OTTAWA – Telus chairman Brian A. Canfield has been named this year’s recipient of the Neotelis Canadian Telecom Career Service Award.
Awarded by Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame, the career service awards were initiated in 2006 to acknowledge the exemplary work, accomplishments and leadership of those Canadians who have made tangible contributions to the betterment of the domestic and international telecom industry for the better part of their careers.
Canfield joined BC Tel in 1956 and, in the early part of his career, held key positions in network services, engineering, operator services, sales and operations before being named president and CEO in 1990, and then chairman in 1993. He retired as CEO in 1997 and continued to serve as chairman before being named chairman of the board for Telus Corporation in 1999. In addition, he spent almost a year as interim CEO of Telus between September 1999 and July 2000 while the company conducted a global search for a new CEO.
His leadership in making crucial decisions at pivotal times has seen Telus evolve from a regional phone carrier to a national telecommunications carrier focused on wireless and data services, carrying TV over its IP network, providing IT healthcare services, and migrating numerous Canadian corporations and governments to powerful new IP-based communications networks. Along the way, he developed a track record for governance, corporate disclosure and transparency that is best-in-class.
In addition to his current role with Telus, Canfield has previously served as a director of Suncor Energy Inc., a member of the Canadian Public Accountability Board, and a member of the Crawford Panel on a Single Canadian Securities Regulator. He was also a director of Terasen Inc. and the Toronto Stock Exchange. In 1997, Canfield was named an honorary doctor of technology by the British Columbia Institute of Technology. The following year, he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia, and he was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2006.
Canfield will receive his career service award during the 2011 Telecom Laureate Awards Gala Dinner and induction ceremony scheduled for November 2 at the Ottawa Convention Centre.
