Executive Chairman and Co-Founder
Mr. Stephen Smith, one of Canada’s leading financial services entrepreneurs, is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of First National Financial Corporation. He has been an innovator in the development and utilization of various securitization techniques to finance mortgage assets as well as a leader in the development and application of information technology in the mortgage industry.
Mr. Smith is a Director of Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company, which he owns in partnership with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. He is Chairman and co-owner of Fairstone Bank of Canada, formerly Duo Bank of Canada. Mr. Smith is the largest shareholder in Equitable Bank, one of Canada’s leading alternative lenders and the country’s ninth largest publicly traded bank. Mr. Smith is a member of the Board of Directors of the C.D. Howe Institute, E-L Financial Corporation Limited and the Canada Infrastructure Bank. He is also Chairman of Historica Canada, the producer of the Heritage Minutes and publisher of The Canadian Encyclopedia. In 2012, Mr. Smith received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to Canada.
In 2015, Queen's University announced the naming of The Stephen J.R. Smith School of Business at Queen's University in honour of Mr. Smith and his historic $50-million donation to the school.
Mr. Smith holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University and a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics.