Starting from very humble beginnings in Jamaica, Wes Hall has become one of the most influential businesspeople in Canada.
Wes has established himself as a leader in shareholder advisory services and contested investor situations. Canada’s leading newspaper, the Globe and Mail, has called him one of the nation’s “most influential powerbrokers,” Canadian Business magazine named him one of the “most powerful business people” in 2016, Toronto Life magazine named him him among the “50 most influential Torontonians in 2020,” the International Association of Business Communicators (Toronto) named him its “2020 Communicator of the Year” and Maclean’s magazine ranked him number 18 on its 2021 Power List of the “50 most powerful people in Canada.”
As founder of Kingsdale Advisors, Wes has an unparalleled track record of delivering success for North America’s biggest names, including Air Canada, Barrick, BHP Billiton, Citigroup, CN, CP, Ovintiv, Goldcorp, Talisman and Suncor. He has been asked to oversee some of the highest profile deals and activist campaigns in North America. These include Enbridge’s $37 billion merger with Spectra Energy, Agrium and Potash Corp.’s $36 billion merger, Tim Hortons’ $12.5 billion merger with Burger King, Pershing Square Capital Management’s campaign to replace the board of Canadian Pacific Railway and Petro Canada’s $19 billion merger with Suncor Energy.
Wes is also the owner of QM Environmental, a leading national environmental and industrial services provider, with over 450 employees; Titan Supply, a top manufacturer and distributor of rigging and wear products serving industries in the oil and gas, construction and transportation sectors; and Harbor Club hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton, one of St. Lucia’s premier resorts.
Wes is also an instructor at the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto, where he teaches Black Entrepreneurship and Leadership in Canada, a first-of-its-kind course in North America that provides students with a deep understanding of the systemic racism faced by Black entrepreneurs, its cultural impact and navigating the system. In 2020, he was also one of five individuals appointed to the Ontario government’s Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, an advisory group tasked with reviewing and modernizing the province’s capital markets regulations.
In 2011, Wes received ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in partnership with Rotman school.
In June 2020 Wes launched the BlackNorth Initiative. BNI challenges Canadian businesses to end systemic racism head on through a business-centric approach. As BNI founder and executive chair, Wes works with his highly esteemed team of experts to improve the lives of millions of Black Canadians by opening doors that otherwise would have been shut.
Now, Wes has become the face of hope and opportunity for millions of people who look like him. You can find Wes on the 16th season of CBC’s Dragons Den as the first black Dragon, making an impact and conscious effort to award opportunities to up and coming BIPOC entrepreneurs.
Wes was also proud to serve as executive producer for the Dionne Warwick documentary Don’t Make Me Over, which premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, whose board Wes has long sat on. The film went on to win first runner up at the festival and has been invited to several more festivals.
For podcast fans, you can listen to Wes’ first ever podcast, Between Us with Wes Hall (in partnership with TorStar group) on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
In 2021, Wes received a lifetime achievement award at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards for his exceptional leadership. He also be received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa in June 2021 and from Ryerson University in November 2021.
Finally, Wes’s first ever biography, No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot, published by Penguin Random House, will hit bookshelves everywhere in fall 2022.
Philanthropy
Wes is a member of the boards of the SickKids Foundation, Pathways to Education, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Black Academy. He is also a member of the board of governors at Huron University College, among other positions.
Wes is founder and chair of the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism and the BlackNorth Initiative, committed to the removal of systemic barriers affecting the lives of Black Canadians.
Wes has also changed the lives of thousands of children in the Caribbean and Canada, donating both money and time. In 2015, Wes received the Vice Chancellor’s Award and in 2017, an honorary doctorate, both from the University of the West Indies.