Wesley J. Hall began his term as the 35th Chancellor of the University of Toronto on July 1, 2024. He is chairman and founder of WeShall Investments, a private equity firm with a diverse portfolio of companies predominantly supporting racialized entrepreneurs.
Wes was born in rural Jamaica. He grew up in a plantation worker’s shack as one of several children supported by his grandmother, who instilled in him the values of hard work, industriousness and ambition. In 1985, he immigrated to Canada, where he set about becoming the business leader he is today. Dressed daily in a suit, he started as a mail clerk at a leading law firm in Toronto. His curiosity, intelligence and ability to spot opportunities enabled him to turn a $100,000 bank loan into his first business, Kingsdale Advisors, which became Canada’s preeminent shareholder advisory firm.
A staunch philanthropist, Wes is deeply committed to uplifting communities. He founded the BlackNorth Initiative to help end systemic anti-Black racism in Canada. He partnered with the Rotman School of Management to introduce a new course in Black entrepreneurship and leadership, the first of its kind in North America. Wes is also the Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of Huron University College, a member of the Ontario government’s Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, and a member of the boards of SickKids Foundation and Pathways to Education Canada.
Among his many awards and accolades, Wes has been inducted as a Knight of The Royal Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen. He has been recognized as one of Bay Street’s top 40 most influential figures of the past four decades by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business and received a Nation Builder Award from the Empire Club. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and was named Canadian Business Leader of the Year by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
In 2023, the University of Toronto conferred the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on Wes in recognition of his accomplishments as an entrepreneur and innovator, his contributions as a philanthropist and his leadership as a prominent anti-racism advocate. He has also received five other honorary degrees, from the University of the West Indies, the University of Ottawa, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queen’s University and York University, as well as the Medal of Distinction from Huron University College.
Wes is the author of a bestselling memoir, No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot, which was a finalist for the National Business Book Award. He launched a podcast in partnership with the Toronto Star, Between Us with Wes Hall, and is a Dragon on the hit CBC series, Dragons’ Den. He is also heavily in-demand as a speaker across Canada and a frequent guest on BNN Bloomberg.