Tony Cuzzocrea (born 1942 or 1943) is an Italian-Canadian financial advisor, the founder of Planmar Financial Corp and Planmar Foundation, a co-founder of Love First, and the biggest individual financial supporter of The United People of Canada.
Cuzzocrea was born in 1942or1943 in Italy to poor parents. [1] At the age of ten years his parents relocated his family, including his three siblings, to Canada. [1] In Canada, his father worked as a street sweeper. [1] Cuzzocrea's first job was shining shoes at the age of eleven years; as a child he also worked in a bowling alley and had summer jobs picking tobacco in Mount Brydges and working for his father doing residential renovations. [1]
He studied production management at Ryerson Polytechnic University. [1]
After graduation Cuzzocrea worked at General Motors, but was laid off after three months. [1] After fourth months studying and getting accreditation, he started a fifteen years stint as an employee in the financial industry before launching his own firm, Planmar Financial Corp. [2] [1] [3] He founded the Planmar Foundation around 1998 [1] and co-founded the Love First group in 2016. [4] As of 2022 he rented offices former St. Peter's School on Clarence Street, London, Ontario. [3]
Cuzzocrea is the largest single financial supporter of The United People of Canada not for profit organisation which tried to buy Saint Brigid’s Church in Ottawa in 2022. [5]
Cuzzocrea has four children (Peter, Lisa, Ann, and Mary) and, as of 2013, has nine grandchildren. [1] He was a friend of Arpad Horvath, who was killed by serial-killer nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer [6] in 2014. [7]