Hugh Magee is a prominent Vancouver businessman with a lifelong interest in health care, First Nations pursuits, the environment and conservation projects. He was born in Kitchener, Ontario and received a BSA from OAC, the Ontario Agricultural College, in agriculture and economics.

Since 1976 Mr. Magee has been the Chairman of Gwil Industries, a Vancouver based private company that is the leading provider of mobile crane services in British Columbia and also provides coal and mineral testing services in Western Canada.  GWIL, formerly Great West Steel, was a Canadian public company and a major fabricator and supplier of structural steel in Canada and the western United States. He also founded Fiberplast Products, a manufacturer of polyester resins and a supplier of resins and related products, which lead to the unprecedented growth of the fiberplast reinforced plastics industry in British Columbia and Western Canada. Hugh’s received the CanPlast award for his considerable contribution to improving the Canadian plastics industry.

Mr. Magee also has business interests in private health care and in 1997 he created the Canada Diagnostic Centre, one of the first private diagnostic and imaging centres in Canada and in 1996 he co-founded the Cambie Surgery centre, a ground breaking private surgical facility. Mr. Magee has served on numerous national and international corporate boards, including the East Asiatic Company, Bannister International Corporation, Churchill Corporation and Scott Construction. He has been an active and long-time member of Young Presidents Organization and World Presidents Organization.

Hugh’s Civic contributions include: being the Chair of the Vancouver Esperanza Society, where he envisioned the redevelopment of St. Paul’s Hospital; Chair of the Friends of Jack Campaign to raise money for the first ever robotic surgery arm for the VGH Prostate Cancer Centre; a Board member of the BC Waterfowl Society dedicated to the growth and preservation of the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, the past Chair of The Nature Trust of British Columbia, where he helped secure over 170,000 acres of ecologically significant land. Hugh was also a Board member and Chair of the Finance Committee at BC Children’s Hospital, and for the past 17 years he’s been a Federally appointed Trustee for the Nisga’a Nations’ Fisheries Conservation Trust.

Mr. Magee was an active pilot for over 50 years and has flown fixed wing aircraft and jets, and until recently owned and flew his own helicopter. He resides in Vancouver with his wife, Sherri, and has six children and ten grandchildren.