Izaak Walton Killam (July 23, 1885 – August 5, 1955) was a Canadian financier.

Early life

Born in

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a port town located on the Bay of Fundy in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. Yarmouth is the shire town of Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Yarmouth County and is the largest population centre in the region. History Originally inhab ...

, he was the son of William Dudman Killam and Arabella Hunter (Belle) Cann.

Business ventures

As a young banker with the Union Bank of Halifax, Killam became close friends with John F. Stairs and

Max Aitken William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

(Lord Beaverbrook) who put Killam in charge of his Royal Securities. In 1919, Killam bought out Aitken and took full control of the company. His business dealings primarily involved the financing of large pulp and paper and hydro-electric projects throughout Canada and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. One of his larger projects in his native province was the creation of the Mersey Paper Company Ltd. and its related electrical generating stations and shipping fleet. In 1922, he married Dorothy Ruth Brooks Johnston. Notwithstanding his prodigious financial accomplishments, Killam was a very reserved man who eschewed publicity and was virtually unknown outside a small circle of close acquaintances. In 1927, he acquired ''

The Mail and Empire ''The Mail and Empire'' was a Canadian newspaper formed from the 1895 merger of '' The Toronto Mail'' (owned by Charles Alfred Riordan and managed by Christopher William Bunting) and '' Toronto Empire'', both conservative newspapers based in To ...

'' newspaper and after reorganization it was later sold to the owners of '' The Globe'', who merged it to create ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' in 1936. Killam died in 1955 at his

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

fishing lodge. By then he was considered to be the richest man in Canada.

Philanthropy

Having no children, the Killams devoted the greater part of their wealth to higher education in Canada. When Killam died the government honoured his request to use his inheritance taxes and a large donation, coupled with those of Sir James H. Dunn, to establish the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

(Canada Council). By the time of Mrs. Killam's death, in 1965, the estate had grown to the point that she was able to bequeath million (equivalent to $million in ) into establishing the

Killam Trusts The Killam Trusts were established in 1965 after the death of Dorothy J. Killam, the widow of Izaak Walton Killam, a Canadian financier, for a time the wealthiest man in Canada. He died intestate in 1955, but before his death he and his wife dis ...

. The Killam Trusts are allocated to funding scientific research and artistic ventures across Canada, by way of a further endowment to the Canada Council, as well as endowments to five Canadian universities: the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. The endowment to the Canada Council funds the Canada-wide Killam Research Fellowships (established 1967) and Killam Prizes (established 1981),while the five universities use their endowments to fund research, programs and projects at those schools. Dalhousie University in Halifax benefited the most, having received a $30million (equivalent to $million in ) bequest from Dorothy Killam's estate in 1965, representing 32% of her fortune. The Killam Memorial Library constructed between 1966 and 1971 at a cost of $7.3million (equivalent to $million in ) was designed by architect Leslie R. Fairn and remains an enduring legacy to this day. Money from the Killam estate also went to establish Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children in Halifax and the

Montreal Neurological Institute The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; ) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and one of the largest medical complexes in Montreal. It is the largest hospital system i ...

in Montreal.

Early life

Business ventures

Philanthropy

References

Further reading