Patrick Dovigi

Early life

Dovigi grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He played as goalie for the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Erie Otters for three seasons from 1996 to 1999. He was also a goaltender for Toronto’s St. Michael’s Majors in 1998 and 1999. Dovigi was drafted in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1997 by the Edmonton Oilers, who selected him as the 41st overall draft pick.

Career

While playing minor hockey, Dovigi began dabbling in business. From 1999 to 2002, he served as Vice President of Right Lease, a construction equipment and automotive leasing company. In 2002, he joined Brovi Investments, where he learned about corporate finance and waste management. In 2004, Dovigi was assigned to take care of the clean-up of a waste transfer station in Maple, Ontario. Dovigi then established a new company and worked with the municipality of Vaughan and the Environment Ministry for two years. In 2007, Dovigi founded GFL with the goals of finding the hidden value in small waste companies in Canada and offering bundled environmental services under one company brand, which was not offered in Canada at the time. Dovigi merged and acquired several local haulers and waste management companies. GFL gained prominence when the company won a $186 million, nine-year contract to manage the residential waste of 155,000 homes in west Toronto. In 2016, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners invested in GFL, raising the value of the company to $2.4 billion. In April 2018, GFL negotiated a recapitalization with BC Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. In October 2018, GLF merged with Waste Industries in a deal that valued Waste Industries at $2.825 billion, doubling GFL’s presence in the United States.

Net Worth

Dovigi’s net worth is an estimated $1.08 billion.

Achievement

In 2004, Dovigi joined the NGTV Board of Directors, otherwise known as No Good TV, a YouTube, music channel and organization chaired by Gene Simmons, lead singer of the American rock band Kiss. In 2017, Dovigi was named Entrepreneur of the Year in the Power & Utilities sector at the EY Entrepreneur of Year Ontario Awards. In 2018, Canadian Business listed him as the 97th richest person in Canada. Also in 2018, Dovigi acquired the naming rights for GFL for the home of the Soo Greyhounds Junior Hockey Team in Sault Ste. Marie. The arena is called the GFL Memorial Gardens. In the same year, he was elected to the Environmental Research & Education Foundation Board of Directors. Dovigi has made financial donations to Camp Oochigeas, Habitat for Humanity, the Sunnybrook Foundation, The National Ballet of Canada and contributed $5 million to fund a new sports medicine clinic called The Dovigi Family Sports Medicine Clinic. Dovigi currently serves as a Director of the Ontario Waste Management Association.