Nearly 40 years ago in 1986, Morin Bros. Building Supplies Inc. was founded by Gérald Morin and his two brothers. In 2020, the company rebranded to Morin Supply because the next-generation ownership was evolving from brothers to cousins.
“Our success is based on our strong relationships with our vendor-partners,” says Yanik Morin, president. And the key to Morin Supply’s continued growth was to constantly evolve and evaluate its ways of doing business.
“Today, we’re taking a fresh approach and really listening to what customers have to say,” Morin says. “As a result, we’re creating true organic relationships and growing our customer base. We talk to our customers about what can we do for them and how we can grow together.”
One distinct advantage Morin has is being the building supply company that operates the tallest drywall boom truck in town, which can reach 10 storeys or 115 feet. This investment provides Morin Supply customers an additional edge in winning contracts.
“The additional reach greatly reduces the need to use exterior freight elevators and this provides more access to other trades and increases our delivery efficiencies and safety of our delivery crew,” Morin says.
Another important aspect of the business is Morin Supply’s membership in Timber Mart, the largest national member-owned buying group of independent building materials and hardware retailers in Canada and the largest purchaser of drywall in Canada.
“The group is always investing in its relationship to support Canadian manufacturing, which is part of its success story,” Morin says.
Another generational change to the business was to open a small branch in Gatineau, Que., in 2023.
“The Gatineau residential market was underserved and limited in its choice of suppliers,” Morin says. “We believe that we bring another level of expertise.”
It went so well, Morin outgrew its initial location and invested in the purchase of a bigger building.
“It’s twice the capacity of our previous one so we can really support our contractors on both sides of the river,” Morin says.
About 50 per cent of the business is low-rise residential, with the balance being industrial, institutional and commercial.
“While we primarily service contractors, we are also open to public and the do-it-yourselfers,” Morin says.
“Our goal is to be the easiest building suppliers to deal with,” Morin says. “The logic is that if we do, everything is very accessible. We do not want to be the source of problems for our contractors. We want to be a tool that helps them be successful.”
This article first appeared in the Spring 2025 special “City Building” issue of the Ottawa Business Journal. That publication is available in its digital edition below.
