W. Edmund Clark

William Edmund "Ed" Clark, CM (born October 10, 1947) is the former president and chief executive officer of TD Bank Group.

Clark graduated from the University of Toronto in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

He earned his master's degree and doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 1971 and 1974 respectively.

From 1974 to 1984, Clark held a number of senior positions in the federal government.

This included helping to develop the National Energy Program.

In 1982, he won the Outstanding Civil Servant of the Year award.

He was fired in 1985 upon change of government.

In 1985, he joined Merrill Lynch, and three years later was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Financial Corporation.

He joined Canada Trust Financial Services Inc. in 1991, rising to president and chief executive officer in 1994, a position he held until 2000.

Prior to this appointment, he was president and chief operating officer of TD Bank Group, a role he held since July 2000.

Following TD's acquisition of Canada Trust Financial Services in February 2000, Clark joined TD Bank Group as chairman and chief executive officer of TD Canada Trust.

In this role, he oversaw the successful integration of the TD and Canada Trust banking operations.

Clark was appointed to this role on December 20, 2002.

Clark then became president and chief operating officer of TD Bank Group in July 2000, and became president and chief executive officer of TD Bank Group on December 20, 2002 upon the retirement of A. Charles Baillie as chairman and chief executive officer while John W. Thompson was appointed as non-executive chairman.

Clark is credited with turning the TD bank into a North American powerhouse in retail banking while avoiding the problems which hurt other banks in the 2008 financial crisis.

He has been a major donor to the United Way and was the 2010 Cabinet Chair for United Way Toronto.

Clark was a member of the Chair's Advisory Council for Habitat for Humanity Toronto and has been a lead supporter.

He is a strong supporter of Fife House Foundation, a provider of supportive housing and support services.

Clark also supports to WoodGreen Community Services, an organization that delivers programs to build sustainable communities in the Toronto area and has been a lead donor to Homeward Bound, a programme to help single mothers get a post secondary education and permanent jobs.

Clark has been a strong advocate on behalf of the LGBT community and a lead donor for Friends of Ruby, an organization supporting LGBT youth on the street with counseling and transition housing.

On April 3, 2013, Clark announced his intention to retire as president and CEO effective November 1, 2014 at age 67, after 12 years as CEO.

After his retirement, Clark worked as an adviser for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and helped introduce beer and wines into grocery stores and partially privatize the electricity distribution company Hydro One.

Currently Clark is Chair of the Vector Institute in Toronto, one of the top AI Institutes in the world which he helped to start.

Clark is a major philanthropist who has used his philanthropy combined with his organizations skills to advance social causes such as working with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for those who cannot afford them, Friends of Ruby to help Queer teenagers , Homeward Bound to help single mothers in shelters to have a career plus a number of another initiatives.

On April 3, 2013, Clark announced his intention to retire as president and CEO effective November 1, 2014 at age 67, after 12 years as CEO.

On November 1, 2014, Clark was succeeded in these roles by chief operating officer Bharat Masrani.

Under the Wynne government in 2015, Clark worked as an adviser and helped partially privatize Hydro One, the electrical distribution company.

Clark reformed the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and the Liquor Licence Act to allow six-packs of beer to be sold in Ontario grocery stores.

The reforms also ensured better access for craft brewers to the beer store and opened up grocery stores to sell wine in a manner which helped small Ontario wineries and craft brewers.

Clark authored a report on e health which outlined an approach to improving Ontario’s health care system, lowering costs and improving outcomes.

Until the deal closed on June 30, 2017, Clark was also instrumental in helping US Steel's subsidiary Stelco emerge from bankruptcy under new owners Bedrock Industries and save 2500 jobs and reinforce pensions for more than 10,000 pensioners.

Clark was Chairman of the LCBO and helped oversee the Ontario Cannabis Store, the crown corporation set up to sell cannabis legally.

He agreed to stay on to support the new government led by Doug Ford during the transition.

He resigned effective August 30, 2018.

Currently Clark is a director of Thomson Reuters and an advisor to Woodbridge.

He is also Deputy Chair of Spinmaster, a Canadian based toy company which is one of the largest toy companies in the world.

He is also a partner in Radical Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on A.I. start ups and one of the most successful venture capital firms in the world.

. In addition Clark is Chair of the Vector Institute an independent non profit institutions dedicated to Artificial Intelligence.

He is also Chair of Friends of Ruby, an organization focused on helping 2SLGBTQA youth.

Clark is a significant philanthropist and supports a number of social agencies.