Officer of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 2016-05-12
Invested on: 2016-09-23
For his achievements as a business leader and for his contributions to academic institutions as a philanthropist.
One of Canada’s great entrepreneurs, John McCall MacBain has used his wealth to give back to others. He grew a Montréal classified advertising company into a leading global enterprise; from the proceeds of its sale, he created a family foundation. Through it, his unprecedented donations have guaranteed, in perpetuity, the Rhodes Scholarship in Canada, helped create a European organization dedicated to preventing climate change, and funded humanitarian projects in Africa. Committed to public service, he also serves as the current chair of the Trudeau Foundation and is a trustee of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.