Stratford, Ontario Names Ideal Supply’s Tim MacDonald Business Leader of the Year

Tim MacDonald

Apr 14, 2019

The Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce has presented its 2019 Business Leader of the Year Award to Tim MacDonald of Ideal Supply. The Business Leader of the Year is voted in secret ballot by the Chamber Board of Directors from a list of nominees.

Tim is President of Ideal Supply. The company was started in 1926, bought by Tim’s Grandfather in 1946, and taken over by Tim’s father 20 years later. Ideal Supply distributes electrical supplies and automotive parts and equipment from 31 branch locations in Southwestern Ontario. Tim joined Ideal Supply in 1981, was named President in 1995, and CEO in 2001, a position he held until he and his siblings sold Ideal Supply to Groupe Deschênes Inc. in 2016.

Ideal has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for nine consecutive years. Tim attributes much of the success of the company to investing in the people who work there, by providing personal development training, allowing flexibility for them to serve in various capacities on boards, local councils and other service groups, and by providing opportunities and inspiration to youth so they stay involved in their rural communities.

“Unless we create room for people to get involved in those types of things, you’re basically pushing responsibility off to someone else to get involved in community work. And then we don’t really have a right to ever complain if we aren’t going to get involved ourselves,” says Tim. “We are in every Chamber of Commerce in every community… It’s a way to have a voice and work through common problems.”

Over 45 employees are in Ideal Supply’s 25-year club, not including others who have already retired. Tim believes in fostering a culture of loyalty, stability, top-notch customer service, hard work, growth, leading by example and community engagement.

Outside of Ideal Supply, Tim has sat on the Boards of several organizations including the Listowel Chamber of Commerce, Stratford Perth Community Foundation, the University of Waterloo – Stratford Steering Committee, the Stratford Festival, and the Young President’s Organization.

In 2011 Tim and Jim Balsillie co-founded the Arctic Research Foundation, which was instrumental in the search for, and discovery of the lost Franklin ships in the Canadian Arctic. Tim is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012 for community service. In 2018 Tim was appointed to the Order of Canada.

Related Articles


Changing Scene

  • EFC Tariff Update – September 2025

    EFC Tariff Update – September 2025

    Electro-Federation Canada (EFC), in collaboration with its Wire & Cable and Transformer Business Sections and with support from Sussex Strategy Group, is actively engaging with the federal government on critical trade issues affecting the electrical industry. These efforts focus on two fronts – 1: Extending import quotas beyond raw materials to include finished goods such as… Read More…

  • EFC Welcomes GS Lighting Group as New CEMRA Member

    EFC Welcomes GS Lighting Group as New CEMRA Member

    GS Lighting Group, a division of Gross Sales Ltd, was founded in 1990 and today is a full-service lighting agency that has built a reputation of providing the integrity of effective lighting design and supply to its clients. GSL brings to market a lighting solution for any project and application, from education, healthcare, commercial, industrial,… Read More…


Peers & Profiles