Tony Gagliano

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Tony Gagliano (born June 13, 1958) is a Canadian businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the executive chairman and CEO of St. Joseph Communications, Canada’s largest private communications company, publisher of magazines such as Maclean’s, Toronto Life and Fashion. He is also president of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and the co-founder and chair of Toronto’s Festival of Creativity & Arts, Luminato. In 2009 he joined the board of the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games.

Gagliano was born in Toronto to Italian immigrant parents, Gaetano and Giuseppina Gagliano. He is their seventh child. His father ran a small basement print shop and encouraged the family to help grow the business. He earned a Bachelor of Business Management from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1980. He is married with three children and lives in Toronto.

In 1979, Gagliano began his career with St. Joseph Communications. He became general manager in 1987, was named president at age 29, and became CEO in 1995. As of 2019 he served as executive chairman and CEO of St. Joseph Communications.

Gagliano served as president of the AGO board beginning in 2009. He led the Galleria Italia project, a $13 million renovation space funded as a gift from Italian families to the city of Toronto and Canada. In 2009, with support from the federal government, he and Pecaut announced the Canadian Prize for the Arts and Creativity, though it never materialized. He co-founded and chairs Luminato, Toronto’s annual Festival of Arts & Creativity, which opened in 2007 and drew millions of attendees in its early years.

He has held roles with Ryerson/Toronto Metropolitan University, St. Michael’s Hospital, and Scouts Canada. His philanthropy focuses on education and the environment; he supports Partners in Growth with Scouts Canada, which has helped plant millions of trees. St. Joseph was the first Canadian company to win the Financial Post award for environmental excellence. He helped launch the St. Joseph Foundation to guide the company’s charitable activities.

Gagliano has received numerous honors, including Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Ontario) in 2003; Words and Deeds Leadership Award (2008); Canadian of the Year (with David Pecaut, 2008); Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (1995); and the Ryerson Alumni Achievement Award (2007). He was named Canadian Printer of the Year in 2011 and served as co-chair of the Venetian Ball for Villa Colombo.