John was born and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Dalhousie University in 1943 and after university went off to serve in the Second World War. Returning from the war, John followed a comrade home to Alberta where the family had discovered oil on their land. Not long after, at the age of 26, Scrymgeour began his career in the oil industry, leading the consolidation of his friend’s family interests with Home Oil. After 10 years, John bought controlling interest in Commonwealth Petroleum, the largest drilling company in Canada at the time. Under John’s control, the company expanded beyond Canada and successfully entered into international markets.

Over the next 10 years, John continued to acquire plumbing and electrical distribution firms and went on to form his own company in 1968 - Westburne International Industries Ltd. Westburne became one of the largest drilling companies in Canada, as well as the largest wholesaler of plumbing and electrical distribution in Canada and among the largest in North America.

Although he lived away from Nova Scotia for the majority of his life, John never forgot his Atlantic Canadian roots. In the 1970s when he and his Texas associates began to build offshore drilling rigs, John insisted the rigs be built at the Halifax Shipyards as “a testimony to the skills of management and labor in my native province”. John’s early commitment to the port has helped to develop Halifax’s expertise in the construction of offshore structures.

In addition to his outstanding business successes, John Scrymgeour served on many corporate boards, as a confident to oil industry leaders and as the trusted personal advisor to Peter Lougheed, who was Alberta’s Premier at the time.

A generous but unassuming patron to many publishers, authors, cultural and sporting organizations, John’s number one passion was for the arts. In the early 1990s when Scrymgeour heard the Dalhousie Art Gallery was slated to be closed, he quietly offered a donation of $250,000 to keep its doors open. He also helped to raise additional funding for the facility.

Throughout his career, Scrymgeour led successful but surprisingly relaxed companies, and was considered more as a friend by his employees, rather than a boss. Known for his honesty, hard work, integrity and respect for fellow workers, he was the subject of business school studies on business culture and productivity at both McGill and Concordia universities.

John served on the Board of the American Stock Exchange from 1980 to 1986, holding the distinction of being the only Canadian to be named a Governor of the American Stock Exchange. He was awarded a Honourary Doctor of Engineering Degree from the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1984 and a Honourary Doctor of Law from Dalhousie University in 1993.

John Scrymgeour, along with Allan C. Shaw and Roy Jodrey, was inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame on June 10, 2002. Mr. Scrymgeour passed away in August 2003.