About Garfield Weston

For Garfield Weston, a constant source of inspiration and strength were the lines of the poem: “’Tis the set of the sails and not the gales that determines the way they go.” It was a motto that he lived to the full, meeting the challenges of life with boundless energy and indestructible optimism.

Garfield was born above his father’s Toronto bakery in 1898, the eldest son of George and Emma Weston. At school he played on both the football and hockey teams, and got his best marks in public speaking. Eager to take part in the First World War, he enlisted at eighteen with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, and helped drive a six-horse wagon in France, laying telegraph cables for battlefield communications. He spent his army leaves visiting English bakeries to learn more about the business in which he had grown up and would join on his return home.

Joining the Family Business
At the end of the war, Garfield went back to Toronto and at twenty-one joined the small family company, George Weston Limited. Only twenty-six years old when his father died, Garfield became president and general manager, soon managing to expand the business by buying smaller bakeries in Canada and the United States. In 1935, he expanded his business to Britain, later moving into Australia, South Africa and Europe.

Committed to Canada
Throughout his life, Garfield remained passionately committed to Canada and its citizens, expressing his deep belief in them by doing all he could to help. For instance, to assist the prairie farmers devastated by the Depression, Garfield worked successfully at persuading British bakers to use Canadian wheat in their bread.

Helping Canada's Young People
With nine children of his own, Canada’s youth particularly interested Garfield. He believed that young men and women could make Canada great by broadening their horizons with education and travel. For several years in the 1950s he organized tours for British and Canadian teenagers to visit each others’ country; in 1953, fifty Canadian girls traveled to London to watch Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. Garfield said that “the days of adventure are not over, their outward appearance has only changed. There is still a challenge in this world for young Canadians to go out and bring honour to their homeland.”

Supporting the Pursuit of Excellence
Garfield Weston wrote to his grandchildren: “May your life be like a sailing ship full of brave and gallant adventure.” The Garfield Weston Awards for Excellence in Education have been established to continue his commitment to the young people of Canada by supporting the pursuit of excellence in education and encouraging them to set their own sails.