Take a drive or a stroll around Ottawa, and you’ve likely encountered a project involving BPA, an engineering firm that specializes in buildings for the institutional, commercial, multi-residential, healthcare, and industrial markets.
From the Bank of Canada to the new Ottawa Civic Hospital, the West Memorial Building and the Shepherds of Good Hope, the firm is part of the fabric of the region, taking a leadership role as Ottawa transforms to a more vibrant, big city. The company’s focus is not restricted to merely the bricks and mortar of construction, but on providing solutions to the most complex challenges, producing excellence and building a sustainable future.
“Sustainability has to be at the center of everything that we do,” says Patrick St. Onge, executive vice-president of BPA. “If engineers can’t make a difference, who will? We distinguish ourselves with this by also offering the highest quality of service and innovative solutions.” Part of this innovation is from the ideas of younger members of the team, who are encouraged to research and bring new ideas on sustainability and best practices to BPA.
The firm also achieves excellence by considering their projects not just from the technical standpoint of an engineer, but all other contributors involved, says Brian Johnson, Vice-President, Structural, with BPA.
The Canadian-based company was founded in 1956, and now has over 1,000 employees working across the country, including offices in British Columbia, Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax, and Montreal. Last year, BPA increased its Ottawa presence by acquiring local structural engineering consultant Cleland Jardine Engineering Ltd., which added another 65 employees.
The merged company now provides complete engineering services in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, including structural, mechanical and electrical. With its depth of experience and knowledge in building engineering, the company has forged the delivery of a full range of services that account for everything that goes into the design and construction of any type of building.
“We have a goal and a mission to be the best at what we do,” St. Onge says. BPA has deep knowledge of what all parties do at the various levels of projects, from building owners, architects, developers, and city officials.
Personal connections
“We have a true understanding of all the components that make up a project so that we’re not just focused on our own individual aspects of it, but on how they come together as a whole,” Johnson says. There are also the personal connections that embed BPA and its employees into the city of Ottawa, as they live and work here, and use the services. For example, Johnson says his grandfather received health care at the Ottawa Hospital, extending his life. “We get to make a difference like that, where we’re contributing to buildings that can be part of saving people’s lives. I know personally because I’ve worked on a building that saved my grandfather’s life.”
It is this deep respect for the city and the profession that inform the company and its employees. Despite BPA’s impressive track record, which includes everything from the $950-million renovation of Place du Portage, to the $450-million Bank of Canada renovation and now $2-billion New Ottawa Civic Hospital expansion, every project matters. Whether it is a major or minor renovation, a commercial building, or affordable housing, every contract represents hope.
“Somebody, whether it’s a developer, the end user, the constructor, or the community, every project represents somebody’s goal. Even if it’s a small little store inside a strip mall, that is somebody’s potential dream,” Johnson says. “So we ask our teams to put their heart and soul into what they are doing, to care for everything that they are doing, and care for every project that they work on because it matters to not only yourself but to the other people involved.”
Going forward, BPA is focused on sustainability and innovation, as well as being a part of Ottawa’s transformation. “It’s very exciting in Ottawa right now, there are a lot of things happening,” says St. Onge. “All of this growth makes the city vibrant, creating an exciting opportunity to be a part of and contribute to its expansion, positioning us at the forefront of these significant upcoming changes.”
This article first appeared in the September 2024 special “City Building” issue of the Ottawa Business Journal. That publication is available in its digital edition below:
