Peter D. Simons, (born May 29, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

businessman. He was the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

La Maison Simons La Maison Simons (colloquially Simons) is a Canadian department store chain founded in 1840 by John Simons. The business was established as a dry goods store by the son of a Scottish immigrant to Lower Canada (now Quebec). During the 1960s, th ...

until 2022, when Bernard Leblanc took over those positions.Interview with La Maison Simons’ New CEO Bernard Leblanc
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Early life and education

The third of four children, Simons was born in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

to and Barbara Lynne Schneider. Simons studied

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Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, and then economics at the

Richard Ivey School of Business Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

, where he received an Honours Business Administration undergraduate degree.

Career

Simons began working at La Maison Simons in 1986. He and his brother Richard took over the business in 1996, becoming the fifth generation of the Simons family to run the store. Under Peter and Richard Simons, La Maison Simons expanded outside of Quebec City for the first time, opening stores in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1999,

Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River just east of Montreal. It lies on the west flank of Mont Saint-Bruno, one of the Monteregian Hill ...

in 2001, Laval in 2002 and

Anjou, Quebec Anjou () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the Canadian city of Montreal. Prior to its 2002 merger it was an independent city. Although it is no longer an independent city, it is still commonly known as ''Ville d'Anjou''. Anjou has a predomi ...

in August 2013. Upon a visit to

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, Simons discovered one of the seven existing pieces in an antique shop. The fountain was once located in the Allées de Tourny in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Simons had the fountain restored on

Île d’Orléans Ile or ILE may refer to: Ile * Ile, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino aci ...

. He donated it to Quebec City as a gift for its 400th anniversary, and had it installed in front of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

in July 2007.

Honours

Simons was recognized as a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Peter Living people 1964 births People from Quebec City Knights of the National Order of Quebec Members of the Order of Canada Businesspeople from Quebec Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of Scottish descent Carleton University alumni University of Western Ontario alumni