John L. Bragg

CC ONS
Born (1940-05-03) May 3, 1940
Collingwood, Nova Scotia
NationalityCanadian

John Louis Bragg, CC ONS (born May 3, 1940) is a Canadian businessman and former Chancellor of Mount Allison University.

Early life and education

The Bragg family has called Nova Scotia home for 180 years.[1] John was born in Collingwood, Nova Scotia, he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Bachelor of Education degree from Mount Allison University.

Career

He is the Chairman, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Frozen Foods Limited, a food manufacturer which he founded in 1968 and operates the largest fruit farm in the world, with over 12,000 acres (49 km2) of wild blueberries.[2] He also founded a cable television company in the 1970s which became known as Bragg Communications and was subsequently expanded to become EastLink.

Bragg built his first blueberry-processing factory in 1968, and the business is still experiencing double-digit growth today. In 2015, Bragg opened a new facility in Saint-Isidore, New Brunswick, that is considered to "the most modern blueberry processing facility in the world." It can process up to 1.5 million pounds of blueberries per day.[1]

Bragg had a net worth of $1.11 billion CDN in 2015.[3]

He was ranked No. 86 in Canadian Business's list of Canada's richest people in 2017.[4][1]

Business involvement

He is or was a director of TD Bank Financial Group, Canada Bread Limited, Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc.[5]

Recognition

In 1996, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and promoted to Companion in 2022.[6][7] In 1994, he was awarded the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Governor General of Canada Ray Hnatyshyn.[8] He was named to the Order of Nova Scotia in 2018.[9]

Bragg and his business empire were the subject of a lengthy interview/profile in The Globe and Mail, which observed that "Beneath the veneer of the rural blueberry baron, there is one tough, risk-taking tycoon with an ardour for growth, game-changing technology, and debt financing."[10]

He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2022.[11]

Personal life

He and wife Judy have four children: Lee, Matthew, Carolyn and Patricia, all of whom have worked or now work in the business.

He lives in Collingwood, Nova Scotia.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Canada's Richest People: John Bragg". Canadian Business. December 24, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  2. ↑ "About Oxford Frozen Foods". Archived from the original on 2006-03-22. Retrieved May 29, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Canada's Richest People 2015: The 100 Richest Canadians". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  4. ↑ "Canada's Richest People: The Complete Top 100 Ranking (2017)". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  5. ↑ "TD Bank Financial Group - Corporate Directors". Retrieved May 29, 2006.
  6. ↑ Order of Canada citation
  7. ↑ "Order of Canada appointees – December 2022". Governor General of Canada. 29 December 2022. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "House of Commons Hansard". Archived from the original on April 21, 2005. Retrieved May 29, 2006.
  9. ↑ Mathieson, Dave (November 7, 2018). "Still going strong at age 78, Oxford Frozen Foods' John Bragg receives Order of Nova Scotia | SaltWire". Amherst News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-11 – via www.saltwire.com.
  10. ↑ "Blueberry and fibre optic tycoon John Bragg: The Oracle of Oxford, N.S." Toronto Globe and Mail. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Order of Canada appointees – December 2022". The Governor General of Canada. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.


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