CANA Group marking 80 years of building a better Calgary

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Like many industries, construction suffers from the ups and downs of the economy. While some companies have been hit hard over the years, the CANA Group still thrives as a major family-owned Calgary company thanks to its experienced leadership over the 80 years in business it is currently celebrating.

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Formed as Burns and Dutton, brilliant engineer (according to Time magazine) Jack Simpson became president in 1962. He died in 1984 and son John took over CANA during some rather turbulent economic times in this province. He continues as chair but in 2018 decided to step away from the day-to-day running of the companies to devote more time to ranching, and handed the reins to son Luke.

Luke took over at a challenging time — first faced with worrying about development projects put on hold or shut down due to the pandemic, and then with the deferral of the Event Centre, a huge construction project to which the company had devoted many hours.

He credits the company’s history of long-term relationships with clients, local architects, subcontractors and suppliers, along with his strong and experienced executive team as the reasons for its strength and confidence.

Today, the company he presides over has four distinct sectors of business.

CANA Construction is led by president Fabrizio Carinelli, who joined the firm in 1995 as a project engineer and was promoted to his current position in 2013. Patti Stebbe is vice-president of CANA ReNew, which focuses on tenant improvements and renovations, and Jason North is director of CANA Energy, leading a team servicing the developer, municipal, institutional and utility sector.

The fourth is Shepard Development, currently with an application in for a permit to build Phase 2 of its Sheppard Station, a 40-acre office park at 130^th Avenue and Deerfoot Trail S.E.

In the northeast, Jackson Port is its 160-acre development where only a few of the industrial lots remain to be sold.

Evidence of CANA’s long history is found in the city’s downtown, where it has been responsible for the construction of more than eight million square feet of projects including the Calgary Courts Centre, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Petro-Canada Centre (now the Suncor Energy Centre), the Telus Convention Centre and Studio Bell.

Eighty per cent of the buildings at the University of Calgary are credited to CANA, including the Taylor Family Digital Library, Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning and, of course, the Jack Simpson Gymnasium. Much has also been completed at Mount Royal University, where the centre for performing arts also bears the Taylor family name.

Sports has always been a keen interest of the Simpson family — John was a member of the Canadian equestrian team and has enjoyed a strong friendly and business relationship with the Southern family at Spruce Meadows, also responsible for the attractive ATCO Commercial Centre.

Other sports facilities include McMahon Stadium, the Saddledome and Round-Up Centre (now the BMO Centre), and the Markin MacPhail Athletic and Ice Complex and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame at WinSport.

The company’s experience deserves credit for it being awarded the construction of so many major projects, which includes more than four and a half million square feet of hospital and related space in Western Canada, as well as industrial buildings represented by the huge WestJet wide-body hangar capable of housing two Dreamliners or five 747s.

But Luke is concentrating today on newer projects that are underway or planned, keeping his employees busy. In fact, he says he currently has at least 45 positions he is looking to fill with a company that enjoys seven decades of respect, being a proud annual member of Canada’s Best Managed Companies since 2002.

Notes:

Along with representatives from various governmental agencies and Canadian industry, a number of international speakers will attend an On Solar Neighbourhoods seminar organized by the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. Presenters will share academic and professional knowledge of sustainable community design through several case studies at the seminar taking place Sept. 23 at the SAPL’s City Building Design Lab at 616 Macleod Trail S.E.

David Parker appears regularly in the Herald. Read online at calgaryherald.com/business. He can be reached at 403-830-4622 or by email at info@davidparker.ca.