Great Canadians Series - Hon. Senator Tony Loffreda Interview by Young Citizens of the World

Mr. Tony Loffreda was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2019 by the Governor General of Canada on the advice of the Prime Minister. He is the first Canadian born Senator of Italian descent. He currently sits on the Senate’s National Finance Committee, the Committee on Banking, Trade and the Economy, and the Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration. He also serves on several Senate Working Groups. He is a member of various parliamentary associations and interparliamentary groups, including serving as Vice-Chair of the Canada-Italy Interparliamentary Group and Chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He is a member of the Independent Senators Group. Prior to his appointment, Senator Loffreda was a Vice Chairman and Executive at RBC. He brings to the Senate over 35 years of experience in the financial industry. Senator Loffreda has served on various boards and committees including, but not limited to, the Concordia University Board of Governors; the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montréal; Montréal International; the Italian-Canadian Community Foundation; the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada; and the executive committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montréal. Once nominated to the Canadian Senate, Senator Loffreda retired from RBC and resigned from the twenty-one boards he was serving on. He is a leading philanthropist, active in service to many communities, having chaired fundraising activities across the province for various causes such as the Giant Steps School; the Montréal Jewish General Hospital; McGill University Goodman Research Centre; the Montréal Cancer Institute and many more. He is also a frequent and sought-after speaker on economic and community issues. Among his many awards and distinctions, he is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Québec’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Merit; the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; the Governor General of Canada Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers; the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association’s Person of the Year Award; the Philhellene of the Year Award by the Hellenic Community of Greater Montréal; and the Senate of Canada 150th Anniversary Medal which he received prior to his appointment. He was also inducted as an administrator into the Montréal-Concordia Soccer Hall of Fame. Senator Loffreda passed the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Final Exam and earned a USA - Certified Public Accountant designation through the University of Illinois. Senator Loffreda also holds a Chartered Global Management Accountant international designation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in accounting from the University of Concordia. He lives in Montreal with his wife, and they have two children.

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