The Empire Club of Canada
Join us in honouring Canada's leaders. Lets celebrate the Nation Builders of today.
Since 2019, the Nation Builder Award has formalized what The Empire Club of Canada has been doing since 1903 – celebrating and providing a platform for people who are building our country. Since its founding over a century ago, The Empire Club has played a pivotal role in many of our country’s major milestones. That’s why the focus of this award is on efforts by a Canadian individual (or group of individuals) who are making a significant contribution to our country.
Our past Nation Builder recipients include Wes Hall (2023); Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser (2022); Perry Bellegarde (2021); Canada’s Frontline Health Workers (2020) and Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors (2019).
Prem Watsa, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings
Prem Watsa’s story is both inspiring and impressive – embodying resilience, ingenuity, and an unwavering commitment to excellence and integrity in business. As a newcomer to Canada, he supported himself through an MBA program at Western University and began his career as an investment analyst. Mr. Watsa went on to found Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, today a leading Canadian company in the global insurance sector with a market capitalization of more than $40 billion.
His commitment to philanthropy has been longstanding, with a focus on education and healthcare initiatives and on investments that uplift communities across the country. He has brought his passion and expertise to support a wide range of organizations including SickKids Hospital, the University of Waterloo, Huron University, the Royal Ontario Museum and St. Paul’s Anglican Church.
Prem Watsa is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management.
In 1985, Prem took control of Markel Financial which was controlled by the Virginia based Markel family. In 1987, he then re‐organized and renamed it Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. He has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since its inception.
Since 1985, Fairfax has compounded book value by about 19%. Fairfax has total assets of approximately US$97 billion, revenues of approximately US$43 billion and common shareholders’ equity of approximately US$23 billion. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
He holds a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India and obtained his MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Western Ontario, an Honorary Doctorate of Sacred Letters from Wycliffe College of the University of Toronto and an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Tyndale College.
He is a member of the Sick Children’s Hospital Foundation and is Chairman of their Investment Committee, member of the Advisory Board for the Richard Ivey School of Business, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Toronto. He is on the Board of Horatio Alger Association U.S. and President of Horatio Alger Association of Canada. He is Chairman of Fairfax India. He is the Chancellor of Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario and formerly Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. He is a recipient of the Order of Canada.
2023 Nation Builder Award Ceremony Video
2023 recipient: Wes Hall ICD.D. Dragon, Dragons Den, Founder, BlackNorth Initiative
2022 recipient: Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, Resident Physician, Assistant General Manager, Toronto Maple Leafs, Canadian former ice hockey player
2021 recipient: Chief Perry Bellegarde, First Nations Leader and Human Rights Advocate
2020 recipient: Frontline Workers
2019 recipients: the Toronto Raptors
of
Explore our Nation Builder Award Events throughout the years.