadian mining financier and developer who is now counted among the founding fathers of Canada's mining industry.
Early life and family
Timmins was born Noé-Antoine, in Mattawa, ...
William Cornelius Van Horne
Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, (February 3, 1843September 11, 1915) is most famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian transcontinental railway, a project that was completed in 1885, in under half the projected time. He succe ...