Thomas d'Aquino

Thomas d’Aquino is an entrepreneur, corporate director, educator, and author of the 2023 #1 national best-selling book “Private Power Public Purpose – Adventures in Business, Politics and the Arts”. He is Chairman of Thomas d’Aquino Capital and Chief Executive of Intercounsel Ltd. He has served as a Director of two of Canada’s leading global enterprises: Manulife Financial Corporation and CGI Group Inc. and is Chairman Emeritus of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation. He serves as Canada Chair Emeritus of the North American Forum and as Honorary Professor at Western University’s Ivey Business School. Earlier in his career, he served as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada, as an international management consultant in London and Paris, and as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa lecturing on the law of international trade and global business transactions. He has served as Special Counsel and Senior Counsel to two of Canada’s leading law firms. From 1981 to 2009, Mr. d’Aquino was Chief Executive and President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), an organization composed of the chief executives of 150 of the country’s leading enterprises and pre-eminent entrepreneurs. Mr. d’Aquino assumed leadership of the Council in its formative stages as the Founding CEO. Upon his retirement from the CCCE as of December 31, 2009, member companies accounted for $850 billion in annual revenues and $4.5 trillion in assets. In recognition of his exemplary leadership, he was named by the Council’s Board of Directors as a Distinguished Lifetime Member. The Council today is known as the Business Council of Canada. He is a founder and Canada Chair Emeritus of the North American Forum (NAF) having served with past NAF country chairs Secretary George Shultz, Secretary William Perry, Admiral Gary Roughead and Secretary Pedro Aspe. A native of British Columbia, Mr. d’Aquino was educated at the Universities of British Columbia, Queen’s and London (University College and the London School of Economics). He holds B.A., J.D. (LL.B.), and LL.M. degrees, and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Queen’s University, from Wilfrid Laurier University, and Western University. He has addressed audiences in forty countries and in over one hundred cities worldwide. Mr. d’Aquino possesses numerous national and international honours including Mexico’s Aguila Azteca conferred on him by President Zedillo. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and of the Order of Ottawa.