Manulife

Manulife traces its roots to 1887, when the Manufacturers Life Insurance Company was founded in Toronto with Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, serving as its first president in a largely honorary capacity shortly before his final term in office. The company grew steadily through the late 19th and 20th centuries, expanding beyond life insurance into a broader range of financial services and building an increasingly international footprint well beyond its Canadian origins.

A global company still rooted downtown

The shortened "Manulife" brand name came into wide public use later in the company's history, and today the company is one of the largest life insurance and financial services companies in the world by assets, with major operations across Canada, the United States and Asia. Manulife has remained headquartered in Toronto throughout its growth, its name attached to landmark buildings and, for a period, the naming rights on Maple Leaf Square adjacent to Scotiabank Arena, keeping the 1887 Toronto-founded company visibly tied to the city's downtown skyline.

Sources

• The Canadian Encyclopedia — Manulife Financial
• Wikipedia — Manulife

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