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John (Jack) Archibald Armstrong, OC, business executive, geologist, engineer (born 24 March 1917 in Dauphin, Manitoba; died 26 December 2010 in Nanaimo, BC). Armstrong graduated from the University of Manitoba and worked four decades for Imperial Oil, Canada’s largest oil company. He served as its CEO (1973–81) and chairman (1974–81) before retiring 1982.

Canadian Tire Corporation, Ltd., is one of Canada’s most recognized retail chains. Founded in Toronto by brothers J.W. and A.J. Billes, the company got its start when the brothers bought the Hamilton Tire and Garage in 1922. In 1927, they incorporated the business as the Canadian Tire Corporation. Still headquartered in Toronto, the company operates a network of 1,700 stores and gas bars that extends to every province and territory except Nunavut. Canadian Tire owns Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Helly Hansen and FGL Sports, including the retail companies Sport Chek, Atmosphere and Sports Experts. It is a public company that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CTC. In 2019, Canadian Tire registered $14.5 billion in revenue and $895 million in profit and held $19.5 billion in assets.

A bailout consists of providing financial help to a business or to the wider economy during times of trouble.

James Armstrong Richardson Jr., PC, grain merchant, politician (born 28 March 1922 in Winnipeg, MB; died 17 May 2004 in Winnipeg). The son of James A. Richardson Sr., James Jr. studied at Queen’s University and served in the RCAF as a Liberator bomber pilot patrolling the North Atlantic. He joined the family firm of James Richardson and Sons Ltd. in 1946 and was chairman and executive officer from 1966 to 1968. Richardson was elected Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg South in June 1968 and appointed minister without portfolio in July. From 1969 to 1972, he was minister of Supply and Services. He was re-elected in the 1972 general election and was appointed minister of National Defence. Following his resignation from Cabinet in 1978 over the government’s language policy, he sat as an Independent (1978–79), after which he returned to the family firm and became a director.

Sun Life Financial, based in Toronto, is one of Canada’s largest insurance companies. It has operations located around the world and offers insurance and other investment products to individuals and corporate clients. Total assets of the company have grown from $74 million in 1915, to $55.8 billion in 2000 and $271.8 billion in 2018. Its shares trade on the Toronto, New York and Philippines stock markets.

Shoppers Drug Mart is a wholly owned subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, which itself is a subsidiary of George Weston Limited. It operates drugstores, pharmacies, medical supply stores and beauty boutiques. Its retail chains include Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmaprix, Shoppers Simply Pharmacy, Pharmaprix Simplement Santé, Wellwise and Murale. It also owns a patient assistance provider and drug distributor (Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty Health Network), a supplier of pharmaceutical products and services for long-term care homes (MediSystem Technologies), and a non-surgical cosmetic clinic (The Beauty Clinic). In 2018, Shoppers Drug Mart operated more than 1,300 stores. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

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Gerald Wilfred Schwartz, OC, business executive (born 24 November 1941 in Winnipeg, MB). Gerry Schwartz is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Toronto-based Onex Corporation, one of Canada’s largest private equity firms. A successful long-term investor, he has overseen major business deals in more than three decades at the head of Onex. Schwartz was one of 45 Canadians to make the Forbes list of billionaires in 2019, with the magazine estimating his net worth at US $1.6 billion. He has donated millions of dollars to universities, hospitals, charities and cultural organizations.

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Four Seasons Hotels Ltd., headquartered in Toronto, owns and manages luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. Architect and builder Isadore Sharp founded the company in 1960.

Lorne Charles Webster, financier (born 19 September 1928 in Montreal, QC; died 15 December 2004 in Montreal).

Manulife Financial Corporation, based in Toronto, is Canada’s largest insurance company and one of the largest in the world. Its principal operations are located in Canada, the United States and Asia. Manulife offers life, health and income insurance protection, as well as annuities and wealth and asset management. It was founded in 1887 as Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Inc. Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, was also the company’s first president. Manulife is a public company that trades on the Toronto, New York and Philippine stock exchanges under the symbol MFC and on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong as 945. In 2018, Manulife registered $39 billion in revenue and $4.8 billion in profit and held $1.1 trillion in assets. The company employs more than 34,000 people, who serve nearly 28 million customers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadians have worked from home. This shift to remote work has aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus by reducing contact between people.

To gauge the impact of the pandemic on remote work at Canadian businesses, Statistics Canada conducted a nationwide survey in 2020. The graphs below show some of its findings. The first graph shows the percentage of businesses, in each province and the three territories, that had more than half of their workforce working remotely a) before the pandemic and b) on 29 May 2020, during the pandemic. The second graph shows the percentage of businesses which expected that more than half their workforce would continue to work remotely after COVID-19.

Stephen J. R. Smith, financial services entrepreneur, civic leader, philanthropist (born 2 June 1951 in Ottawa, ON). Stephen Smith is a successful entrepreneur in the financial services industry. He is co-founder, chairman, president and CEO of First National Financial LP, Canada’s largest non-bank mortgage lender, as well as chairman and co-owner of the Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company, Canada’s third largest mortgage insurance provider. He is also involved in the administration of cultural organizations such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Rideau Hall Foundation and Historica Canada — publisher of The Canadian Encyclopedia — where he has been chair of the board of directors since 2009. The business school at his alma mater, Queen’s University, was named in his honour after his record $50 million gift to the university in 2015. He is a Companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame (2019). A licensed pilot, he is renowned among friends and associates for his daredevil approach to his favourite sports, which include heli-skiing and long-distance cycling. As Charles Brindamour, president and chief executive officer of Intact Financial Corp. has said, “Stephen is a force of nature.”

Equity is the monetary value of a business or property, beyond any liens or related debts. The term generally refers to “shareholders’ equity.” Shareholders’ equity is an ideal figure that stands for the amount of money that shareholders would get if the company liquidated its assets and paid its debts. In informal usage, the term equities has evolved to mean publicly traded stocks.

In economics, capital traditionally refers to the wealth owned or employed by an individual or a business. This wealth can exist in the form of money or property. Definitions of capital are constantly evolving, however. For example, in some contexts it is synonymous with equity. Social capital can refer to positive outcomes of interactions between people or to the effective functioning of groups. Human capital refers to people’s experience, skills and education, viewed as an economic resource.

Financial services, as the name implies, are finance-related services that businesses provide to clients. In a Canadian context, the best example relates to the country’s large banks. The World Economic Forum ranked Canada’s large banks as the safest on the planet following the 2008 financial crisis.

Conrad Moffat Black, Lord Black of Crossharbour, newspaper publisher, author, columnist and historian (born 25 August 1944 in Montreal, QC). Conrad Black owned and published a large network of newspapers in Canada and abroad between 1969 and 2004. He was convicted of mail fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007 and served a prison sentence in the United States. However, Black was pardoned for his convictions in 2019 by US president Donald Trump. He is a well-known author and columnist on history and politics.

Joshua Mauger, colonial entrepreneur, sea captain, politician (baptized 25 April 1725 in the parish of St. John, Jersey; died 18 October 1788 at Warborne, near Lymington, England). Mauger was one of Nova Scotia’s wealthiest and most influential merchants in the 18th century. Although he only spent 11 years in the colony, he exerted significant power in its business and politics for two decades after. His complex involvement with Nova Scotia underscores the bonds of subservience and influence that hindered the colony’s early development. Mauger also enslaved Black people and built a significant portion of his business empire on the labour of enslaved people.

Joseph Louis Rotman, OC, MSC, businessman and philanthropist (born 6 January 1935 in Toronto, ON; died 27 January 2015 in Toronto). Rotman was a prominent businessman who was active in oil trading, oil and gas exploration, merchant banking, real estate and venture capital investment. Later in life, he became a notable philanthropist with a focus on education, the arts and health care. The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University both bear his name.

An asset is a useful and desirable thing or quality. The word is most often used in business, financial or accounting contexts. Canada has some of the world’s most impressive physical and natural resources. These resources may be viewed as “national assets.” The concept is also useful in personal finance, as housing is most Canadian families’ largest asset.

Annette Verschuren, OC, business executive, entrepreneur (born 24 June 1956 in North Sydney, NS). Verschuren studied business at St. Francis Xavier University and also holds a number of honorary doctorates. Best known for her 15 years as the president of The Home Depot Canada, Verschuren co-founded Toronto energy-storage start-up NRStor in 2012 and serves as its chair and CEO. She has served on several government-appointed bodies and the boards of Canadian businesses and non-profits.