Condrain Group, stylized as Condrain and Con-Drain is a Canadian sewer and watermain company, founded in 1954.

Activities

Companies in the Condrain Group construct roads, supply aggregate materials; produce concrete pipes, precast units and lighting poles; manufacture valves and fittings, install gas lines,

power lines Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

fibre optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means ...

cables, and street lighting, build houses and commercial and industrial buildings, and develop land for community living. Other related companies have included broadband communication,

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

, such as Vineland Estates in the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

, and built golf courses.

History

Condrain was founded in 1954 by brothers originally from

Sora, Lazio Sora () is a town and ''comune'' of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liri. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufacturing, especially of paper mills. The area around Sora i ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Alfredo De Gasperis Alfredo "Fred" De Gasperis (; January 28, 1934 – March 27, 2013) was an Italian-Canadian billionaire developer, and contractor. He was the founder of Condrain, a sewer and watermain contractor based in Concord, Ontario, Canada, and Metrus Deve ...

, Angelo De Gasperis, and Antonio Degasperis, as a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

and drain company. Condrain later expanded into land development and produced other related companies. Condrain conducts business mainly within the Greater Toronto Area, the Golden Horseshoe,

Western Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and nort ...

, the Ottawa Region as well as in other provinces and the United States. Before 1960, Angelo and

operated their company out of a small bungalow near

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access 400-series high ...

in Toronto. During the 1960s, Condrain ran many projects in the Niagara Region. They installed many water and sewer lines in subdivisions within Thorold, Welland, Niagara Falls, and St Catharines. In 1971, development of the community of

Erin Mills Erin Mills is a large suburban district in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Downtown Toronto. Starting in the 1970s, Erin Mills was developed as a "new town" by the Cadillac Fairview Corporation on over of farml ...

commenced in the new

City of Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, to the west of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. Cadillac Developments Limited, the developer of the 7,000 acre land assembly, hired Condrain to service their subdivisions. In 1972, Condrain expanded into community and neighbourhood development by creating Metrus Developments Inc., and into commercial-industrial real estate by forming Metrus Properties Limited. Condrain entered the road construction industry in 1980. Another company under Condrain, Conelco, was founded in 1978 for the land servicing industry, specializing in the installation of underground power and telephone systems. Metrus created many planned communities north of Toronto, including Weston Downs in Vaughan and Bayview Hill in Richmond Hill. Crowle Fittings and Supply Ltd was acquired in 1986, producing a line of products which includes cast iron saddles and fittings, valves and hydrants. Con Cast Pipe was created in 1989. Con-Elco acquired Fellmore Electrical Contractors in 1991 to produce roadway lighting and gas line installation. Futureway Communications was created in 1998 as a data, telephone and video service provider. It is now currently owned by Rogers Communications. Sky Cast Inc. was created to manufacture telephone poles. Ontario Concrete Products began operations in 2002 as a precast concrete pipe manufacturing company using robotic technology. In 2023, the company was criminally charged with six counts of criminal negligence causing death. In

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

in 2022 six people died when their vehicle fell into a pit in a construction site managed by the company.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Companies based in Ontario 1954 establishments in Ontario Construction and civil engineering companies of Canada