Jeffrey Remedios

Last updated
Jeffrey Remedios
Jeffrey Remedios at the CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser 2014 (15004380579).jpg
NationalityCanadian
Alma mater McMaster University
OccupationMusic executive
Years active2003-present
SpouseLucia Graca
Children2

Jeffrey Remedios is the Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Canada. He also founded Arts & Crafts Records, [1] and chairs the Toronto International Film Festival. He has appeared multiple times on the Billboard list of international power players (most recently in 2023), [2] [3] and was named by Toronto Life as one of Toronto's 50 most influential people. [4] In August 2025, during his TIFF chairmanship, the festival drew public attention for rescinding the invitation to screen the documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, citing concerns over legal clearance of footage, a decision criticized by the filmmakers and some advocacy groups. [5]

Contents

Career

Remedios began his post-school career in music at Virgin Music Canada (later EMI Music Canada), holding various posts, including Media & Artist Relations, Digital Marketing, and Director of National Promotion.

Arts & Crafts

In 2003, Remedios left EMI and launched Arts & Crafts Productions with Kevin Drew. [6] The goal of the new label was to create a vehicle to release and promote content from Drew's band, Broken Social Scene. [7] Under Remedios' leadership, artists working under Arts & Crafts have collected 21 Juno wins. [8] In 2013, with Arts & Crafts, Remedios co-founded the annual Field Trip Music & Arts Festival in Toronto. [9] [10]

Universal Music Canada

On September 21, 2015, Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge appointed Remedios as President and CEO of Universal Music Canada. [8] He oversaw the creation of Universal's new office in Liberty Village, Toronto, which opened in 2022 and includes 80A recording studios and a performance venue. [11] [12]

Professional associations

On November 29, 2021, Remedios was named chairman of the Toronto International Film Festival, after previously spending five years on the board. [13] [14] He also serves on the board of directors of Arts & Crafts, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, [15] Music Canada, and MusiCounts. [16]

Education

Remedios graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1998 with a degree in commerce and a minor in music. [17] Jeffrey served as Music Director at CFMU FM from 1994-1996. McMaster presented Remedios with its Alumni Gallery Award in 2013. [18]

Personal life

Remedios grew up in Scarborough, Ontario, the son of Macau-born parents and the youngest of three brothers. [19] In 2015 he married Lucia Graca [20] at a ceremony in Burl's Creek Event Grounds, site of the Wayhome and Boots And Hearts music festivals. Their wedding reception included musical performances by several artists from the Arts & Crafts label. They live in Toronto and have two children. [21] Toronto Life magazine named the couple among the city's Best Dressed in 2016. [22] Remedios delivered the keynote address at Canadian Music Week on June 8, 2022. [23]

Controversy

In August 2025, during Remedios’s tenure as chair of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) board, the festival rescinded its invitation to screen the Canadian documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, about rescue efforts during the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack in Israel. TIFF stated the decision was based on the film’s failure to meet “general requirements,” including legal clearance for all footage; reporting indicated that disputed material included videos live-streamed by Hamas militants during the attack. [24] [25] The filmmakers and several advocacy groups criticized the move as censorship, while TIFF maintained that the film did not satisfy its legal-clearance requirements. [26] [27]

References

  1. ↑ "Jeffrey Remedios, Arts & Crafts Co-Founder, Named President of Universal Music Canada". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  2. ↑ "Revealed: Billboard's 2022 International Power Players". Billboard. 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  3. ↑ Duffy, Thom (25 April 2023). "Billboard's 2023 International Power Players Revealed". Billboard. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Toronto Life celebrates the most influential Torontonians of 2015 at an exclusive cocktail reception". Toronto Life. 2015-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  5. ↑ Coyle, Jake (13 August 2025). "TIFF pulls documentary on 2023 Hamas attack from festival lineup, citing footage rights issue". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  6. ↑ "Indie music maven Jeffrey Remedios goes mainstream". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  7. ↑ McLean, Steve. "Broken Social Scene". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  8. 1 2 "Jeffrey Remedios named CEO of Universal Music Canada". CBC. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  9. ↑ "Arts & Crafts Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Toronto Festival Featuring Broken Social Scene, Feist, Bloc Party, Hayden". Exclaim!. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  10. ↑ "Arts & Crafts co-founder Jeffrey Remedios named president and CEO of Universal Music Canada". The Canadian Press. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  11. ↑ "Inside Universal Music Canada's trendy new Liberty Village headquarters". Toronto Life. 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  12. ↑ McPherson, David (27 April 2023). "Universal Music Canada's Toronto Flagship Boosts the City's Cultural Capital". Azure. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "About". www.tiff.net. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  14. ↑ "Toronto Film Festival Names Jeffrey Remedios As Board Chair, Replacing Veteran Jennifer Tory". Deadline. 2021-11-29. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  15. ↑ "CARAS » About CARAS". carasonline.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  16. ↑ "Our People". www.musicounts.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  17. ↑ "McMaster Alumni Community - Jeffrey Remedios". alumni.os.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  18. ↑ JEFFREY REMEDIOS NAMED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA, RANDY LENNOX DEPARTS FOR BELL MEDIA - UMG
  19. ↑ "How Arts & Crafts' Jeffrey Remedios brings sound judgment to the music business". The Globe and Mail. 2013-02-26. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  20. ↑ "A Boho-Chic Wedding In Northern Ontario | Weddingbells". www.weddingbells.ca. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  21. ↑ "Jeffrey Remedios: Chair of the Board". TIFF. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  22. ↑ "Toronto's Best Dressed: Artsy supercouple Jeffrey & Lucia Remedios". Toronto Life. 2016-09-08. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  23. ↑ "UMC's Remedios CMW Keynote Delivered Hope & Victory". FYI Music News. 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  24. ↑ Coyle, Jake (13 August 2025). "TIFF pulls documentary on 2023 Hamas attack from festival lineup, citing footage rights issue". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  25. ↑ "TIFF pulls Barry Avrich's doc on Oct. 7 attacks, filmmakers say they were 'censored'". CTV News. The Canadian Press. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  26. ↑ "TIFF pulls Oct. 7 doc 'The Road Between Us' from festival over Hamas footage clearance". TheWrap. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  27. ↑ "TIFF pulls documentary about Oct. 7 attack from lineup over security and rights concerns". CBC via Yahoo News. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
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