Jim Treliving is Chairman and owner of Boston Pizza International Inc. (BPI), where he sets the corporate strategy for Boston Pizza, Boston’s The Gourmet Pizza Restaurant and Sports Bar – Boston Pizza’s U.S. and Mexico division – and for several other businesses in which he has invested. Starting from a single restaurant franchise in 1968, today Jim’s businesses have operations throughout North America in the retail, manufacturing, real estate and service sectors with annual system-wide sales exceeding $1 billion.
Jim is the Chairman and Owner of BPI and previously held senior roles with the company including president and chief executive officer. Before acquiring BPI, Jim was a multi-unit franchisee of Boston Pizza with 18 full-service restaurant locations in British Columbia.
Jim was born and raised in the small town of Virden, Manitoba. At eighteen years old, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and served on the Force for eight years, in British Columbia and Alberta. After trying pizza for the first time in a restaurant in Edmonton, Jim thought he might try his hand at business. Jim took the leap and opened the very first Boston Pizza franchise in Penticton, British Columbia in 1968. Jim has since grown the operation from one location to more than 400 restaurants across North America and has invested in many other successful businesses in Canada and the United States. Jim and Boston Pizza have been recognized over the years with several prestigious awards including “Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies Platinum Club”, “Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures”, the Henry Singer Award from the Canadian Institute of Retailing and Services the Canadian Franchise Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and most recently Jim was named to the Order of Canada.
In addition to his professional responsibilities, Jim is active in giving back to the community. He has been a director of the Boston Pizza Foundation since its inception in 1990 and has helped raise and donate more than $28 million to Canadian charities over that time. Jim has also dedicated his time to serving on several volunteer boards and is currently a director for the David Foster Foundation and an advisor to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Currently, Jim stars as one of the five Dragons on CBC’s reality TV show, Dragon’s Den, where aspiring entrepreneurs secure a financial investment from the Dragons to start their own business. Jim also published “Decisions -Making the right ones and righting the wrong ones” a best-selling business book for aspiring entrepreneurs published by Harper-Collins.
