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Notable Indigenous Entrepreneurs in Canada
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Notable Indigenous Entrepreneurs in Canada

Indigenous economies thrived long before Europeans arrived in North America and, due to hard work and ingenuity, a growing number of Indigenous entrepreneurs are enjoying success today. Many are demonstrating a blending of traditional values and an Indigenous world view with financial success. The following are but a few of a long list of remarkable Indigenous entrepreneurs running thriving businesses in Canada. (See also Economic Conditions of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Vancouver Feature: Billionaire Recluse Commandeers a Hotel
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Vancouver Feature: Billionaire Recluse Commandeers a Hotel

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.


Early Tuesday morning, March 14, 1972, a long-haired and bearded old man shuffled into the lobby of the Bayshore Inn. He wore an old bathrobe and sandals, and he was surrounded by burly men. “This is pretty nice,” he said. He was the billionaire Howard Hughes, and that was the start one of the oddest visits in Vancouver history.

Jean Coutu
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Jean Coutu

Jean Coutu, O.C., O.Q., pharmacist, entrepreneur and philanthropist (born 29 May 1927 in Montreal, Quebec). Jean Coutu is the founder of the Jean Coutu Group, a chain of pharmacies established in 1969 under the name Pharm-Escomptes Jean Coutu. He is also the cofounder of the Marcelle and Jean Coutu Foundation, a private charitable foundation. Jean Coutu has received many honours and awards recognizing both his career and his philanthropy.

Pierre Dugua de Mons
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Pierre Dugua de Mons

Pierre Dugua de Mons (or Du Gua de Monts), colonizer, explorer, trader (born c. 1558 in Royan, France; died 22 February 1628 near Fléac-sur-Seugne, France). Pierre Dugua de Mons oversaw the founding of Port Royal, in Acadia (present-day Annapolis Royal), and Quebec City, Quebec. These two places were the first successful French settlements in North America. At a time of significant religious tension in France, there were few people involved in that kingdom’s exploration and settlement of North America that better represent the social, political and religious context of the early 17th century. Both Samuel de Champlain and Mathieu Da Costa, who are better known from this period, were de Mons’s employees and acted under his direction. De Mons’s legacy has been overshadowed by Champlain in part because Champlain wrote extensively about his work, whereas de Mons did not. In addition, in some of Champlain’s writings he replaced de Mons with himself.

Black Fur Traders in Canada
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Black Fur Traders in Canada

The role of Black people within the history of the fur trade is rarely considered. Black people were rarely in a position to write their own stories, so often those stories went untold. This owes to a complex set of factors including racism and limited access to literacy. Black people are also not the focus of many historical documents. However, historians have identified several Black fur traders working in different roles, and even an entire family of Black fur traders who left their mark on history.

Simon McTavish
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Simon McTavish

Simon McTavish, fur-trade merchant (b in Stratherrick, Scot c 1750; d at Montréal 6 July 1804). He immigrated to North America at age 13, probably as an apprentice to a merchant. After engaging in the fur trade out of

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne
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Sir William Cornelius Van Horne

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, telegrapher, railroad executive, artist (born 3 February 1843 in Chelsea, Illinois; died 11 September 1915 in Montreal, Quebec.) In January 1882, Van Horne was appointed general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), responsible for completing the transcontinental line. His leadership of the CPR led to a streamlined organization, new routes, rapid line construction, and its completion in 1885. Van Horne also initiated the creation of luxury hotels along the CPR line and the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company that linked Vancouver and Hong Kong. (See Railway History in Canada.)

Ken Sim
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Ken Sim

Ken Sim, entrepreneur, politician, mayor of Vancouver 2022– (born 18 October 1970 in Vancouver, BC). Ken Sim worked as an accountant and investment banker before co-founding two successful businesses: Nurse Next Door and Rosemary Rocksalt bagels. Sim made an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Vancouver in 2018, losing to Kennedy Stewart by 957 votes. In 2022, he and his A Better City (ABC) Party won a majority government with a platform that stressed law and order and public safety. Sim is the first Chinese Canadian to be elected mayor of Vancouver.

Denham Jolly
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Denham Jolly

Brandeis Denham Jolly, C.M., teacher, entrepreneur, publisher, broadcaster, philanthropist, civil rights activist, community leader (born 26 August 1935 in Industry Cove, Jamaica). Jolly began his business career by purchasing and operating rooming houses and nursing homes. He later purchased and became the publisher of Contrast, a Black community newspaper in Toronto and established FLOW 93.5, the first Black-owned radio station and the first station in Canada to showcase Black music and the stories of the Black community. Jolly also was involved with or founded and led community groups — such as the Black Action Defence Committee — that sought to end police violence targeting young Black men. Jolly also contributed generously to several causes including scholarships for promising young Black Canadians.

Adélard Raymond
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Adélard Raymond

Adélard Raymond, pilot, businessman and politician (born 10 July 1889 in Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka, QC; died 23 February 1962 in Montreal, QC). Raymond was a French-Canadian pilot who served in the First World War and then in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from 1934 to 1945. He was the second French Canadian to be appointed air vice-marshal. Raymond was also involved in the hotel industry and in various commercial operations. He was elected mayor of Senneville, on the west island of Montreal, serving from June 1951 to June 1959.

Lino Saputo
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Lino Saputo

Emanuele “Lino” Saputo, CM, OQ, businessman, dairy and cheese industrialist, philanthropist (born 10 June 1937 in Montelepre, Italy). Lino Saputo emerged from modest beginnings to develop one of the most prominent dairy companies in Canada — Saputo — now with operations in the United States, Argentina and Australia. His influence and family name is found throughout Montreal, Quebec, including on the Saputo Stadium, home of CF Montréal a professional soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer (MLS). His family is routinely listed among the wealthiest Canadians, reaching number three in 2017.

Lise Watier
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Lise Watier

Marie Ginette Jeanne Lise Watier, OC, OQ, businesswoman (born 8 November 1944 in Montreal, QC). Lise Watier is the founder of the company Lise Watier Cosmétiques, launched in 1972. She left the management of the company and retired in 2013 to focus on her foundation, the Lise Watier Foundation. She received many awards and distinctions throughout her career.

Bertram Hoffmeister
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Bertram Hoffmeister

Major General Bertram (Bert) Meryl Hoffmeister, OC, CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, ED, Canadian Army officer, businessman (born 15 May 1907 in Vancouver, BC; died 4 December 1999 in Vancouver, BC). During the Second World War, Hoffmeister commanded the Seaforth Highlanders in Sicily, the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Ortona (1943) and the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, which distinguished itself under his courageous leadership in Italy and later in North-West Europe. Military historian Jack Granatstein has referred to Major General Hoffmeister as one of “the best Canadian fighting generals of the [Second world] war.”When the war ended, Hoffmeister resumed his career in the BC forest industry and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982.