News Quebec's 25 richest people and the empires behind their billions
That's the entry price for The Gazette's inaugural Rich List, which ranks the province's 25 wealthiest individuals and families. Together, they hold nearly $87 billion in net worth, from a convenience-store empire and dairy dynasty, to a paper fortune and finance giant.
This elite crowd has quietly stacked billions. Some inherited it. Some built it. A few did both. But they all have one thing in common: they're the richest people in the province.
The list is dominated by family names most Quebecers would recognize: the Saputos in dairy, the Molsons in beer and hockey, and the Desmarais brothers in finance.
But there are also surprises — including unexpected new fortunes and fresh entrants to Quebec's club of billionaires.
At the very top is Alain Bouchard, whose estimated $9-billion fortune began with a single dépanneur in Laval in 1980. Born in Saguenay, Bouchard was one of four friends who launched what would become the Couche-Tard empire — now nearly 17,000 convenience stores across the globe.
Behind the Rich List: How we calculated it
The company's success is no small feat. In fact, no Quebec company has created more individual billionaires. Bouchard's co-founders Jacques D'Amours, Richard Fortin and Réal Plourde all appear on this year's list. Together, they control more than $17 billion.
In second place are Naomi, Sharon and Danna Azrieli, with $7.7 billion to their names. They run Israel's biggest real estate company, built by their late father David — a Holocaust survivor who moved to Montreal. They also manage the Azrieli Foundation, Canada's largest family charity, with over $2.4 billion in assets.
The Desmarais family, with Paul Desmarais Jr. and André Desmarais at the helm of Power Corp, are worth an estimated $7 billion through holdings in insurance, energy and asset management. They rank third on the list.
The youngest self-made billionaire on the list is Ryan Cohen, 39, who co-founded Chewy in 2011 and sold it to PetSmart for more than $4.5 billion in 2017. He later became a major investor in GameStop and Alibaba.
At the other end of the spectrum is Stephen Jarislowsky, the 99-year-old investment legend behind Jarislowsky Fraser. Still one of Canada's most respected investors, he ranks near the bottom of the list with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.
Why some didn't make the cut
Some names remain difficult to assess. The Bronfman family's wealth — once synonymous with the Seagram empire — has become fragmented over time, with much of it now housed in their family investment office, Claridge. They were excluded from the ranking due to limited transparency.
To compile this ranking, The Gazette conducted a months-long review of stock filings, property records, company disclosures and legal documents. We tracked shareholdings and estimated private-company valuations.
What we couldn't include: Why it's so hard to track the fortunes of Quebec's wealthiest
But in Quebec, financial information about private companies and family investment firms is often scarce. That means the numbers on this list are deliberately conservative. In reality, Quebec's billionaires may be richer than they appear.
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
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