Introducing SEDAI's Honorary Advisor Jane Fukakusa, CFO of Royal Bank of Canada

Among the Honorary Advisors to Sedai, the Japanese Canadian Legacy Project of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto, is Janice Fukakusa. Janice holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, an M.B.A. from York University, and the professional designations of Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator.

She joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1985 and has held positions in retail and business banking, corporate banking, account management, corporate finance, treasury, strategic development, and corporate functions. She is presently the RBC’s Chief Financial Officer.

Janice sits on the Board of Governors of Ryerson University and on the International Advisory Board of the Schulich School of Business (York University).

The Women’s Executive Network has chosen Janice four times as being among “Canada’s Top 100 Women” and in 2005 was named as one of the 25 most powerful women in Canadian banking.

Janice’s community service is represented by her being a cabinet member of The United Way, a major fundraising organization for charities in the Toronto area.

At the beginning of World War II Janice’s Nisei family was living in British Columbia. With the forced removal of the Japanese Canadians her mother was sent to Lemon Creek (a town in he B.C. interior) and her father to a labour camp in northern Ontario. After the war the family was reunited in Fort William (Thunder Bay) before settling in Toronto.

The war experience was never discussed at home, but Janice maintained her links with the JC community in her youth by taking dance lessons at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and attending selected events thereafter.

Janice is married and has one daughter.