With an estimated net worth of $US 4.15 billion (as of 2018),[2][3] McCain was ranked by Forbes as the 13th wealthiest Canadian and 512th in the world.
Since 1900, the family sold seed potatoes throughout New Brunswick and exported to Cuba and Latin America.
On February 21, 2011, he donated $5,000,000 to the University of New Brunswick, Saint John campus for the Wallace McCain Institute, a program for business students and entrepreneurs.
Wallace has also been a confidante to McCain Foods' non-family executives who now run the firm.
The centre will further The Princess Margaret's groundbreaking research into the causes and treatments of pancreatic cancer, as well as help establish a rapid diagnosis program.