Greenbergs work and build as a team
The Greenbergs mix business, sports and philanthropy
Roger Greenberg wants to first get one thing straight: He might be the most high-profile Greenberg, but he’s not the only family member behind Minto Group’s impressive philanthropic work in Ottawa.
“Whenever I get involved in a charitable activity, the only way I can do that is if the shareholders allowed me to take time off of work to engage in those activities,” Greenberg says in an interview. “Whenever we gave donations, the donations never came from me personally or me individually. It came from the collective group of us. That’s why you see most donations coming from our family in the name of Minto. It’s always a collective giving.”
It just happens that Roger Greenberg, the executive chairman of Minto, has ended up being the most recognizable Greenberg in recent years, thanks to his coownership of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
There’s no hiding when you’re a key business partner with the City of Ottawa.
With the addition of sports franchises, the list of things that have made the Greenberg family one of Ottawa’s eminent community builders over the past 60 years continues to grow.
Four Greenberg brothers – Gilbert, Irving, Lorry and Louis – started Minto in 1955, building the company into one of Ottawa’s real estate powerhouses. It has since built more than 80,000 homes and expanded operations to southern Ontario, Alberta and Florida.
Minto is credited as the builder of the first condo highrise in Canada, building Horizon House on Meadowland Drive in the 1960s. Another Minto development, the Metropole in Westboro, is currently the tallest condo in Ottawa.
Today, Canadian Business has the Greenberg family ranked 66th in its latest list of Canada’s richest people.
As the family developed Ottawa neighbourhoods, it gave to local charities and organizations, something the four founders of Minto instilled in their children, nephews and nieces.
“Those who have substantial resources can cut a cheque pretty easily. More importantly, it’s leading by example and getting involved in the activities,” Roger Greenberg says.
"That’s something that’s very, very precious because when people of means see that example set, then they’re more prone to want to give and want to contribute as well.”
The influence of the Ottawa Greenbergs is extensive.
Lorry Greenberg left the family business to pursue politics in the 1960s. He won a councillor’s seat and served as Ottawa’s gregarious, straight-shooting mayor between 1974 and 1978. Lorry Greenberg, by his own admission, didn’t like political office, but he loved serving the city. For years after his term, he was remembered as the mayor who
I’ve been blessed with the ability to travel a bit and every time I travel I come back to Canada and I just say, thank God that we have our country. Most people just don’t appreciate how great a city we have, how great a country we have. ROGER GREENBERG
stripped down and dipped into the Colonel By fountain to liven up a rededication ceremony.
The Greenbergs have made huge impressions outside of Minto.
Dan Greenberg, son of Irving Greenberg, has his own firm, Ferguslea Properties. He and his wife Barbara Crook are one of Ottawa’s philanthropic power couples, donating millions to health initiatives and community programs. Ferguslea has been the title sponsor of the Senators Soirée, which in January 2017 raised $446,725 for youth programs. The company has been a major partner of the Sens’ Foundation.
The Greenbergs’ influence extends beyond the nation’s capital. When Roger Greenberg is asked about some of the unsung family members, he brings up his cousin Phoebe Greenberg’s extensive work growing the arts scene in Montréal.
But Ottawa is where people can find the most examples of the Greenbergs’ clout.
Irving Greenberg’s name is on the family cancer centre at Queensway Carleton Hospital and at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Hintonburg, thanks to donations the Greenberg family has made in health and the arts.
Gilbert Greenberg — Roger Greenberg ’s father — has a service award named after him at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.
There’s Lorry Greenberg Drive in the Greenboro area, the Minto Sports Complex at the University of Ottawa and the Minto trades centre at La Cité.
And then there are the landmarks whose names have been offered up in sponsorship deals, such as the Minto Recreation Complex in Barrhaven.
Roger Greenberg stepped away from Minto’s CEO job in 2013 but still finds himself busier than ever, dedicating about one-third of his time on the property development company. Another third is dedicated to family and charities, with the last third consumed by OSEG and Lansdowne Park.
The Greenberg influence on the city has continued with his ownership of the Ottawa Redblacks, Ottawa Fury and Ottawa 67’s and OSEG’s partnership with the City of Ottawa to run the mixed-use area of Lansdowne Park. (The other OSEG co-owners are John Ruddy, Jeff Hunt, John Pugh and Bill Shenkman.)
In 2016, the Redblacks delivered a Grey Cup win to Ottawa for the first time in 40 years. Ottawa was tapped to host the 2017 championship game at TD Place as part of Canada 150 celebrations.
Ottawa’s history – through real estate, charity work and sports – has Greenberg fingerprints all over it.
“We’re 150 years of peace and prosperity,” says Greenberg.
“In a year of celebration like this, we should be very, very thankful and grateful we have the country that we have. I dare say most people in the world, weather aside, would trade places in a heartbeat for the kind of lifestyle that we’re able to enjoy.
“It’s not perfect. We have our challenges for sure. A lot of people are struggling with a lot of things. But still – pretty good.”