News Releases

Toronto, ON September 17, 2025 — Three compelling books exploring economic transformation, corporate power struggles, and financial market history have been selected as finalists for the 2025 National Business Book Award, marking the 40^th  anniversary of Canada’s premier literary recognition for business writing. The shortlisted authors will compete for the $30,000 prize—one of the largest non-fiction awards in Canada—with the winner announced on October 21 at a ceremony in Toronto.

“This year’s finalists demonstrate the breadth and depth of Canadian business writing,” said Deirdre McMurdy, Award Adjudicator and Chair of the Jury. “From understanding our post-pandemic economic reality to exposing the dynamics of family-controlled empires, these authors tackle the forces reshaping business and society.”

The 2025 finalists are:

A Map of the New Normal: How Inflation, War and Sanctions Will Change Your World Forever

By Jeff Rubin | Allen Lane Canada

A comprehensive foundation of what the new normal was and how it got that way. Rubin dives into the reactive economic re-ordering that took place in response to the pandemic and helps us understand the future we are confronting. He explains how the pandemic broke supply chains and how subsequent global tensions have served to exacerbate the problem. “But amidst all the uncertainty that surrounds us, one thing has become increasingly clear: as we sail farther along the course of seemingly inevitable global conflict and accompanying profound economic change, there is no turning back to the we once knew. It simply no longer exists.” Jeff Rubin won the Award in 2010 for Why Your World is About to Get a Lot Smaller.

Rogers v. Rogers: The Battle for Control of Canada’s Telecom Empire

By Alexandra Posadzki | McClelland & Stewart

A rare behind the scenes look at a dramatic battle for control of Canada’s dominant wireless carrier, exposing the perils of family control over assets of such critical economic importance. As an entrepreneur, founder Ted Rogers took business risks and exerted significant personal control over the business. In the aftermath of his death, succession and conflicting visions for the future led to a public family brawl over who would run the company and how it would be run. In the end it is the story of a company struggling to find its way after the death of its legendary founder. Alexandra Posadzki is a Globe and Mail business reporter who covered Canada’s telecommunications industry.

To Make A Killing: Arthur Cutten, The Man Who Ruled the Markets

By Robert Stephens (1948-2025) | McGill-Queen’s University

Arthur Cutten was a small-town Canadian boy who played a key role in shaping the U.S. commodities business in its early days.To Make A Killing provides the context for many of the rules and regulations that exist today, many of them developed in response to Cutten’s market dominance. Robert Stephens captures the frenetic trading that took place prior to the 1929 stock market crash and the low key Canadian who was at the centre of the drama. Stephens is a former journalist who spent 10-years researching Arthur Cutten.

ABOUT THE AWARD

Established in 1985, the National Business Book Award recognizes Canadian authors whose work demonstrates exceptional research, originality, and relevance to contemporary business challenges. Evaluating each submission is an independent jury chaired by Deirdre McMurdy, Adjudicator: Anna Porter, author, and publisher; Bobby Siu, PhD, Professor, Management Consultant and 2022 NBBA shortlisted author; Senator Pamela Wallin; Stephen Poloz, 2023 winner and former governor of the Bank of Canada; and, Dahabo Ahmed-Omer, CEO of BlackNorth Initiative. Canada’s National Business Book Award is generously sponsored by Presenting Partner Stephen J.R. Smith and Smith Financial Corporation, BMO, RBC, The Globe and Mail, and The Walrus. Past winners include Stephen Poloz, Adam Miron, Sébastien St-Louis & Julie Beun, Stephen R. Bown, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Jeff Rubin, Gordon Pitts, Naomi Klein, Minister of Transport Chrystia Freeland, Daniel Levitin, and Andrea Benoit.

Follow on LinkedIn and visit nbbaward.com for the full list of past winners.

For further information please contact:

Mary Ann Freedman, Freedman & Associates Inc.

416-523-8681 | maf@freedmanandassociates.com

Former Governor of The Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz wins $30,000 prize

Toronto, ON November 8, 2023 – The National Business Book Award today announced that The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future has been named the winning book for the 2023 award and its $30,000 prize. The book, authored by Stephen Poloz, former Governor of The Bank of Canada, was published by Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House Canda. The prize was presented to the author at an award luncheon in Toronto.

In The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future, Stephen Poloz shares an explanation of how the central bank works and why it does what it does – especially in an age of chronic uncertainty. He argues that past crises from the Victorian Depression in the late 1800s to the more recent downturn in 2008, foreshadow what is in store for us in the decades ahead. He looks at this uncertainty in the context of five distinct forces that impact the economy both individually and in concert with one another over the long term. These are: population aging, technological progress, rising inequality, growing debt (personal and government), and climate change.

Stephen Poloz is one of the world’s most respected economists with over 40 years of experience in economic and investment research, forecasting, banking, and policymaking, including seven years as Governor of the Bank of Canada.

“Once again, the business books submitted for consideration in 2023 demonstrate a remarkable calibre of research, writing, analysis and original thought,” said NBBA sponsor Miles Nadal, Founder and Executive Chairman of Peerage Capital Group. “It was a tough decision to land on one winner.”

The 2023 National Book Award finalists are:

• Unprecedented – Canada’s Top CEOs on Leadership During COVID-19
  Compiled and Edited by Steve Mayer and Andrew Willis
  Signal, an imprint of McClelland & Stewart
• No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot: My Rise from a Jamaican Plantation Shack to the Boardrooms of Bay Street
  Wes Hall
  Random House Canada

The NBBA winner is selected by an independent jury which evaluates each submission based on originality, relevance, excellence of writing, thoroughness of research and depth of analysis. The jury is chaired by Deirdre McMurdy, Peerage Capital and includes: Anna Porter, author, and publisher; Bobby Siu, PhD, management consultant and 2022 NBBA shortlisted author; and Senator Pamela Wallin.

Past NBBA winners include Adam Miron, Sébastien St-Louis & Julie Beun, Stephen R. Bown, Mark Carney, Jeff Rubin, Gordon Pitts, Naomi Klein, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Daniel Levitin, and Andrea Benoit. For a full list of past winners, visit: www.nbbaward.com

Canada’s National Business Book Award is generously sponsored by presenting sponsor Miles S. Nadal and supporting partners Peerage Realty Partners, Stephen J.R. Smith, The Globe and Mail, and The Walrus.

Follow us on Twitter @NBBAward and visit www.nbbaward.com for more information.

For copies of the books, author photos and interviews please contact:
Mary Ann Freedman, Freedman & Associates Inc.
Tel: 416-523-8681
Email: maf@freedmanandassociates.com

-30-

Winner of the 38th annual business literary award to receive $30,000 prize

Toronto, ON October 18, 2023 – Deirdre McMurdy, Adjudicator and Chair of the Jury for the 38th annual National Business Book Award, today announced the three finalists for the annual literary award. Presented by Miles S. Nadal, the $30,000 prize will be awarded to the author demonstrating the most outstanding Canadian business-related writing, research, and originality. The winner will be announced at a live, in-person event on November 8, 2023.

National Business Book Award authors have a tradition of identifying and documenting current issues, themes, and trends in the business world, and continue to do so. Leadership, post pandemic advice, overcoming diversity, innovation, climate change, risk, and finance are some of the key topics addressed in this year’s book nominees.

The 2023 National Book Award finalists are:

Unprecedented – Canada’s Top CEOs on Leadership During COVID-19
Compiled and Edited by Steve Mayer and Andrew Willis
Signal, an imprint of McClelland & Stewart

A compilation of exclusive, first-person essays on leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from 29 CEOs from Canada’s most iconic and largest companies, chronicles corporate survival in the face of Covid. With stories across diverse sectors – nursing homes, grocery stores, airlines, hotels, pharmacies, and shopping malls – each CEO shares his/her story about the initial response and how it was refined over the pandemic. These individual stories have enduring historic significance as a guide in crisis management.

Steve Mayer is an investment banker with Greenhill Canada and Andrew Willis is an award-winning columnist with The Globe and Mail.

No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot: My Rise from a Jamaican Plantation Shack to the Boardrooms of Bay Street
Wes Hall
Random House Canada

An extraordinary and inspiring memoir, Wes Hall shares his personal story of growing up in abject poverty amid domestic violence in rural Jamaica and his journey to the boardrooms of Bay Street, where he became a powerful entrepreneur, philanthropist, and change-maker. This biography recounts Hall’s determination to achieve personal and financial success, as well as his work in philanthropy, advocacy, and social justice.

Wes Hall is the executive chairman and founder of Kingsdale Advisors, which provides shareholder advisory services, and is the recipient of six Honorary Doctorates. He is the founder of BlackNorth Initiative.

The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future
Stephen Poloz
Allen Lane Canada/Penguin Random House Canada

Former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz shares an explanation of how the central bank works and why it does what it does – especially in an age of chronic uncertainty. He skillfully argues that past crises from the Victorian Depression in the late 1800s to the more recent downturn in 2008, gave a hint of what is in store for us in the decades ahead. He looks at this uncertainty in the context of five distinct forces that impact the economy both individually and in concert with one another over the long term. Stephen Poloz is a leading economist with over 40 years of experience in economic and investment research, forecasting, banking, and policymaking. He was the Governor of the Bank of Canada for seven years.

The 2023 NBBA winner is selected by an independent jury which evaluates each submission based on originality, relevance, excellence of writing, thoroughness of research and depth of analysis. The jury is chaired by Deirdre McMurdy, Peerage Capital. The jury includes Anna Porter, author, and publisher; Bobby Siu, PhD, professor, management consultant and 2022 NBBA shortlisted author, and Senator Pamela Wallin.

Past winners include Adam Miron, Sébastien St-Louis & Julie Beun, Stephen R. Bown, Mark Carney, Jeff Rubin, Gordon Pitts, Naomi Klein, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Daniel Levitin, and Andrea Benoit. For a full list of past winners, visit: www.nbbaward.com

Canada’s National Business Book Award is generously sponsored by Presenting Sponsor Miles S. Nadal, Peerage Realty Partners, Stephen J.R. Smith, The Globe and Mail, and The Walrus.

Follow us on Twitter @NBBAward and visit www.nbbaward.com for more information.

For copies of the books, author photos and interviews please contact:
Mary Ann Freedman, Freedman & Associates Inc.
Tel: 416-523-8681
Email: maf@freedmanandassociates.com

-30-