Ian served in World War II, and after two brothers, Matthew and Gwynfryn (1922–1944), were both killed, he was given an early discharge.
After high school, Morgan was accepted into the engineering programme at the University of Alberta, and enrolled in the petroleum options.
[1] Morgan's first job after university was with the Alberta Oil and Gas Conservation Board as a reservoir engineer.
In 1969, he joined the Canadian subsidiary of the Northern Natural Gas Company and by 1973 had become its manager of operations and engineering.
[11] Along with his service on the Boards of Directors at AEC, Encana, SNC-Lavalin, and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, over the years Morgan has also served as director at Industry Training Authority, Noblegen Inc., the Institute of the Americas, the Council for Canadian Unity, the Fraser Institute, the Manning Centre,[12] American Petroleum Institute, Accenture Energy Advisory Board, Rio Tinto Alcan (Also known as Alcan Inc.) and Lafarge North America Inc. Morgan served as a director of HSBC Bank Canada from December 1996 to May 2012.
The appointment was rejected by opposition MPs due in part to statements Morgan had made linking refugees with crime in Canada.
[13]: 73 A May 17, 2006 article in the National Post criticized Morgan's opponents asking, "who but the hopelessly politically correct can deny the malign influence of violent gangs from Jamaica, Sri Lanka and East Asia on street life in Toronto, Vancouver and other Canadian urban centres?
[15] Morgan served as an Honorary Colonel of Canadian Air Force's 410 Tactical Fighter Squadron.