Born in the year 1954, in the small village of Tras-os-Montes in Teh North of Portugal, Albertino at the tender age of 11 was faced with a cruel reality.
Having just finished grade four and having lost his father in a tragic car accident, this youngster was left with two options:
To work the fields in his hometown or to pack up his few belongings and try his luck elsewhere. Influenced by some relatives that were living in the capital, Lisbon, he decided to try his luck there. He had not only left the green fields of home, his mom, his relatives and his friends, but also the chance to be a kid. At the tender age of eleven, Albertino was a man in a child’s body and on his way to the big city, he was ready to face life and find his destiny.

In Lisbon, he was holding the reins to his future. His first job in a small local grocery store was the first step. After a working there for a while, young Albertino thought that this job wasn't for him, and once again he packed his bags and left. He found a great opportunity to continue his studies in the work shops of Sao Jose in the city of Porto. These shops were run by the catholic priests, Albertino found the priests to be rigid and demanding and so he has off again. Albertino's plan was to go to France, so he and friend started gathering some money for their great escape, but when they realized that all they had managed to collect was about $ 1.50, once again the plans got altered. However Albertino was destined and determined to leave Portugal, and his older brother Horacio, already living abroad, brought him and his mother over to Canada. Being in an airplane was all very new and amazing to him. So at fifteen years of age, in the year of 1969 Albertino’s dream of leaving Portugal finally came true ,and being reunited with family that he had not seen for a long time made him very happy.

So in the fields of Chattam, Ontario, Albertino started his firsts Canadian Venture picking tomato baskets at the rate of 15 cents each. After the summer was over, Albertino returned to Toronto, where he decided to go back to school to learn a bit more of English, however for monetary reasons, Albertino decided to go back to work, this time around the chosen field was in a factory of motors and alternators. Albertino had his sights set on a brighter future. However when spring arrived, he had changed his job once again to the construction field, where he stayed for another 5 years. At the age of 20, Albertino got married. He then started as a truck driver for a company that distributed meat to local butchers and supermarkets.
Albertino had finally found the business that he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing.

So in the year of 1976, his first business venture began. Trading his beloved Camero for an old beat up truck, Albertino started his small business by mounting a wood box on the truck and he started delivering meat to small stores and supermarkets mainly in the Portuguese Community. Albertino da Cruz Domingues, and his wife Rosa, surpassed life’s bad moments, fighting together all of the obstacles that life threw at them, and built the great company A.C.D. Wholesale Meats, that commands respect in their field.

Albertino, is also a natural poet, his first passion, he has a great ability to improvise verses and popular sayings. Most of all he is a great man with a great heart that never forgot or overlooked his roots.
Albertino would like to see a community center built for the community to unite and feel as if they were at home.

With all his might and persistence that Albertino has kept and demonstrated over the years, this will be a very easy dream to accomplish!