After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1966, Brandt Louie  worked as a chartered accountant for the firm Touche Ross in both Vancouver and Montreal. He joined H.Y. Louie Company in 1972 at his father's behest. He replaced him as president 15 years later, after an apprenticeship that included everything from meat cutting to stocking shelves. Mr Louie is also is a director of the Royal Bank of Canada and chairman of the governing boards of both B.C.-based Slocan Forest Products Ltd. and Simon Fraser University, among a daunting list of other business and charitable boards.

As his father before him, Louie reviews many of the requests for donations that inundate his office. A family and a corporate foundation give an estimated $700,000 annually, in addition to initiatives at individual stores. Recipients are spread among the 70 health and medical regions in the company's service area, among schools, museums, children's charities and scholarships. A London Drugs donation to the Vancouver Maritime Museum financed the opening in February of The Watery Kingdom, an exhibit of ancient Chinese mariners.

The fourth generation, Louie's sons, attend Duke University in North Carolina - Gregory in medicine, Stuart in law.