With deep sadness we announce the passing of James Urban Joseph on July 30, 2024. He was 89 years old.

“Born in the tiny village of Barachois, Gaspe, Quebec to a one-armed railway man and a nun…” began John Donald’s commentary for Urban’s Order of Canada (OC), which he received in 2001. The honour recognized Urban’s many contributions to his country, in particular his volunteer work with Inuit and First Nations peoples including serving as founding member and Chair of Canadian Arctic Producers (CAP) during its formative years in the 1960s of introducing Cape Dorset artists to the world and, in the 1990s, founding the First Nations Bank.

Urban graduated with an MBA from Western University in the Class of 1963. He rose through the ranks of the TD Bank becoming Vice Chair in 1992. His leadership of Human Resources throughout his career contributed to TD’s success and was central to its reputation as an employer of choice.

Urban was a corporate director who served on many boards including TD Bank, First Nations Bank, Blue Mountain Resort, We Care Health Services, Bird Construction, Medcan Health Management, Meditech International, Ontario Pension Board, Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation, Canadian Arctic Producers, Canada’s Wonderland, The Design Exchange, Career Edge Organization, Council for Canadian Unity, Prime Mentors of Canada, Canadian Orthopedic Foundation, and Foundation Fighting Blindness.

In addition to his official roles on boards, Urban was consigliere, mentor, trusted advisor, and friend to numerous CEOs of growing companies including Gord Canning at Blue Mountain Resort who said, “Urban served on the Blue Mountain Resort board for over 40 years. His hands are all over Blue Mountain as we know it today. We would not have had the success as a business and as a family without him.”

While Urban made his home in Toronto, he lived or worked in almost every part of Canada from his upbringing in Gaspe, schooling in New Brunswick, working as a bank clerk in Winnipeg and in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, as a miner in Uranium City, back to London, Ontario and then Hamilton, and working in Nunavut, Montreal, and Ottawa while serving on boards, and frequently travelling across the country as a TD executive. When he wasn’t in Toronto at King and Bay wearing a business suit and signature fedora, he could be found at Blue Mountain Resort, rhythmically skiing down the hill in his full length ski coat. The Blue Mountain area on Georgian Bay was a favorite second home he returned to often throughout his life.

Urban had close lifelong friends, and he went on almost twenty walking trips with them in England and Europe, organized by David and Diane Thomson. These trips formed many of his favorite memories.

In later years, thanks to his wife Lucille, Urban became a supporter of the arts and was a frequent and stylish presence at the National Ballet and Luminato events, even signing up as a Luminato volunteer when Lucille was interim CEO.

Urban brought energy, love, warmth and sage advice into the lives of his family including his twin sister Mary Webb and her husband Mike and son Michael; his wife Lucille (née Fowle); his daughters Kimberley and Michelle Joseph, son-in-law Shaun Leggett, and grandsons Christian and Nathaniel Leggett; his pal Bette Laderoute; and the extended Joseph, Fournier, Leggett, Fowle and Clemens families and friends. He will be missed by all who knew him and benefited from his lively and generous spirit.

A memorial event to remember Urban will be held at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery visitation centre at 375 Mt. Pleasant Road on Thursday, August 8. Visitation from 2-3 pm, and at 3 pm a brief program followed by a reception.

A link to livestream the program will be available at the top of this page at approximately 2:45 pm.

In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in Urban’s name to a charity of your choice.