Peter Legge

Peter Legge, O.B.C. chairman and CEO of Canada Wide Media

Peter Legge of Canada Wide Media is one of the country’s most fascinating entrepreneurs, an internationally acclaimed professional speaker and the bestselling author of 20 books, including The Runway of Life, The Power of Tact, Lunch with Joe and his most recent, The Power of Tenacity. 

Canada Wide Media, the largest independently owned media publishing company in Western Canada, was founded in 1976 when Peter and Kay Legge purchased TV Week magazine. Six years later, they partnered with Neil Soper and began to transform TV Week into one of the most widely circulated magazines in Western Canada. In 1991, Canada Wide Media expanded their portfolio by purchasing BCBusiness magazine from Jimmy Pattison. To this day, it is their flagship publication and BC’s most-trusted business magazine.

After Neil retired from Canada Wide Media in 2008, the Legge Family purchased and divided his shares among Peter's three daughters, Samantha, Rebecca and Amanda. Peter and two of his daughters, Samantha and Rebecca, now President and Vice-President of Sales respectively, have evolved Canada Wide Media into a multi-media publisher that extends across digital, social and live experience realms. 

Over its 40 year history, Canada Wide Media has seen five different company names, five different locations, four different presidents and more than 50 proprietary and custom publications. Yet one thing has remained the same from day one: Canada Wide Media has always been – and will always be – a family enterprise.

A mentor and influential leader in the local business community, Peter is a past chairman of the Vancouver Board of Trade. He has made giving a cornerstone of his company's corporate culture; over the past four decades, Canada Wide Media has fundraised and donated millions of dollars to charitable causes, including establishing the Peter Legge Literacy Endowment Fund (Coquitlam Foundation).

He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Order of the Red Cross for his commitment to the Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian Principles; Citizen of the Year; Award of Excellence – Community Service Person of the Year, Order of Variety; Variety Golden Heart Award; the Astra Award and many others.

Peter has been presented with two Honorary Doctor of Laws Degrees - one from Simon Fraser University in 2003, and the other from Royal Roads University in 2009. In 2010, Peter received an Honorary Doctorate of Technology from BCIT.