He is best known for his long-time association with the Toronto Maple Leafs professional ice hockey team as the owner, president, chairman and director 1924–1951.
Similarly, Bickell also served as vice-president of the Select Pictures Corporation, a Canadian distribution company, and was also part of the team that acquired Montreal's Théâtre St-Denis in October 1917.
In 1920 Famous Players Canadian Corporation Limited was founded in Bickell's office and he served as the vice president with Nathan Nathanson as managing director.
Ross, head of the Bank of Nova Scotia and later Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, Izaak Walton Killam of Royal Securities, Sir Herbert Samuel Holt of the Royal Bank, and Bickell, were all members of the board of directors that underwrote the necessary CA$4 million of the company's initial share offerings.
[12][13] In 1922, he built a mansion, adjacent to the Mississaugua Golf & Country Club, in the town of Port Credit, Ontario, where he would live for the rest of his life.
[14] On November 15, 1924, it was J.P. Bickell who gave Ada Mackenzie the final $8,000 two hours before her deadline to secure the land for the Ladies Golf Club of Toronto.
[16] The estate was for the purpose of a hunting and fishing retreat entertaining various dignitaries as the island boasted pheasants, deer, and wild game.
Bickell was recruited by his friend Lord Beaverbrook to become one of the famous "dollar-a-year" men who headed up wartime industry and special projects.
Bickell was tasked with increasing the Avro Lancaster bomber production resulting in one per day rolling off the assembly line.
On September 12, 1939, Bickell donated his Grumman Goose G21A CF BKE to the RCAF, which took it on strength with the military serial RCAF924.
In a letter that accompanied the cheque, Bickell wrote "If there is any branch of the services which merits recognition in a deferential degree, surely it must be that in which the personnel suffer the highest percentage of casualties in relationship to their numbers, namely the air force.
Furthermore, I am firmly convinced that had it not been for the indomitable courage, skill and sacrifices endured by them during the Battle of Britain, the destiny of democracy everywhere would long since have been shattered beyond recognition, if not completely eliminated.
When one realizes that the age range in this group comprises mainly of those just on the threshold of life and normally therefore with the longest expectancy before them, the tragedy to both them and their families becomes even more poignant".
He paid the $1,200 incorporation fee out of his own pocket, and personally backed a $2.5 million line of credit at the Canadian Bank of Commerce, of which he was a director.
[19] In business, Bickell served as the Chairman of McIntyre-Porcupine Mines Limited, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Maple Leafs and A. V. Roe Canada Limited (AVRO) He was also a director of Canadian Bank of Commerce, International Nickel Company of Canada (INCO), Imperial Life Assurance, and National Trust.
He was also an active in healthcare, serving on several boards, including that of Wellesley Hospital, St. John's Ambulance Association and he was the honorary president of the Health League of Canada.
He established it to donate half of its interest income each year at; 50% to the Hospital for Sick Children, 10% for bursaries aiding in Medical Research, 5% to Mining scholarships and 35% to be distributed to general charities in Ontario at the discretion of the J.P. Bickell Foundation Management Committee.
[20] Upon his death he bequeathed a multi-million dollar collection of approximately 112 pieces of original artwork and artifacts to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO),of which he was a founder-member.
J.P. Bickell died in New York City on August 22, 1951, at age 66 and was buried in the Mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.