Over 100 Years of Excellence in Canada

2000s

Year
Event
2022 PwC Canada launches its Trust Roadmap
2021 PwC Canada acquires cybersecurity consulting firm Avaleris Inc.
2021 PwC announces new strategy: The New Equation
2021 Nicolas Marcoux re-elected for a second term as PwC Canada’s CEO
2021 PwC Canada appoints four external directors to join its board
2018 Nicolas Marcoux elected CEO and Senior Partner of PwC Canada
2014 PwC acquires Booz & Company (Strategy&)
2011 Bill McFarland elected CEO and Senior Partner of PwC Canada
2010 Our brand name is shortened to PwC, along with a new visual identity
2007
One hundred years young
2005 Chris Clark elected CEO and Senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers
2001 Kevin Dancey elected Canadian CEO and Senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers
2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers merges with Sullivan & Lewis in St. John’s

1990s

Year

Event

1998
PricewaterhouseCoopers formed on July 1; Tom O’Neill becomes Chief Executive Officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers; David Smith becomes Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers
1997 David Smith elected Chairman of Coopers & Lybrand; Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand announce plans for integration
1996 Tom O’Neill becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse
1992 Hugh Bolton becomes Chairman and Chief Executive Partner of Coopers & Lybrand
1990 Bob Brown becomes Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse; Laventhol & Horvath merges with Price Waterhouse
1998 — David W. Smith (left) and Tom C. O'Neill (right) combine to lead the newly-formed PwC.

1980s

Year

Event

1986
Ken Stevenson becomes Chairman and Chief Executive Partner of Coopers & Lybrand
1985 Bill Broadhurst becomes Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse
1982 Coopers & Lybrand goes coast-to-coast when Baird and Baird of St. John’s and Roberts Denson & Co. of Victoria merge with it; Price Waterhouse opens Calgary South office; Brochu, Dutil & Associés of Québec City merges with Price Waterhouse
1981 Mississauga, Ontario, branch of Coopers & Lybrand opens; Price Waterhouse merges with Jarrett, Gould & Elliott, a national accounting firm with seven offices; Price Waterhouse merges with Erickson, Lee, Macdonald & Co. of Hamilton, Ontario
1980 Price Waterhouse opens a Scarborough, Ontario, office
1980 — David Higginbotham and Harry Simpson.

1970s

Year

Event

1978 North York, Ontario, office of Coopers & Lybrand opens
1977 Price Waterhouse merges with Tremblay, Rochette et Associés in Québec City; Price Waterhouse opens in Mississauga, Ontario
1975 David Higginbotham becomes Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse; Price Waterhouse establishes a national office in Toronto
1974 Price Waterhouse opens in Kitchener, Ontario
1973 Coopers & Lybrand name replaces McDonald, Currie; Warren Chippindale becomes Chairman of Coopers & Lybrand
1971 Warren Chippindale becomes Chairman and Managing Partner of McDonald, Currie
1970 Price Waterhouse computerizes data process and control reporting
1976 — Bill Broadhurst and Pam Jermey in 1976.

1960s

Year

Event

1969 Price Waterhouse office opens in Québec City; Saskatoon office of McDonald, Currie opens; Kitchener, Ontario, firm of Tailby & Tailby merges with McDonald, Currie
1968 Laird Watt becomes Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse; London, Ontario, office of Price Waterhouseopens; Price Waterhouse merges with Fewster, Kirkpatrick, MacDonald & Ayers in Saskatoon; McDonald, Currie signs formal association with Baird & Baird of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (the firms merge in 1985)
1967 Campbell Leach becomes Chairman of McDonald, Currie; Centennial of Canada; McDonald, Currie revises the partnership agreement and provides for election of a management committee
1966 Evan E. Own and Harold D. Pringle merge their practices with McDonald, Currie; Watt, Gower, Ogilvie & Co. of Edmonton merge with McDonald, Currie; Harrison & Osborne of Winnipeg merge with Price Waterhouse
1965 Price Waterhouse Montréal office merges with Creak, Cushing & Hodgson; Pearson, Matthews and Young merges with McDonald, Currie; R. L. Bamford & Co. in Saskatchewan joins McDonald, Currie; Beaton, Mathieson & Co. in Calgary merges with McDonald, Currie
1964 Price Waterhouse merges with Bailey, Monteith, Holms & Co. in Vancouver; London, Ontario, firm of Cornish Mitchell & Co. merges with McDonald, Currie; Lawrence W. Pastorius merges his Windsor, Ontario, practice with McDonald, Currie; McDonald, Currie merges with Reynolds, Andersen & Co. in Vancouver
1963 McDonald, Currie partnership agreement is rewritten so that the managing partners become the Management Committee
1962 Calgary partnership of Henderson, Waines and Anderson joins Price Waterhouse
1961 Toronto office of Price Waterhouse merges with A. D. Downie & Co.; McDonald, Currie opens in a home office in Sept-Îles, Québec; Ronald, Griggs & Co. amalgamates with McDonald, Currie in Winnipeg
1960 John Church becomes Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse
1960s — Price Waterhouse Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee from 1968-75, M. Laird Watt (left).

1950s

Year

Event

1959 Price Waterhouse merges with Geddes, Knebel and Beaton in Edmonton
1958 Harrison Hayes becomes Chairman of McDonald, Currie; Price Waterhouse merges with William Gray & Co. in Winnipeg; Halifax office of McDonald,Currie opens; George Currie retires to run the Bowaters organization in North America
1957 McDonald, Currie merges with Cooper Brothers & Co. and Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery to form Coopers & Lybrand
1956 Laird, Sprague merges with McDonald, Currie in Winnipeg; Calgary office of McDonald, Currie opens in Rod Whitehead’s home; the telephone booth at the end of the street serves as the company phone
1955 Price Waterhouse amalgamates with Winnipeg firm of Thornton, Milne & Campbell; Mitchell, Krauel merge with McDonald, Currie and the firm opens in Winnipeg and Kitchener
1954 Price Waterhouse opens in Halifax
1953 Price Waterhouse merges with Haskell, Elderkin & Co. in Montréal
1952 John Church becomes Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse; Harold Herington becomes Chairman of the Executive Committee of Price Waterhouse; Edmonton office of McDonald, Currie opens
1951 Price Waterhouse opens in Hamilton, Ontario; McDonald, Currie starts consulting practice
1950 Richardson, Elwell, Parish & Co. merges with McDonald, Currie; A. H. Rathie & Co. in Vancouver merges with McDonald, Currie
1958 — George Currie, second from left, and partners gather at a firm dinner.

1940s

Year

Event

1948 McDonald, Currie opens in Vancouver, the firm’s first office west of Toronto
1947 Price Waterhouse opens in Ottawa; McDonald, Currie merges with J. P. Langley & Co.; arrangement made to act as agent for referred business from Coopers Brothers & Co. in the U.K.
1946 George Currie becomes Chairman of McDonald, Currie; Henry Gordon Norman becomes Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse; J. W. F. Neill, PriceWaterhouse’s US representative, withdraws from Canadian partnership and is not replaced, thereby emphasizing the Canadian nature of the practice
1945 Second World War ends; Price Waterhouse & Co. (international firm) is formally established July 1, 1945; Eunice C. Bancroft named first female partner at McDonald, Currie; Saint John, New Brunswick, office of McDonald, Currie opens
1942 Price Waterhouse nominates first Executive Committee to provide general supervision and coordination of the practice; McDonald, Currie opens in Sherbrooke, Québec
1941 Price Waterhouse office opens in Windsor, Ontario
1940s — Price Waterhouse Canada founding partners Alexander B. Brodie (second from left) and Donald McKenzie McClelland (far right).

1930s

Year

Event

1939 Donald McKenzie McClelland becomes Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse; Second World War begins
1935 Ken Carter, who would later head the Royal Commission on Taxation, opens the Toronto office of McDonald, Currie; McDonald, Currie establishes an office in Rimouski, Québec
1934 Ottawa office of McDonald, Currie opens
1930 Charlotte Howell of McDonald, Currie’s Montréal office becomes the first female CA in Québec

1920s

Year

Event

1929 The Great Depression begins; Winnipeg Price Waterhouse office amalgamates with accounting firm John Scott & Co., thereby creating a presence in Calgary
1924 Price Waterhouse makes arrangements for the separation of the U.S. and Canadian firms
1922 McDonald, Currie opens its first branch office in Québec City
1920 Canadian firm receives the right to use the name Price Waterhouse & Co.; the name McDonald, Currie & Co., predecessor firm to Coopers & Lybrand, is officially adopted

1900s-1910s

Year

Event

1917 The Income War Tax introduced as a temporary measure to help fund the Canadian war effort
1914 First World War begins; first Canadian Price Waterhouse partnership is established by deeds dated June 30, 1914
1912 Price Waterhouse offices established in Winnipeg and Vancouver
1911 Alexander Bertram Brodie becomes Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse; George Currie joins his cousin George McDonald
1910 George McDonald becomes Chairman of McDonald, Currie; George McDonald starts his accounting practice on St. James Street in Montréal; second Price Waterhouse office opens in Toronto
1907 First Canadian office of Price Waterhouse opens in Montréal; Roderick Edward Moore managed all Canadian operations from the New York office
1910s — Coopers & Lybrand Canada founders George S. Currie (left) and George C. McDonald (right).

1800s

Year

Event

1898 Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery launch in North America
1865 Samuel Price partners with William Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse
1854 William Cooper establishes firm in U.K.
1849 Samuel Lowe Price creates firm in U.K.
Follow PwC Canada