John Louis Bragg, (born May 3, 1940) is a Canadian businessman and former Chancellor of

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not par ...

Early life and education

The Bragg family has called Nova Scotia home for 180 years. John was born in Collingwood, Nova Scotia, he received a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree and a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order f ...

degree from Mount Allison University.

Career

He is the Chairman, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Frozen Foods Limited, a food manufacturer which he founded in 1968 and operates the largest fruit farm in the world, with over 12,000 acres (49 km²) of wild blueberries. He also founded a

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

company in the 1970s which became known as Bragg Communications and was subsequently expanded to become EastLink. Bragg built his first blueberry-processing factory in 1968, and the business is still experiencing double-digit growth today. In 2015, Bragg opened a new facility in

Saint-Isidore, New Brunswick Saint-Isidore is a community in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023. It is adjacent to the communities of Pont-Landry, New Brunswick, Pont-Landry, Hacheyville, New Brunswick, Hacheyville, Bois-Gagnon, ...

, that is considered to "the most modern blueberry processing facility in the world." It can process up to 1.5 million pounds of blueberries per day. Bragg had a

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

of $1.11 billion CDN in 2015. He was ranked No. 86 in Canadian Business's list of Canada's richest people in 2017.

Business involvement

He is or was a director of

TD Bank Financial Group Toronto-Dominion Bank (french: links=no, Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (french: links=no, Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. T ...

Canada Bread Canada Bread Company, Ltd. is a Canadian producer and distributor of packaged fresh bread and bakery products. The company operates 17 bakeries and employs over 4,800 employees across Canada. Purchased by Grupo Bimbo (BIMBOA:Mexico) on May 23, 2 ...

Limited,

Empire Company Empire Company Limited is a Canadian conglomerate engaged mostly in food retail and corporate investments. The company is headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire Company also owns the Sobeys supermarket chain. The company was founded in ...

Limited and

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of ...

Inc.

Recognition

In 1996, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

and promoted to Companion in 2022. In 1994, he was awarded the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...

Ray Hnatyshyn Ramon John Hnatyshyn ( ; uk, Роман Іванович Гнатишин, Roman Ivanovych Hnatyshyn, ; March 16, 1934December 18, 2002) was a Canadian lawyer and statesman who served as governor general of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Co ...

. He was named to the Order of Nova Scotia in 2018. Bragg and his business empire were the subject of a lengthy interview/profile in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', which observed that "Beneath the veneer of the rural blueberry baron, there is one tough, risk-taking tycoon with an ardour for growth, game-changing technology, and debt financing." He was promoted to

Companion of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 2022.

Personal life

He and wife Judy have four children: Lee, Matthew, Carolyn and Patricia, all of whom have worked or now work in the business. He lives in

Oxford, Nova Scotia Oxford is a town in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is east of Amherst. The town is directly serviced by Routes 104, 204, 301, and 321. Despite its small size and demographic, Oxford is the world's largest processor and distributor of ...

References

1940 births Living people Canadian university and college chancellors Canadian people of English descent Mount Allison University alumni Companions of the Order of Canada People from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Directors of Toronto-Dominion Bank Agriculture in Nova Scotia Members of the Order of Nova Scotia {{Canada-business-bio-stub