Marc Bieler

Marc Bieler (born 1938) is a Canadian farmer, entrepreneur, environmentalist and philanthropist. Bieler grows cranberries on his farm near Quebec City, in Canada. Canneberges Bieler Inc. is a member and a major supplier to the cooperative Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

Early life
Bieler was born in Geneva in 1938, and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1941, at the outbreak of World War 2. Bieler’s father, Jean Henri Bieler a Canadian lawyer, and his Swiss wife were living in Switzerland, where he was working as the deputy treasurer of the League of Nations. When the senior Bieler was approached to become deputy minister of finance for the Province of Quebec, the family moved to Quebec City.

Marc Bieler's first experiences in farming occurred at his grandmother’s dairy farm in Geneva with his cousin Hermann von Münster. Bieler broadened his knowledge at Macdonald Campus and later at McGill's downtown campus, while apprenticing on various farms.

Career
In 1964, he joined Continental Grain Co. as a grain trader, with postings in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Minneapolis and New York. He then returned to Canada where he was involved in regional development in the Quebec Agricultural Department. He followed that with a degree in Urbanism at the Université de Montréal, and shortly thereafter returned to the land, apple-farming in southern Quebec. Several ventures were launched in partnership with his brother, and fellow McGill graduate, Philippe Bieler, BEng'55. They decided to produce a new blend of apple and cranberry juice.

Marc Bieler launched Bieler Cranberries Inc. in the early 1980s in Saint-Louis de Blandford on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, about 90 kilometres west of Quebec City. Marc built a substantial agri-business as a cranberry grower and processor. Canneberges Bieler Inc. includes a 1500 acre farm, initially swampland owned by the Quebec Government. Bieler is the largest cranberry producer in Canada and one of the largest in the world. Canneberges Bieler Inc. is a member and a major supplier to the cooperative Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Bieler Cranberries Inc. is the largest single-site cranberry farm in Canada producing up to 40 million pounds of fruit a year, and its founder and president is recognized as Canada’s Cranberry King.

Environment & Philanthropy
Bieler is a member of McGill's Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Faculty Advisory Board.

Bieler has always had a profound attachment to the land and a deep respect for the natural environment. His peat bogs are home to voles, harriers, ducks, dragonflies, deer, moose etc. Marc is well aware of the environmental problems of his crop. Being the disciple of Pierre Dansereau, he wants to promote sustainable agriculture.

To help advance environmental research and scholarship for the entire planet, Bieler donated a $15-million gift to McGill University in 2020, to build interdisciplinary teaching, research and experiential learning capacity at the "Bieler School of Environment", Bieler's donation is the largest ever made by a McGill Macdonald campus graduate. It includes an initial cash investment followed by a 25-year commitment from him and his estate.

The  Bieler Chair in Northern Climate Change and Sustainability, housed jointly in the Bieler School of Environment and the Department of Natural Resource Sciences of McGill’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, spearheads research efforts aimed at identifying solutions to the climate crisis in Canada’s northern regions, where sea-ice deterioration and changes in permafrost are expected to put livelihoods, Indigenous culture, food security and community health at risk.

Philanthropic gifts, like the gift commitment from Marc and Marie Bieler, contribute to Made by McGill: the Campaign for Our Third Century, the University's ambitious $2-billion fundraising campaign to support its bold aspirations for research, discovery and learning.