EllisDon is an employee-owned construction services company that was founded and incorporated in 1951 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, by brothers Don and David Ellis Smith. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

History

YorkUniversitySubwayConstruction4-DLighting

Founding

In 1951, EllisDon was launched by brothers Don and David Ellis Smith as a local contractor in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

1951–1989

Between 1956 and 1968, EllisDon computerized its accounting and cost control systems, and operated a purchased tower crane – the first construction company in Canada to do both. In 1971, EllisDon launched a Corporate Safety Strategy to improve job site safety. Between 1974 and 1976, the company expanded, establishing operations in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. Since then EllisDon has expanded its current operations to its offices around the world. Once EllisDon was awarded the Construction Management Contract for the

Metro Toronto Convention Centre Metro Toronto Convention Centre (originally and still colloquially Metro Convention Centre, and sometimes MTCC), is a convention complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Front Street West in the former Railway Lands in downtown Toronto. ...

project in 1982, it moved on to build the SkyDome (renamed Rogers Centre in 2005). This project was completed in 1989, and was the world's first retractable rooftop stadium.

1990–2003

In 1990, EllisDon established the construction industry's first freestanding Research and Development Department. Following that, EllisDon in 1993 became the first Canadian company to build in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and Lithuania following the removal of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

in the USSR. In 1997, EllisDon completed its first project in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. In 1996, Don Smith's son,

Geoff Smith Geoff Smith may refer to: *Geoff Smith (music composer) (born 1966), English composer, academic and vice chancellor of Regent's University London *Geoff Smith (footballer, born 1928) (1928–2013), English footballer *Geoff Smith (politician) (born ...

– who joined the company as a full-time employee in 1982 – became EllisDon's president and CEO.

2004–present

In 2004, EllisDon participated in a new hospital funding model, a public-private partnership (PPP) with the $450 million William Osler Health Centre in Brampton, Ontario. EllisDon delivered Toronto's MaRS (Medical and Related Services) Convergence Centre (Building B) in 2005. In 2008, EllisDon completed construction and installation work in the Dubai Waterfront, the largest waterfront development of its kind in the world. In 2010, EllisDon completed

Winnipeg International Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

Terminal Building, Canada's first

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified airport terminal. In June 2016, EllisDon launched The Carbon Impact Initiative Action Plan in support of Canada's international climate change commitments. Industry executives, in collaboration with government leaders, established the initiative outlining strategies to transform the market toward a

low-carbon economy A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...

. Mohawk College's Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation Building is Ontario's first net-zero institutional building as well as the first pilot project under the Carbon Impact Initiative. In March 2018, EllisDon acquired the interests of joint venture partner

Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following ...

(in liquidation in the UK) in four Ontario hospital projects, becoming the sole service provider at

Royal Ottawa Hospital The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, also known as "ROMHC" or "The Royal" (formerly the Royal Ottawa Hospital) is a 284-bed, 400,000 square-foot psychiatric hospital located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a major branch of the Royal Ottawa H ...

, Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, Brampton Civic Hospital and Sault Area Hospital.

Selected projects

Alternative energy * Alberta Children's Hospital -

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta * Toronto South Detention for

Mimico Correctional Centre The Mimico Correctional Centre was a provincial medium-security correctional facility for adult male inmates serving a sentence of ''2-years-less-a-day'' or less in Ontario, Canada. Its history can be traced back to 1887. The Mimico Correctional Ce ...

- Toronto, Ontario Civil & transportation * Highway 7 East Rapidway (H3)- Vivanext - York Region, Ontario * Ottawa Light Rail Transit (LRT)

Confederation Line The Confederation Line (french: Ligne de la Confédération), also called O-Train Line 1 (french: Ligne 1 de l'O-Train), is a light rail line operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as part of the city's O-Train light rail system. It ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario *

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

improvements -

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

(TTC)- Toronto, Ontario Commercial office/retail * Brentwood Town Centre redevelopment - Burnaby, B.C *

Yorkdale Shopping Centre Yorkdale Shopping Centre, or simply Yorkdale, is a major retail shopping centre in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located at the intersection of Highway 401 and Allen Road, it opened in 1964 as the largest enclosed shopp ...

- Toronto, Ontario Culture & recreation *

Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport The Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport is a 2,000 seat indoor arena facility at the University of Toronto's main campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the university's Varsity Blues basketball and volleyball teams. The facil ...

- Toronto, Ontario * Halifax Central Library - Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose retractable roof stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the fo ...

(formerly Skydome) - Toronto, Ontario * The Remai Art Gallery of Saskatchewan -

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

Education * Nova Scotia Community College, Centre for the Built Environment - Dartmouth, Nova Scotia * Western University, Richard Ivey School of Business - London, Ontario Healthcare & research * Alberta Children's Hospital - Calgary, Alberta * Surrey Memorial Hospital - Surrey, B.C. *

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, Advanced Rare Isotope Laboratory (ARIEL) -

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, B.C. Industrial & automotive *

American Motors American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was t ...

Brampton Assembly Plant - Brampton, Ontario (1987) * DENSO Manufacturing -

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

, Ontario Judicial & correctional * Saskatoon Police Service Headquarters Building -

, Saskatchewan * Elgin County Courthouse -

St. Thomas, ON St. Thomas is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It gained its city charter on March 4, 1881. The city is also the seat for Elgin County, although it is independent of the county. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population of the city w ...

Public & government *

Hamilton City Hall Hamilton City Hall is the chief administrative building for the city of Hamilton. Located in the downtown core, it is an 8-storey building (34.0 m) at the corner of Main Street West and Bay Street South, across the street from the FirstOntar ...

renovations - Hamilton, Ontario *

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...

, West Block demolition & abatement - Ottawa, Ontario Residential & hospitality * Ritz Carlton Residential Tower - Toronto, Ontario * Windjammer Landing Beach Resort - St. Lucia * Helio West Five Residential Tower - London, ON International * Miami Federal Courthouse -

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

* Palm District Cooling Plant -

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

, United Arab Emirates

Recognition

* 2018 Renew Canada's Top 100 Infrastructure Projects. Achieved Platinum Status. * 2018 Mediacorp's Top 100 Employers (8th consecutive year). * 2017 Mediacorp Canada's Greenest Employers * 2017 Deloitte 50 Best Managed Companies * 2016 Canada's Safest Employer * 2016 ''Financial Post''s Ten Best Companies To Work For

References

External links

*{{official, https://www.ellisdon.com/
''Building on a foundation of entrepreneurship''
at the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

Companies based in Mississauga Construction and civil engineering companies of Canada Privately held companies of Canada Employee-owned companies of Canada 1951 establishments in Ontario Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1951 Canadian companies established in 1951