The federal government has named former Agricore United CEO Brian Hayward to the board of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
Hayward is now president of Aldare Resources, the Winnipeg business consulting firm he formed in 2007 after the takeover of AU, then Canada’s largest grain handler, by No. 2 handler Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. SaskPool CEO Mayo Schmidt then became CEO of Viterra, the merged grain firm.
Hayward’s “senior positions in the private sector, his academic background as well as his service on various community and private sector boards will be of great value in our ongoing support for entrepreneurial success and growth in Canada,” said Jim Prentice, the federal minister responsible for BDC, in a release Wednesday.
Read Also
Ukraine sees bigger 2026 winter grain area despite slow start to sowing
Ukrainian farmers plan to increase the 2026 winter grain sowing area to 5.43 million hectares (13.4 million acres) from 5.24 million in 2025, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday, though dry soils in some areas mean planting has got off to a slow start.
Hayward is also currently chairman of the board of Winnipeg-based livestock feed firm Ridley Inc., and has sat on other private and public boards such as the Conference Board of Canada.
Prentice on Wednesday also announced the appointment of Henry Lee, the president of Tom Lee Music Co., a Vancouver-based chain of musical instrument retail stores and music learning centres, to the BDC board.
