Purdy Crawford

Who is Purdy Crawford?

Purdy Crawford, CC QC is a Canadian lawyer and businessman.

Purdy Crawford, the "dean emeritus of Canada's corporate bar" is a native of Five Islands, Nova Scotia, and a graduate of Mount Allison University, Dalhousie Law School and Harvard Law School. He pursued his legal career with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, practising primarily in the corporate/commercial area. He joined Imasco as C.E.O. in 1985 - retiring as C.E.O. in 1995 but continuing as non-executive Chairman of Imasco Limited, CT Financial Services Inc. and Canada Trustco Mortgage Company until February 1, 2000.

Crawford sits on the boards of several large Canadian companies. He was Chair of the Pan-Canadian Investors Committee for Third-Party Structured Asset Backed Commercial Paper, is the former Chair of the Five-Year Review Committee, appointed to review securities legislation in Ontario, and is also the former Chair of the Securities Industry Committee on Analyst Standards. In 1996 he became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame of Nova Scotia in 1997 and became a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors in 1999. In 2000 he was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and named Ivey Business Leader of the Year. In April 2003 was named one of the five 2002 Public Policy Forum honorees and in October was named The Conference Board of Canada's 2003 Honorary Associate. In 2007 he received the Yee Hong Golden Achievement Award and was honoured as a Champion of Public Education by The Learning Partnership. He is Chancellor Emeritus of Mount Allison University.