The leaders of the latest crop of Canada’s Best Managed Companies share the management lessons that have helped them succeed
Daniel Ehrenworth/The Globe and Mail
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. | 2,000+ employees | 600,000 workers dressed worldwide, including 320,000+ Canadians
When Canadian soldiers and their allies in countries like Australia and Germany suit up for combat or support roles, there’s a good chance they’ll be wearing gear made by Quebec clothier Logistik Unicorp. Diplomat Louis Bibeau launched the company in 1992, parlaying a small tie maker (which still exists as a separate company called Benart) into a major supplier to the military and other government agencies. The idea that started it all: deliver a turnkey supply solution stretching from product design and manufacturing to inventory management.
Thousands of Canadian Armed Forces members deal with the company directly using online accounts that allow them to punch in their measurements and order everything from shirts to parkas. But its client base goes far beyond that. Logistik provides uniforms and outerwear for Canada Post mail carriers, as well as clothing for parks employees, first responders and transit workers, among others. When some of this business dried up during the pandemic, it won a contract to supply millions of medical-grade protective gowns for health care workers.
Logistik today is working on some high-tech stuff—think radio frequency ID technology. Not surprisingly, the company does a lot of R&D, and it’s constantly working on smarter fabrics and greener fibres in an effort to be more sustainable and source raw materials locally. “We just did a trial for milkweed,” says Karine Bibeau, Logistik’s vice-president of client experience and Louis’s daughter. “We’re using it for insulation instead of polyester.” Used as flotation for downed pilots in World War II, the weed has fallen out of favour in recent decades thanks to synthetic fibres. Now, however, it could see a renaissance thanks to Logistik—coming soon to a uniform near you. /Nicolas Van Praet
A healthy culture affords the freedom to take risks
Co-founder and CEO Dr. Amin Shivji learned the fundamentals of leadership cutting grass and working at McDonald’s. His family emigrated from Tanzania to Vancouver when he was seven and, as a young adult, he took any job he could find. “With each one, I realized the key to success is connecting with others and working on a team,” he says. “The relationships I had with colleagues made me want to go to work.” A common sentiment, perhaps, but a poignant one for the head of a dentistry network with hundreds of practices and thousands of employees under its umbrella. And how do you know you’re in a good relationship, business or otherwise? Permission to make mistakes. Shivji says having a high-performing team means giving people the freedom to take risks. “It won’t always work out, but we learn from it, and we move forward. This level of trust and respect is critical to building a strong work culture.”
Adfast Canada Inc. (Saint-Laurent, Que.)
160 employees | 4.4 years average service per employee
Since its founding more than 40 years ago, this adhesive and sealant manufacturer grew from a handful of employees and a small production line to a firm with $70 million in revenue. It’s a family business, but no one gets a free ride: Adfast’s co-presidents only ascend to their roles after gaining many years of experience. Co-president Cindy Dandurand, granddaughter of Adfast’s founder, says mentorship began early in her journey—she started as director of production 16 years ago, before cycling through various departments. “The former president stayed on for many years to ensure a progressive and successful transfer,” she says. Another secret behind Adfast’s success? A history of gender-neutral teams at the helm. “Adfast has always been co-managed by women and men, which permits a wonderful balance of ideas, perspectives and shared decision-making.” Two years into her role, Dandurand’s father still coaches her and co-president Nicolas Choquet on a daily basis.
Systematize culture and repeat, repeat, repeat
Aquifer Group of Cos. (Saskatoon)
This Saskatoon-based provider of plumbing, heating and water-treatment products started as a water service company in 1968. As the business grew, organizational culture became increasingly important. In 2017, the company systematized its culture in what it calls the “Aquifer Advantage”—a list of 32 fundamental behaviours, generated with input from staff, that are critical to the long-term success of the business. It’s not just collecting dust on a bulletin board somewhere, either. Each week, a single fundamental—like “Treasure, protect and promote our reputation”—is highlighted at internal meetings and sent out in the form of a notice written by a staff member, a role that rotates week to week. Employees even review a scenario highlighting the fundamental’s importance and answer a few multiple-choice questions about it. Director Glenn Wig is clearly a firm believer in this old bit of advice: Repetition is the mother of learning.
Daniel Ehrenworth/The Globe and Mail
Toronto | 175 employees | 8 million packages moved from the warehouse annually
Even the greatest of Ontario chefs can’t do much without great ingredients. Increasingly, they go to Bondi Produce & Specialty Foods. Its 80,000-square-foot distribution centre in Toronto—along with a fleet of 40 trucks that deliver to more than 750 restaurants and food service establishments within a 300-mile radius of the city every day—are a long way from the station wagon its founder, Ignazio Bondi, used to deliver the food when he started the business in 1976. But his grandson Ezio Bondi says the principle is the same. “Our mission is to curate and deliver the best produce and specialty food ingredients,” says the vice-president and third-generation Bondi. While the company focuses on fresh fruits and vegetables, its roster of products also includes wild and porcini mushrooms, truffles, imported olive oils and “everything in between.”
Though the company is still primarily a middleman between farmers and restaurants, it had to take more of an active role once pandemic restrictions caused restaurants to shut down. “We had a bunch of inventory that was dying on us that we needed to move out,” says Bondi. So the company launched its own home delivery service, using a third-party logistics provider to send ingredients directly to home cooks who want their food to be the very best. Like many changes wrought by the pandemic, this one’s here to stay. “By no means are we going to become like Grocery Gateway, but we’ve got a hardcore loyal fan base that supported us through COVID-19,” says Bondi, “and we’re going to keep the doors open with them.” /Jaime Weinman
Keep your values front and centre
Auto Export Corp. (St. Catharines, Ont.)
When AEC founder and CEO Andrew Pilsworth made his first sale in 1996, it was on a wing and a prayer. With no inventory to speak of and $200 to his name, a passionate conversation about his rock-solid values philosophy attracted a client and secured an upfront payment of around US$300,000 for 10 trucks from a local dealer. Pilsworth leveraged the profit from that sale into what’s now a global automotive solutions provider with 550 retail partners. “I had what I call values equity,” he says. “Don’t let the lack of monetary equity dissuade you from bringing your ideas to life.” Espousing values like kindness, reliability and adaptability might not seem groundbreaking today, but they didn’t necessarily reflect the cultural backbone of the average auto exporter in the 1990s. Of course, some values only hold until they’re tested; in a testament to AEC’s people-first philosophy, it didn’t lay off a single employee during the pandemic, helped dealers that had to shut down during lockdown and offered flexible terms to struggling clients.
Make customers’ trust your priority
Automobile en Direct.Com Inc. (Saint-Constant, Que.)
465 employees | Projected 2022 sales volume of 20,000 vehicles
Used-car dealers don’t always have a reputation for transparency. So this past November, Automobile en Direct—which sells used cars online and owns four dealerships in the Montreal area—made a big move to enhance customer trust. Salespeople became customer experience specialists and shifted to a fixed-salary model rather than one based on commissions. “That way, they’re able to advise customers to find a vehicle that meets their real needs, in complete transparency and without a commission influencing the transaction,” says founder and CEO Sébastien Bisaillon. And every car on the lot gets a rigorous 200-point inspection before going up for sale. The firm’s long-standing focus on trust and openness has garnered it a solid customer base south of the border: Sales to customers in the U.S. represent roughly 50% of its business. “It’s a new territory that we’re still learning and adjusting to,” says Bisaillon, “but a very rewarding one.”
Carrington Group of Cos. (Edmonton)
Carrington Group’s business is building homes—namely single and multifamily dwellings in Alberta, B.C. and Arizona. Its Lifestyle Options division is focused on housing for seniors, where dementia care is a top priority. In a bid to stay ahead of the latest and best in care practices, Carrington implemented the Butterfly model—a comprehensive culture-change program centered on dignity and emotional well-being for those with dementia. It touches everything from management practices to health care, and among its key tenets are providing attentive companionship for individual patients and consciously designed spaces that maximize dignity and quality of life. The effects of the program have been staggering, resulting in a 90% reduction in residents’ medications and a significant decrease in staff illnesses. For CEO Dan Slaven, Butterfly’s success was a natural consequence of one of his key business principles: “You must believe in and stand behind the products and services you provide.”
See pressure as a privilege
Centra Windows (Langley, B.C.)
Pandemic supply chain issues continue to strain the construction sector, but for Garett Wall—CEO of this B.C.-based, employee-owned window manufacturer—with every hardship comes opportunity. For Wall, it’s all about mindset. “The more senior you become as a leader, the more critical your ability to handle something abnormal,” he says. “I see pressure as a privilege. Sometimes that perspective will be hard to see at first, like with the pandemic. We all dealt with the uncertainty and fear, but what did we learn from it? How will it shape us?” To get on top of supply chain snarls, Centra diversified its glass suppliers and stayed in the game. And with more than three decades in the business, Centra benefits from a loyal customer base—no small boon in a troubled time. “We’ve been amazed and humbled by the understanding of our customers as we navigate a complex new world together,” says Wall.
Good things come to those who wait
CMP Advanced Mechanical Solutions (Chateauguay, Que.)
200+ employees | Opened its first zero-carbon manufacturing facility in 2022
Hustle culture is notorious for its focus on instant results, but for Steve Zimmermann, president of this fabrication and machining company, good business is all about patience and perseverance in the face of problems that take time to solve. “Leaders need to understand that change doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t always flow smoothly from milestone to milestone,” he says. “They need to have the patience to allow the team to identify areas for change, provide them with the guidance and mentorship they need to plan an effective response, and then allow them the time to make those changes and improve performance.” The slow-but-steady approach is paying off: 100% of CMP’s manufacturing is guided by instructions created by Visual Knowledge Share software, commercialized by CMP as a separate business unit in 2013.
Institute a formal succession plan early
Groupe Park Avenue (Brossard, Que.)
Without a solid succession plan, passing the torch in a third-generation family business like Groupe Park Avenue can be chaotic. Founded by Norman D. Hébert Sr. in 1959, the automotive dealership company—which sells wheels from Jaguar, Mercedes and BMW, to name a few—takes a conscious, meticulous approach to succession planning that has so far yielded a smooth transition across generations of Héberts. When Norman E. Hébert Jr. left his law career to take over as CEO in 1991, he established a formal family council moderated by an external coach, which gives the Héberts a safe space to share their ambitions for the firm and plan for its future. In 2013, a third-generation Hébert, Norman John, left his senior consulting job at Oliver Wyman to serve as VP and GM at one of its dealerships. He’s since been promoted to COO, and if history is any lesson, he’s poised to lead his family’s company one day soon.
Invest in your team first
“In business, you are encouraged to make investments that will take your organization to the next level. In my experience, the best investment you can make for your business is in your people,” says Jeff Clarke, CEO of the environmental contracting firm Inflector. To that end, Clarke doesn’t mind providing competitive compensation packages above the industry average. The right people, he says, will naturally create a more profitable environment, making it well worth the cost. Likewise Inflector’s tendency to promote from within: Show your people you’re invested in their growth, and they’ll amply return the favour. “Imagine having a team whose members are all working at their greatest potential, who believe they can make a difference at your company, who believe in themselves because you supported them on this path to confidence and self worth—this is a team that drives your company forward along with them,” says Clarke.
Keep your team’s skills current
It’s only natural for an education network to prioritize continuous schooling for its employees. Company policy dictates that each team member take charge of an annual personal development plan, which mandates 40 hours of training (or 80 for managers) in line with their performance evaluations and skills profiles. From in-house training to conferences, language courses, technical certification or even something as simple as reading a specific book, the particulars are secondary to the major goal: using education to propel the team toward its maximum potential. One in-house program brings 40 employees from around the world to a dedicated training week. “Not only does it allow everyone to enrich their knowledge and develop new skills, but it also contributes greatly to the feeling of belonging,” says CEO Claude Marchand. “We firmly believe in the continuous development of our staff to anticipate new trends, adapt to changes in the industry and develop solid technical skills.”
Daniel Ehrenworth/The Globe and Mail
Montreal | 3,000 employees | 120+ brands including Ray-Ban, Tom Ford and Cartier
It’s been roughly a year since New Look Vision went private in a bid to shield its financial secrets and speed up its U.S. expansion—and Antoine Amiel hasn’t looked back. The CEO of Canada’s biggest eyewear retailer has consolidation on his mind, a plan to transform what was once a sleepy regional player into a continental giant.
Investors barely had time to bank the proceeds from the $1-billion sale to private shareholders (led by U.S. private equity firm FFL Partners and Quebec’s CDPQ) before Amiel made his next deal, buying New York–based Luxury Optical Holdings. In a single stroke, Amiel took over the biggest high-end optical retailer in the United States, a 34-store operation with a presence in premium markets like Manhattan, Beverly Hills and Miami. What’s next? More of the same. There are many more targets out there, and within two to three years, the CEO says New Look should have a U.S. luxury network of several hundred stores.
Retailers are having a tough time supplying upscale designer glasses, and the reason has nothing to do with supply chain issues, Amiel says. “It’s just a big, big demand—much bigger than before.” Products from luxury houses like Cartier are highly coveted at the moment, the CEO says. And because luxury eyewear has more customization, it requires more time to manufacture. The good news: The bigger New Look gets, the higher it ranks on luxury providers’ delivery lists. Asian water buffalo–horn frames, anyone? /NVP
When COVID-19 hit, it could’ve been the death knell for MedSpa Partners. The company—which acquires medical aesthetics clinics—was only six months old when, suddenly, it had to close all its locations. Instead, within 24 hours, it launched new telehealth-based virtual consultations supported by marketing campaigns. That allowed the firm to keep a critical mass of team members employed during lockdown, gave patients something to look forward to once clinics reopened and kept cash flowing in. “Very rarely does a strategic or even tactical plan play out as expected,” says CEO Dominic Mazzone. “Success, in most cases, is birthed from a series of recoveries from unforeseen setbacks—and that can be pretty painful at times. Adaptability is the greatest trait any person or business can have.”
Enjoy the journey toward sustainable growth
260 employees | 136,000 tonnes of food in Norbec facilities
Sustainability may be the buzziest of corporate buzzwords, but for Norbec, the concept goes in two important directions. Manufacturing durable, high-performance insulating solutions—namely metal panels and prefabricated walk-in coolers and freezers—keeps environmental sustainability at the forefront of company policy. Meanwhile, happy, motivated employees fuel sustainable growth. “Norbec has a strong culture focused on customers and people,” says CEO Jan Lembregts. “Despite our significant growth in the past decade, this culture has continued to thrive. The journey of working well together and having fun at work every day is more important than the destination.” When collaboration and joy on the job are part and parcel of everyday business, people come to work motivated to do their best.
Norda Stelo Inc. (Quebec City)
When a slew of corruption charges levelled Quebec’s construction industry a decade ago, Norda Stelo (formerly Roche ltée) was at the centre of the controversy. A thorough rebrand was in order, and by 2015, the engineering consulting and construction firm had a new name whose literal meaning is North Star—a symbol of its commitment to a better way of doing business. “We decided to get back to basics, finding what we’re good at and our distinctive strengths,” says CEO Alex Brisson. “We chose to work with clients that shared our belief in long-term partnerships and core values. Now, we place our employees and clients at the centre of all our decisions. That is the North Star we follow.” That includes a strict code of ethics and conduct that spells out policies around transparency, anticorruption and conflicts of interest. “We wish to have a positive impact on communities and the environment with each project,” says Brisson, “and build a sustainable future for generations to come.”
Lead with a light touch
P3 Veterinary Partners Inc. (Oakville, Ont.)
When co-founders Bruce Campbell and Dr. Nicole Judge—who handle administrative and medical oversight of the veterinary practice group, respectively—met in 2015, they quickly realized they’re of one mind when it comes to leadership. Conceived as a bridge between the resources of a corporate operation and the community feel of a small hospital, P3 emphasizes leadership by way of empowering people to exercise their professional judgment. They call the approach a “consultative and light touch,” believing practitioners in direct contact with cases are in the best position to make life-or-death decisions. Dr. Judge, whose title is chief medical officer, sees herself as a facilitator and sounding board, there to advise rather than command. On the admin side, Campbell encourages critical thinking and autonomy within a set of standards and protocols. “If we invest our time in removing the barriers between our colleagues and their purpose—in our case, patient care and client service—more patients get the care they need,” says Campbell.
“The virtues that make a good person also make a good company,” says Francesco Policaro, CEO of the family-owned retail automotive group. “We look at our own lives and the way we want to treat each other, our family, our friends and our communities.” The scale of this company may have grown dramatically since its 1979 inception, but its culture revolves around the family values on which it was founded. A minimum $17.50 hourly wage is one way the company does right by its people. To track worker engagement and happiness, Policaro prioritizes feedback from an anonymous survey platform, and it’s clearly paying off: A quarter of the firm’s employees have been there for at least five years. The family values thesis applies inside and outside the organization: In 2018, Policaro established a charitable foundation that supports everything from food banks and toy drives to fetal cardiac fellows at SickKids Hospital.
Daniel Ehrenworth/The Globe and Mail
Schomberg, Ont. | 175 employees (plus 600 part-timers during peak season) | 5 million plants sold annually
What’s the next big thing in Canadian gardening? Jeff Olsen is betting one top seller will be the braided willow, an ornamental tree with thin trunks weaving in and out of each other and topped with a crown of leaves. “It’s just very unique,” Olsen says. “Gardeners are interesting cats, because they start it as a hobby, and then it becomes a passion and then an obsession. All of a sudden, they’re searching for new, new, new. And so anything that’s weird and wacky and different seems to catch their attention.”
Olsen is CEO of Brookdale Treeland Nurseries, one of the country’s biggest wholesale plant growers. The company supplies major retailers like Loblaws, Costco and Home Depot, stocking their garden sections with a mix of new and time-tested plants, and providing plant care when needed. It also handles the retailers’ online orders, shipping directly from its growing sites to customers’ homes. Brookdale’s total growing area: 600 acres. Greenhouse space: 1 million square feet.
Thousands of Canadians started gardening for the first time or rediscovered it during the pandemic, whether it was growing their own vegetables or simply enjoying a small plant. More and more of those people are buying online, and if you’ve ever wondered just how difficult it is to make sure that a live, flowering plant arrives to a customer’s home damage-free and in beautiful condition, you need to talk to Olsen. “It’s a very complicated process,” he says. Some things are impossible to ship, like a hanging basket of flowers. So, what’s the biggest plant you can order to your home that will still make it there intact? “Probably a four-foot cedar tree.” By the way, it still has to arrive in four days or it’s toast. /NVP
If you want to build a ship…
109 employees | 7 million tonnes of CO2 reduced
Radicle Group’s CEO, Saj Shapiro, centres his leadership on a piece of philosophy from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Radicle, which uses proprietary software and other measures to help companies reduce emissions and trade carbon credits, is on a quest to make a positive impact on the planet, and Shapiro works hard to keep his team aligned with that mission. Staff discuss the firm’s four core values—open-mindedness, boldness, excellence and trust—at each meeting. And to foster open communication, team members can report levels of engagement and emotional well-being on their cellphones with specialized software. “This led us to develop our own unique Radicle language that is heavy on emotional awareness,” says Shapiro. “It opened up transparent discussions among all levels.”
Know when it’s time to step aside
Samuel, Son & Co. (Oakville, Ont.)
To read about how Samuel, Son & Co. has survived five generations of family ownership, read “Nerves of steel” on page 28.
Never forget your core mission
Seafair Capital Inc. (St. John’s)
1,019 employees | 50 sites in the province
Early in 2020, Seafair Capital laid out its growth strategy, a key part of which was leveraging its knowledge, experience and culture in new ways. It turned out to be good timing for a soon-to-be pandemic-era company whose business has historically revolved around delivering community care services. “When the pandemic hit, the strategy went into high gear,” says CEO Anne Whelan. With laser focus on its stated mission of “unlocking potential,” Seafair became an innovation partner with Eastern Health (the largest health authority in Newfoundland and Labrador), pivoted to helping small and mid-sized enterprises manage payroll and bookkeeping, and launched an industry-leading online training module for community-based care. It also started an in-house innovation hub to generate new ideas. “Your ‘return on luck’ can be either positive or negative,” adds Whelan. “The pandemic was and is a bad-luck event for our business, but our return on luck is definitely positive.”
Build the team of the future
305 employees | 6 facilities across North America
When Krystal Darling looks back on her early years as CEO of Tri-Mach, which manufactures food processing equipment, she wishes she’d known the importance of thinking ahead when it came to building her team. “As entrepreneurs, we have this independence mentality of, ‘If I do everything myself, I can achieve my milestones faster,’” says Darling. “The reality is, while you may get there faster, you won’t go further in the long run without the right team around you.” Now, Darling focuses on hiring for personality and values, even if it’s tempting to quickly fill seats with people who have all the requisite hard skills for a given role. It may take more time and investment to train the right recruits, but Darling says it’s about identifying the people allied with your company’s long-term future—and that means careful interviewing to suss out those who truly align with its mission and values.
Make it a career, not a job
900+ employees | Serves 100+ cities, towns and municipalities
In the next three years, this outdoor care company—which provides services like landscape management, towing and road sweeping—is poised to double in size through a combination of organic and acquisition-driven growth. CEO John Bogert says that propping up the team with both practical and moral support is a major part of its growth strategy. “They say that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” he says. “I live by that expression. Having people show up to do their best work every day isn’t just about metrics and targets—it’s about a human touch. For instance, if someone is having an issue at home and needs to take the day off, you have to be there for them.” Likewise, Bogert says it’s important employees see their time with the company as a potential career, and not just a job—to that end, he prioritizes promoting from within and providing training when needed. The goal is a workforce that knows what to do with minimal instruction; Bogert sees catalyzing team growth in this respect as a key part of his role as CEO.
Daniel Ehrenworth/The Globe and Mail
Toronto | 2,000+ employees | 250,000 custom loot bags filled each year
If you’ve seen children working out with a bright red Bopper Bag or tossing around an inflatable ball that looks like a lava lamp, you might have seen a customer of Mastermind Toys. Despite the retro look of its exclusive best-seller, the Neon Rainbow Playground Ball, there’s nothing old-fashioned about the way the Toronto-based retailer operates. Founded in 1984 as the somewhat stodgy-sounding Mastermind: The Educational Computer Store by brothers Andy and Jon Levy, it grew into a coast-to-coast business, going from 11 stores to 68 during the past decade (its biggest markets are Ontario and Alberta).
A toy company needs to change fast to keep up with high customer turnover, but Mastermind Toys changed especially fast in 2020, when Jon Levy—who retired in 2019 as the company’s only CEO—was replaced by Sarah Jordan just weeks before the pandemic hit. But the engineer, who previously spent nine years working with Fortune 500 companies at Boston Consulting Group and then joined Scotiabank as a senior vice-president of customer experience, found that Mastermind Toys had a solid culture that could withstand any change. The retailer’s secret, Jordan says, is that it takes play very seriously. Its “play experts” focus on how different play patterns support a child’s development, which means every toy, puzzle and game in its stores is recommended based on the skills it will help children to develop. (That includes its new sub-brand, Mastermind Toys Baby.) They also curate toys by age and development rather than gender, says Jordan, to help spread the message that “all types of play are meant for all kids.”
One of Jordan’s priorities even before the pandemic upended traditional retail was to expand the company’s digital business, which accounted for less than 5% of sales when she took over and saw triple-digit growth in 2020. She also expanded its Play Guides, a curated list of products kids might want, from once a year to year-round, changing the toys to match the changing seasons. Though it’s never the wrong season for a Neon Rainbow Playground Ball. /JW
Three additional newcomers to the Best Managed Companies list: Groupe Ouellet Canada Inc. (L’Islet, Que.), L Fournier et fils (Val-d’Or, Que.) and Trudell Medical Ltd. (London, Ont.).
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