Profile of Henry Gibbs, CGA, (Life Member)

There was a popular feature on a television sports channel that highlighted the careers of past athletes on a particular sports team. The feature was called Where Are They Now. I have always found it interesting as it provided a retrospective on an organization, how it has evolved, and the men and women that have been instrumental in shaping its existence. The Certified General Accountants of Ontario Toronto Chapter is a fitting example of such an organization and Henry Gibbs, CGA, befitting such a spotlight.

Henry Gibbs grew up in London, England and he and his family emmigrated to Canada in 1957 and settled in Toronto, Ontario. He was hired as an accounting supervisor with Texaco Oil Company, performing various functions. While working in the internal audit department of Texaco, he met W.J. (Bill) Greer, the controller for a small oil pipeline company, who was a certified general accountant. His association with Bill led him to start thinking about his own career. He subsequently enrolled in the CGA program.

After five years of rigorous study, Henry gained his CGA designation in 1966. In his final year he received the honor of being named the Ontario Gold Medalist, and received the T.H. Frankling award.

During the presentation of his CGA designation he was approached by John Parker, the then chair of Toronto Chapter, to volunteer for the chapter board. At the time there was a perception that CGA Ontario was “coming to life” and Henry wanted to be a part of the growth. He wanted to participate in raising the standards and status of the organization, so he joined the board. After serving on various committees he was appointed as chair of Toronto Chapter in 1970.

During his time as chair, Henry initiated a number of new ideas such as the formation of the student association and the new student orientation night. He was always speaking with students and encouraging them to get involved in local activities such as volunteering their accounting services to church groups, etc. He proposed the need for post designation follow-up with a view of monitoring the job experience of CGAs—CPD as we now know it today. He organized a number of high-powered meetings to raise the profile of Toronto Chapter. As Henry puts it “perception is sometimes more significant than reality.” One such meeting was a public dinner with the Premier of Ontario, Bill Davis, as the keynote speaker, and later on the then Auditor-General of Canada.

Henry recounts a number of challenges and the first came when he was still a student. In 1962 legislation controlling the issue of public accounting licenses was rewritten and this action took away from the Association the authority to issue licenses. The other came after he received his designation. Henry had changed careers at a more mature age. When he got his designation, his level of experience as an accountant was not reflective of his age. Thus he found it increasingly difficult to find positions commensurate with his level of professional education.

To use a sports metaphor, Henry thinks the “turning point” for the growth of CGA Ontario coincided with the appointment of Herb Perry, FCGA, in the mid-1960s as the Association’s executive secretary. Henry recalls the first time he heard Herb speak was in Hamilton where he said “welcome to the football capital of Canada” in reference to the Hamilton Tiger Cats. “He was a dynamo and suddenly everything boomed and the Association came to life.” He recalls that prior to Herb, everything was focused on Toronto and Herb changed all of that. One such change was to rotate the Annual General Meeting amongst the various chapters in Ontario. This he said was a very important phase of the Association’s development.

Henry has worked for a number of companies and in 1969 he joined the Ontario Government and eventually rose to the position of director of finance for the Ministry of the Attorney General. While there, he and another colleague instituted training courses for accountants within the government that placed emphasis on the special nature of management and control of government finances.

After his retirement from the government in 1984, he volunteered as the treasurer of his church as well as other local volunteer groups. To enjoy his retirement he left the hustle and bustle of Toronto and moved to Mount Forest, Ontario, where he and his wife settled on a farm. In 2005 he returned to North York where he is currently residing.

In 1991 Henry entered the 25-year club as a CGA fromToronto Chapter. He was presented with a clock. This is a fitting tribute to his tireless contribution on behalf of the chapter.