George A. Cope

George Cope is Chair of the Board of Bank of Montreal, having been appointed to this position effective March 31, 2020. Mr. Cope has served in public-company chief executive roles in the Canadian communications industry for more than 25 years, earning a reputation as an innovative operational and financial strategist, builder of next-generation broadband networks and leader of high-performance teams. Mr. Cope served as President and Chief Executive Officer for BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, the country's largest communications company, from 2008-2020. Mr. Cope retired from Bell on January 5, 2020.

Mr. Cope was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2014, inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2018 and recognized as: Report on Business CEO of the Year, Corporate Citizen Award (2019), one of Harvard Business Review's top 100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World (2019); Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year (2015); Ivey Business Leader of the Year (2013); Marketer of the Year (1997); and one of Canada's first Top 40 Under 40 (1996).

A graduate of the Ivey Business School at Western University (HBA '84) and a member of the School's advisory board, Mr. Cope has also been awarded honorary doctorates by Western, the University of Windsor, Trent University and Queen's University. He served as Chair of United Way Toronto in 2013, and received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for Bell Let's Talk in 2012 and the Ivey Distinguished Service Award in 2009. Mr. Cope serves on the boards of Brain Canada and CGI, and served on the board of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment from 2011 to 2020.