Bio Data
Hon. Dr. G. Raymond Chang, OJ
Chancellor Emeritus, Ryerson University, Canada
G. Raymond Chang is recognized as an outstanding Canadian and
Caribbean business leader and philanthropist. His inspired counsel,
support and significant investments of personal resources have
advanced education and healthcare as well as fostered entrepreneurship
among our youth.
Jamaican born and a proud Canadian, Raymond believes in the
best of the human spirit: that we all have the ability to extend
ourselves well beyond our boundaries -- whatever they may be or
wherever we may be.
Leadership in Education
Mr. Chang also earned a Bachelor of Applied Science degree
(Engineering) from the University of Toronto and subsequently became
qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst.
As an immigrant to Canada, he experienced the transformative impact
that education had on personal growth and success. This instilled in him
a passion for investing in creating educational opportunities for others.
In 2005, he received an honorary doctorate from Ryerson University and,
a year later, Raymond was bestowed the honour of becoming Ryerson’s
third Chancellor. For six years (through two successive terms), he
enthusiastically embraced the potential of the Chancellor’s role to inspire
students and challenge the University’s faculty and administration to
achieve greatness, calling himself ‘a Chancellor for students.”
Until his tenure ended in 2012, Ray’s openness to students, including
attending an average of 30 classes a year, earned him the reputation of
being a Chancellor ‘for and of’ the students.
The University’s innovative Digital Media Zone, conceived by Ryerson’s
President, attracted Ray’s mentoring of student-conceived technology
start-ups and he shared his personal financial support to accelerate their
success.
1
Through his generous financial contributions, Ryerson University’s
School of Continuing Education was named in his honour.
Mr. Chang is also a major donor to the University of the West Indies
(UWI), the foremost tertiary institution which spans the Caribbean
Region.
Assisting the Catholic Institutions
Mr. Chang’s generosity extends to his good works for the church and
Catholic Institutions– both in Jamaica and Canada.
He continues to be a generous benefactor to his alma mater high school,
St. George's College, an institution founded by the Jesuits in Kingston
Jamaica. A number of other organizations have benefited from his gifts,
including Missionaries of the Poor Jamaica; Friends of the Poor Canada
(Fr. Richard Ho Lung); Mustard Seed Communities (Very Reverend
Monsignor Gregory Ramkisoon). He was also a benefactor to the
Archdioceses of Kingston, Jamaica during Archbishop Lawrence Burke’s
tenure. Mr. Chang was also the main donor for the building of Merciful
Redeemer Church in Mississauga, Ontario Canada.
Leadership in Healthcare
Mr. Chang is a Board member of the Toronto General & Western
Hospital Foundation and a supporter of the University Health Network
(‘UHN’) where he enabled the establishment of a Fellowship to train
doctors from abroad who return to the West Indies to share their
Canadian education and provide much needed healthcare services.
He is a major donor and volunteer for the Centre For Addiction & Mental
Health’s (‘CAMH’) Foundation board and his personal foundation made
significant financial contributions to enable CAMH’s recent expansion to
better meet the needs of Canadians facing mental health and addictions
challenges.
2
Leadership in Business & Entrepreneurship
In his 18 years at CI Financial Corp. (‘CI’), Raymond oversaw the
company's growth from a small money manager with $5 million in assets
to Canada's second-largest fund company, with more than $92 billion in
fee-earning assets. He joined CI as Vice-President and Chief Operating
Officer in 1984 from Coopers & Lybrand (where he was with the
Emerging Business Services group).
He was promoted to President and COO of CI in 1996, when the firm
went public. Two years later, he became President and Chief Executive
Officer. Raymond was appointed Chairman in 1999, a role that held until
2010. He continues to serve as a Director of CI.
Through his investment holding company (G. Raymond Chang Ltd.), Mr.
Chang is active in several commercial enterprises in Manitoba, Ontario
and abroad. He started Mercatus Technologies Inc., a leading software
company serving large retailers with more than 50 employees in Canada.
Mr. Chang sits on the Board of GraceKennedy & Company Limited and
is a major shareholder in Walkerswood Caribbean Foods as well as
Corpak Jamaica Limited.
Official Honours & Awards
Raymond has received numerous awards from various communities and
organizations, in Canada and the Caribbean. He was honoured with the
Prime Minister of Jamaica’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Jamaica
in 2003. In 2007, Mr. Chang received an honorary doctorate from UWI
and also funded a Chair in Family Medicine at the University.
The Association of Fundraising Professionals - Greater Toronto Chapter
named G. Raymond Chang their Outstanding Philanthropist for 2010:
www.thestar.com/business/companies/article/918017--raymond-changthe-covert-philanthropist
3
In 2011, Mr. Chang was bestowed the country of his birth’s fourth highest
honour, its Order of Jamaica, for his outstanding contribution as a
business leader and philanthropist in the financial, heath, education and
cultural sectors.
In 2012, he was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
-30-
4