Ledcor Group of Companies is a construction company operating primarily in Canada and United States. Ledcor operates in a wide range of industries, including the construction of buildings and civil infrastructure, technical services such as communication networks, forestry, mining, property development and management, transportation, marine operations, and several energy projects, including oil, gas, and Liquefied Natural Gas.
Ledcor has been responsible for building several of Canada's large-scale construction projects. In 2012, construction of The Bow was completed - at the time Alberta's largest building. Ledcor also completed the construction of British Columbia's largest building, Vancouver's Shangri-La Hotel, in 2008.
Ledcor is also one of North America's pioneers in the Green Building industry. They are a founding member of the Canada Green Building Council and a longtime member of the U.S. Green Building Council. In 2014, the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitors Centre, a Ledcor project, was named Sustainable Building of the Year by the World Architecture News.
In 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2021 Ledcor was named to Canada's 10 "Most Admired Corporate Cultures" list, securing a seat in the Hall of Fame as a four-time winner, and is consistently ranked as one of the top Canadian employers.
History
William (Bill) Lede was born in 1925 to farming parents near Hay Lakes, Alberta. In 1945, he started a modest coal stripping and gravel operation with his brother-in-law, Ralph Stebner.
In 1945, Bill secured a new contract with Black Nugget and officially started displaying the words "Leduc Construction" on a reconditioned Allis-Chalmers HD14. In early 1947, he became owner and president of Leduc Construction after officially incorporating the name. Their first contract was to prepare the drilling site for Imperial Oil's Leduc No. 1. In 1953, after the purchase of two Caterpillar Inc. D7 tractors, the company started to make plans for expansion and diversification.
William Lede died on September 25, 1980, when a large gravel pile collapsed upon him at a job site. Upon William's death, Dave Lede became President and Herb Lede took over as Chairman.
In 1982, Leduc Construction was renamed Ledcor - an abbreviation of Leduc Construction and began expanding across Canada and into the United States. With that, the company diversified its construction projects into seven different sectors - building, civil, industrial, mining, pipeline, telecommunications, and highway construction.
In the 2000s, Ledcor's diversification continued and now has divisions in the building, environmental, forestry, infrastructure, mining, transportation, power, properties, oil and gas, and communications sectors. Ledcor has also acquired Summit Air Charters and Arctic Sunwest Charters which provide transport to remote areas of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. They are also a part of a joint venture that owns and operates the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre seaplane terminal. Ledcor's marine division is now one of the largest of its kind, serving southwest British Columbia with six tugboats and 13 barges.
Ledcor's electrical technicians in British Columbia voted to unionize in 2017 under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, but were not recognized by the company. In 2022, the Canada Industrial Relations Board found that Ledcor had used unfair labor practices and had failed to engage in good faith bargaining. The CIRB then imposed a collective agreement on the parties.
Divisions
The Ledcor Group of Companies operates several divisions and subsidiaries that operate in a diverse range of industries across North America.
Building
Founded in 1987, the building division of Ledcor provides full-service construction for commercial, residential, institutional, and light industrial projects. They offer specialized services in project and construction management, pre-construction services, design-build, general contracting, and Public Private Partnership (P3) delivery models for a variety of clientele. Each year, Ledcor's building division is responsible for the construction of hundreds of projects in North America.
Environmental
As a founding member of the Canadian Green Building Council and a long-time member of the U.S. Green Building Council, Ledcor has a long history of pioneering the green building industry. They have experience providing energy-efficient retrofits and wastewater treatment for clients in many sectors along with a suite of other sustainable services.