• $50 million donation to the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest single donation in the history of the institution to support of a multi-year revitalization of one of Ontario’s most treasured institutions.
• $36 million donation to Sinai Health, the largest single donation in the history of the institution to name “Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital”, the largest complex care and rehabilitation hospital in Canada.
• $10 million donation to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center (Yad Vashem) in Jerusalem, Israel.
• $8 million donation to name the “Hennick JD-MBA Program” at Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business at York University.
• $7.5 million donation to name the “Hennick Family Wellness Gallery”, a healing and respite gallery at Mount Sinai Hospital that houses the largest collection of artworks by famed Canadian artist, Sorel Etrog.
• $3.5 million donation to provide special scholarships to worthy recipients at the University of Ottawa Law School; and
• Several smaller benefactions to a variety of causes in health care, arts, and education in Canada.

Louis Audet is Board Chair of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications inc. since September 01, 2021. Prior to that, he was executive Chair of the Board during a three year transition period that has led to the successful transfer of the responsibility of President and Chief Executive Officer to his successor on September 01, 2018. Louis had held that position for 25 years, starting in 1994, having received the mantel from his father and company founder Henri Audet.

He joined Cogeco in 1981 and took on a variety of responsibilities as Vice President of sales, marketing and strategic planning before becoming Executive Vice President and eventually President and Chief Executive Officer in 1994. Prior to joining Cogeco, he held engineering positions in outside plant and central office equipment at Bell Canada from 1974 to 1977 and marketing positions at Cable TV Ltd from 1979 to 1981.

Louis obtained his Collegiate Studies Diploma from College Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal (1970), he holds a BSc and Professional Engineer diploma from École Polytechnique de Montreal (1974). He also holds a Master in business administration (MBA) from Harvard University (1979).

Having taken Cogeco public in 1985, Cogeco has grown through a series of some 40 acquisitions for the most part in the wireline telecommunication (cable) sector. Under Louis’s leadership, Cogeco has become a leading North American Telecommunications Company delivering high speed internet, land line telephony and video services to some 1.6 million customers in Québec, Ontario and 13 states of Eastern USA.

Louis Audet is currently Chair of the board of the Old Brewery Mission, a leading organization which provides emergency and housing services for homeless people in the Montreal area. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of CableLabs, of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP). He previously sat on the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, Clarica, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Corporation de l’École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Association Canadienne de la radio et de la television de langue française, Fondation du Centre Hospitalier de L’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and he served as Governor of the Council on Canadian Unity and chaired the Fondation et Alumni de l ’école Polytechnique de Montréal. He was also Chairman of the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf Development Fund for 10 years.

Over the years, Louis has often been recognized by both the business and philanthropic communities for his numerous achievements. Amongst his contributions, he acted as co-Chair of the 2017 campaign for Centraide of Greater Montréal and as Chair of the 2015-2021 fundraising campaign for the Old Brewery Mission Foundation. He is currently co-Chair of the 50 million $ 2024-2029 campaign of the Old Brewery Mission.

Louis was named Member of the Order of Canada in 2013 and Officier de l’Ordre National du Québec in 2022. In 2018, he was chosen by the United Nations Association in Canda as it’s annual Global Citizens Laureate. That same year, he received two Honorary Doctorates from Université de Montréal and Université du Québec in Trois-Rivières. He has also been inducted in the Club des entrepreneurs du Conseil du patronat du Québec and was awarded the Order of Merit from the Université de Montréal Alumni Association, as well as the Merit Award from École Polytechnique Alumni Association.

In 1983, Louis married Jocelyne Francoeur his wife of 40 years and they are blessed to have a daughter, Émilie, who joined Cogeco in 2020 where she is growing professionally.
Jocelyne and Louis enjoy travelling, in addition to Europe and Eastern Europe, defining destinations have been India and the Middle East.

Other interests include classical music and the learning of languages, none of which he masters well! At age 68, he undertook learning the piano, which likely will forever remain a work in progress!

Prem Watsa was born in 1950 near Hyderabad, India. His father was a teacher and later became the principal of an excellent boys’ school. My dad was an upright, no-nonsense kind of guy. He expected me to work hard and study. My father was a great influence on me. I will never forget one piece of advice he gave me. He said, ‘Work as hard as you can, as though everything depended on you. Pray as hard as you can, as though everything depended on God.’”

Though not wealthy, Prem, along with his brother and two sisters, had the advantages of loving, attentive parents. The Watsas were Christians. Prem says, “I was brought up on the Christian values of family, honesty and integrity, and doing the right thing.”

While in school, Prem’s strength was in math and chemistry. He applied to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India’s top engineering school and majored in chemical engineering. Out of 50,000 applicants, only 1,000 were selected and Prem was one of them.

By the time he graduated, Prem decided he was more interested in pursuing a career in business than engineering. He applied to the best business school in the country, the Indian Institute of Management. The school received about 10,000 applications for only 100 openings. After failing to make the cut the first time, Prem resolved to study harder and apply again. He worked for a year in a few jobs, studied, and re-applied. This time he was accepted to the prestigious school.

Prem’s older brother had married and settled in London, Ontario, Canada. His father suggested that a better opportunity for Prem might be to attend graduate school in Canada. He left India with only $8 in his pocket. He found a job selling air conditioners and furnaces door to door, which funded his MBA at the University of Western Ontario Business School, later known as the Richard Ivey School of Business.
After earning his master’s degree, Prem began applying for jobs.

Finally, in 1974, he got a job at Confederation Life Insurance Company in Toronto as an investment analyst. His manager, John Watson, became his mentor and taught him all he knew about investing based on Benjamin Graham’s theories of value investing.

After nine years with Confederation Life, Prem and a few partners founded a successful asset management firm, Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. A year later, in 1985, he organized a group of investors to take control of a small Canadian trucking insurance company with $10 million in premiums. That became the base for Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. With Prem Watsa as its Chairman and CEO, Fairfax evolved into a worldwide property and casualty insurance and reinsurance company operating in more than 100 countries, with $28 billion in premiums. Over the past 37 years, Fairfax has increased its shareholders’ equity from $10
million to in excess of $20 billion and book value per share has compounded at approximately 19 percent per year. Fairfax’s stock price has followed suit.

Prem says, “We focused on treating our employees and customers well, and we worked hard for our shareholders. We decided from the beginning that if we were successful, then we would invest in the communities that helped us. We made it a rule that one or two percent of our pre-tax profits would be reinvested back into the communities in which we do business.”

Prem defines success on three levels. “First,” he says, “I am a Christian, so faith is very important. Second is my family. I’ve been married for 50 years and it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have three children and I am the proud grandfather of five grandchildren. Third is my business success. The most important principle we have in our company is honesty and integrity. We will never compromise those values. Nor will we ever succeed at the expense of our families. I like a quote from the Bible, which says, “What profiteth a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?”

He is a member of the Sick Children’s Hospital Foundation and is Chairman of their Investment Committee, member of the Advisory Board for the Richard Ivey School of Business, Chairman of the Investment Committee of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Toronto. He is on the Board of Horatio Alger Association U.S. and President of Horatio Alger Association of Canada. He is Chairman of Fairfax India. He is the Chancellor of Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario and formerly Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. He is a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Padma Shri Awards, one of the highest awards in India.

A professional engineer and lawyer, Stan Marshall joined Newfoundland Power in 1979 and in 1987, he was instrumental in the creation of the utility’s parent company, Fortis Inc. His career with Fortis spanned 35 years with more than 18 years as the Corporation’s President and CEO. Under his leadership, Fortis grew into the largest investor-owned gas and electric distribution utility in Canada and was transformed into a leader in the electricity and gas utility business in North America, serving more than 3 million energy customers across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. The Corporation’s total assets grew from less than $1 billion in 1996 to more than $26 billion in 2014.

Stan’s significant accomplishments include leading the expansion of Fortis in western Canada through the acquisition of the Aquila electric utility assets in Alberta and British Columbia (now known as FortisAlberta and FortisBC Electric, respectively) in 2004, the acquisition of Terasen Gas in British Columbia (now known as FortisBC Energy) in 2007, the Corporation’s initial entry into the United States with the acquisition of New York State utility Central Hudson Gas & Electric in 2013 and its subsequent growth in the United States with the acquisition of Arizona State utility UNS Energy in 2014.

In June 2014, Stan retired as President, Fortis Inc. and in December of that same year, he retired as Chief Executive Officer and as Director of the Board of Directors of Fortis Inc.

In April 2016, Mr. Marshall was requested to come out of retirement by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to become President and CEO of Nalcor Energy, with additional oversight as CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation. Between 2016 and 2021, one of the most notable successes under Mr. Marshall’s direction was the reorganization and restructuring of the Muskrat Falls project where he was instrumental in procuring additional financing and bringing construction of all major components of the project into operation.

In addition to serving on the boards of Fortis, Nalcor, and their affiliates, Stan served on the boards of two other Canadian public companies – Toromont Industries and Enerflex Ltd.

Currently Stan is on the Board of the Trans Mountain Corporation and is Chair of the committee responsible for overseeing the construction of the oil pipeline expansion project.

In his personal and corporate life, Stan demonstrated a commitment to assisting people and community. While President and CEO of Fortis he ensured that every Fortis company supported charitable and cultural endeavours and encouraged his people to be actively involved in their communities. Within the Fortis family he placed strong emphasis on the development and promotion of young talent. He mentored many young executives and takes great satisfaction in their success.

As CEO of Fortis, Stan was committed to maintaining its headquarters in St. John’s, NL. He has always been a strong supporter of his province and its people. He took a particular interest in documenting the history of Newfoundland where his family has lived in the same small community for over 300 years. Fortis sponsored a five-part CBC documentary series on the history of Newfoundland and also funded a scholarly biography of its most prominent Prime Minister. Stan was personally involved in both productions. He is a proud Newfoundlander, but also takes great pride in being the first member of his family to be born Canadian.

In 2015, Stan Marshall was inducted into the JA Newfoundland and Labrador Business Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions in business and to his province.

Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1956, Mr. André Desmarais obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University.

Mr. Desmarais began his career at Campeau Corporation in 1979 as Development Officer. From 1980 to 1981, he was Press Secretary and Special Assistant to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. He was Executive Assistant to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation of Canada between 1981 and 1982, at which time he became Institutional Salesman, Options, at Richardson Greenshields of Canada in Toronto.

In 1983, Mr. Desmarais returned to Power Corporation of Canada and, in 1991, was named President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Desmarais is Deputy Chairman of Power Corporation, a position he has held since 1996. He previously served as President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation from 1996 until his retirement in February 2020. He was also Executive Co-Chairman of Power Financial from 2008 until 2020.

He also serves as Deputy Chairman of Power Financial and is a director of many Power Corporation group companies, including Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, Empower Retirement, Putnam Investments, IGM Financial, IG Wealth Management, Mackenzie and Power Sustainable Capital. He was a director and Vice-Chairman of Pargesa in Europe until November 2020, when Pargesa’s reorganization was completed.

In addition, Mr. Desmarais is Honorary Chairman of the Canada China Business Council; Senior Advisor to the International Advisory Council of China Association for the Promotion of Industrial Development; Member of the Trilateral Commission; Member of the Chairman’s International Advisory Council of the Americas Society; Member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and Member of various foundations.

He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and of the National Order of Québec and has received doctorates Honoris Causa from Concordia University, the University of Montreal and McGill University.