So times are tough for some of us and for others?  Not so much.  Check out the top 5 list in Canada of the richest individuals, their occupations and their worth:

#5. Rogers Family

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$7.4 billion

Residence: Toronto
Major holdings: Rogers Communications

Edward and Melinda Rogers have stepped down from active VP roles at the company that bears their name, Rogers Communications Inc.  But the family remains in control, thanks to founder Ted Rogers in keeping near-total control over the company’s Class A voting shares. With the start of a 12-year NHL broadcast deal, the launch of streaming Netflix competitor Shomi and the announcement of a $100 million partnership with Vice Media to launch a TV channel in 2015, the company has made a series of moves to try to protect against the ups and downs of the media market.

#4. James Pattison

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$7.88 billion

Age: 86
Residence: Vancouver
Major holdings: Jim Pattison Group

He started as a car salesman, but regardless of the stereotype, Pattison says honesty is the key to business. His Jim Pattison Group has stakes in entertainment (Ripley’s Aquariums), broadcasting (acquiring nine Alberta and Saskatchewan radio stations this year) and consumer retail (Overwaitea recently took over 15 Safeway stores, from Sobeys).

#3. Irving Family

$8.23 billion

Residence: Saint John, N.B.
Major holdings: Irving Oil, J.D. Irving

The Irving family’s wealth began with a single sawmill in the 19th century. They extended into other industries—forestry, energy, media and shipbuilding—they ensured that each business supported the others; their gas fuelled their trucks that hauled their wood. The family is also known for their feuds with the release of a new book, Irving vs. Irving, in September.

#2. Galen Weston

$11.38 billion

Age: 74
Residence: Toronto
Major holdings: George Weston, Associated British Foods, Loblaw Cos., Selfridges, Holt Renfrew

When Weston took control of his family’s chain of Loblaw’s grocery stores—now overseen by his son Galen G.—he saved the  company by closing dozens of stores, upgrading the remaining locations and wooing new talent, such as future marketing legend Dave Nichol. Weston now works on fostering a dynamic business community in Canada, supporting The Next 36, an incubator program for innovative young entrepreneurs.

#1. Thomson Family

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$30.74 billion

Residence: Toronto
Major holdings: Thomson Reuters, Woodbridge Co.

 

Third-generation CEO David Thomson is the figurehead and architect of the US$17.2 billion merger with Reuters in 2008, but the Thomsons’ wealth is still spread between several family members. David Thomson owns 14% of the family’s holding company Woodbridge, while Canada’s richest woman, Sherry Brydson (Roy Thomson’s granddaughter), holds 23%, with the rest divided between other cousins. Patriarch Roy Thomson started his corporate empire in 1931 with a single radio station, and son Ken pruned the firm’s interests to escape what he presciently considered to be a cyclical newspaper advertising market.

SOURCES Canadian Business News, Wiki

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