Global Chairman & CEO, Colliers International Group Inc.
Jay S. Hennick, Global CEO & Chairman of Colliers | Canadian Business Hall of Fame Legacy Video
A look back on Global Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of Colliers, Jay Hennick’s career as he is inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
About Jay Hennick
Jay Hennick, Global Chairman and CEO of Colliers, was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in May 2024. In a legacy video and acceptance speech, Hennick reflected on his nearly 50-year career, describing his upbringing in a working-class area north of Toronto and his early entrepreneurship at age 17 supplying lifeguards. He stated that he built an "Empire from essential Services business centered around real estate" by buying well-managed service businesses and working with management teams. Hennick noted that FirstService and Colliers were split to allow shareholders to choose between a "steady growth engine" and a "more transaction driven" business. He attributed the success of both companies to a unique operating culture that is "very entrepreneurial" and difficult to replicate, and expressed hope that increasing recurring revenue streams would attract a better market valuation. In his Hall of Fame speech, Hennick outlined five guiding principles: imagination, education, hard work, dealing with adversity, and luck. He said that luck involves "actively shaping your destiny, taking bold actions and seizing key moments." Hennick also emphasized the importance of cultivating a unique culture aligned with a core purpose and vision, and expressed gratitude for the contributions of partners, business leaders, and over 60,000 employees.
Transcript (16 segments)
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Jay Hennick0:03
I come from Bathurst Manor, a working-class area north of Toronto. My father owned a jewelry store an hour away from our home. He worked very hard and long hours, and times were tough for our family in those days.
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Narrator0:16
Embracing his father's ethos of hard work, Jay noticed an opportunity for entrepreneurship while working a summer job as a lifeguard.
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Jay Hennick0:23
I started my first company when I was 17, supplying lifeguards to apartments, hotels, and condominiums. I needed the startup capital, and I had to go to my dad. I can still see him counting the hard-earned cash, one bill at a time, to give me what I needed.
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Narrator0:40
Jay pursued an arts degree before entering the faculty of law at the University of Ottawa, crafting a path for his entrepreneurial spirit and ambition.
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Barb Hennick0:50
We met in 1978. He was at law school and I was in Toronto finishing my degree. I found him to be very mature beyond his years, dependable and reliable, and good-looking too. We share similar values and beliefs, particularly when it comes to our family. We always emphasized to the kids as they were growing up to be humble, straightforward, and to maintain their relationships with the highest integrity.
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Jay Hennick1:17
For me, she has always been my go-to person, my trusted advisor, my confidant, my sounding board on virtually everything. Marrying Barb was the best decision I ever made.
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Narrator1:29
Jay landed a job at Fogler Rubinoff. His drive and innovative spirit fueled a swift rise, making partner in just four years.
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Jay Hennick1:40
Practicing law taught me so many great things—how to handle myself in a professional environment, how to buy and sell companies. It was a great way to gain firsthand experience from some of the great business leaders. I was practicing with other people's money, and I loved every minute of it.
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Colleague1:56
I met Jay almost 40 years ago, and there was this handsome young guy, very well dressed, sitting behind a big mahogany desk, and not a paper on it. And I thought to myself immediately, well, either this fellow is useless or he's a genius who's very well organized. Within about five minutes, I realized it wasn't that he was useless—he was an entrepreneur dressed up like a lawyer.
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Business Partner2:19
I've been with Jay since 1985—that's when the first mobile phone was created, so a long time ago, right? Jay's entrepreneurial spirit was very evident to me then. The law practice was all about working with clients, but he wanted to be the client. After a time, I got the itch to build a company of my own. He and I were having breakfast, and he started to describe to me this vision of creating a major service company. I found I could buy well-managed service businesses at attractive prices and then work with the management teams to build them from there. And he created an empire from essential services businesses centered around real estate.
Jay had a very clear and compelling vision for what FirstService could become. In the early days, it was a hard-driving, exciting culture. Jay set the tone with his work ethic, and we all followed. And by the way, it's still hard-driving and exciting times. He really believes in the partnership model, which enables and assists entrepreneurs to achieve their goals by being their active investment partner.
FirstService became the controlling shareholder of Colliers International, with the power and authority to operate the business as one global player—the third largest in the world. Colliers was not a strong brand; it was struggling. And Jay saw that in 2004. He saw the opportunity when they purchased the Affiliates, and it became more of a global company.
By 2015, FirstService was thriving. However, it became clear that if we wanted to continue growing at the same pace, we had to split our company and go in different directions. And it would allow shareholders to pick between this very steady-Eddie growth engine called FirstService and the more transaction-driven Colliers.
It isn't just that Jay has built a very successful business in the real estate space—he is increasingly redefining that space philanthropically. Jay and Barb, they want to make an impact. Jay served as the chair of Sinai Health and orchestrated the merger of then Bridgepoint and Sinai to create Sinai Health. It's the largest complex care and rehabilitation hospital in Canada.
The other institution which we are very involved in is the Royal Ontario Museum. This institution is truly world-class, and it serves as a symbol of wonder and knowledge to people in our province and to visitors to our city.
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Host4:51
He has become wealthy and successful by steady success, year after year after year. Over 30 years ago, he started FirstService with one acquisition, and today Colliers and FirstService together are worth over $17 billion. If you have a vision and you have the wherewithal to execute it and the patience, it is amazing how far you can go—just as a pool cleaner from the GTA, which is what Jay was. Please welcome Jay Hennick, inducted as Companion to the Order of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.