Jerome D'silva

Jerome D'Silva was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1923. He obtained his BA from DJ Arts College and completed one year of law school.

In 1952 he briefly got involved politically as a Municipal Alderman. However, his primary occupation was a company that he and a partner started in 1947, the Hussain D'Silva Construction Company. The firm, which became one of the largest developers in Pakistan, was fully integrated and included property brokerage, land acquisition and development, leasing and operations. The developments included a major shopping centre, a complex of 430 condominiums, over 50 farms, and a township with 500 bungalows, which is named Hussain-D'Silva after the two partners. He was also responsible for financing and starting The East and West Savings and Loan Association to finance house purchases in his residential delopments; at the time it was the only savings and loans association in Karachi.

The two partners also owned Hussain-D'Silva Films Ltd. which produced several full-length movies in Urdu, the most well-known being Bara Admi (Big Man), which won the Nigar Award in Pakistan. In spite of his success, Jerome decided to emigrated to Canada in 1974. He believed that the politically instability in Pakistan at the time would make it difficult for the future of his family. In Toronto, he and his brother formed a company Steward Provisions Ltd., under which they owned and operated The Sea Shanty Restaurants and Taverns in Brampton, St. Catherines and downtown Toronto.

In 1989 he decided to sell his interest in his Pakistani businesses.