Top Engineering Companies in Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Other Canadian Cities

While sophisticated engineering is evident in the ruins of ancient Rome and Egypt, the advancement of scientific discovery since those times has expanded the knowledge base and accelerated the innovation rate for engineers exponentially. From large-scale infrastructure to a minuscule computer chip, the design work of engineers cannot be ignored. Many Canadians are unaware that their own country is home to some of the top engineering consulting firms in the world. Below is a sampling of these Canadian engineering companies.

What Goes On at an Engineering Consulting Firm?

Engineering consulting firms advise on a broad array of projects including buildings and complexes, roads and bridges, dams and waterways, computer systems, and information models. The list is almost endless. The specialties in this profession are also numerous, but a few are listed here:

Agricultural engineering – designing irrigation systems, outbuilding functions, animal waste management plans, and farm machinery.
Environmental engineering – designing systems to purify wastewater, reduce soil erosion and prevent contaminant runoff.
Geotechnical engineering – designing foundations and other building structures to conform to soil and bedrock.
Chemical engineering – designing production systems that employ chemical reactions in manufacturing.
Civil engineering – designing public infrastructure components such as bridges, railroads, airports, highways, and sanitation systems.

In addition, electrical engineers focus on systems that generate and direct power, while mechanical engineers design machines that use power – appliances, elevators, HVAC systems, etc. Meanwhile, structural engineers work with architects and others to assure that building designs meet safety and integrity standards.

Expert engineers also advise colleagues and peers in the area of bids and tenders. This is the process of making proposals, complete with cost estimates, to project investors in order to land a contract. These propositions are often complex as engineering consultant work isn’t easy and quality control is essential. Here is a look at the best engineering consulting firms.

15 Best Engineering Consulting Firms in Canada

Excellence is hard to hide. Among the large list of engineering companies in Canada, some simply rise above others. From the knowledge and experience of their staff to the value they bring to their clients, the top engineering consulting companies deliver consistently superior results on each and every job. Information on the top tier of engineering consulting businesses is displayed below:

#1: MNA Quality Consulting

MNA Quality Consulting is one of the best engineering companies in Calgary and serves clients in the cities of Alberta, as well as locations in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Its staff of professionals is trained in multiple engineering disciplines, having successfully completed over 400 projects at a rate of nearly 30 per month.

With an emphasis on mechanical, structural, electrical, and fire protection engineering, MNA can boast of projects in industrial facilities, commercial office buildings, prisons, hospitals, and residential communities. MNA offers innovative solutions to engineering problems and does so at rates that are affordable for businesses. Focusing on quality results for clients, MNA’s word is its bond. The company can promise these outcomes as one of the best consulting engineers of Alberta.

#2: Arup

Arup has served the metropolises of Montreal and Toronto for three decades. In fact, its footprint as one of the largest Canadian engineering companies can be found the world over. Its professional scope is wide, having participated in the construction of national athletic arenas and the design of autonomous vehicles.

As with other companies on this list, Arup delivers value to every project yet charges reasonably for the service. Capitalizing on its high-tech capacity, Arup creates a “digital twin” of the projects it completes, IE. it makes a virtual representation of the real thing, testing and experimenting with it, before developing the real thing. With a staff roster of nearly 16,000, Arup possesses the personnel strength to initiate and follow through promptly and efficiently without delay.

#3: Bantrel Corp.

In the engineering, procurement, and construction industries for almost 38 years, Bantrel is one of the most well-known Calgary engineering companies. Bantrel has consulted for Canadian behemoths like ConocoPhillips Canada and Suncor. With satellite offices in Edmonton and Toronto, this Calgary engineering company puts a premium on adapting to scale as well as safety and a collegial approach to solving problems. In so doing, Bantrel coordinates staff in differing areas to consult and communicate as an integrated team.

Procurement professionals help industries purchase the right equipment for their respective operations while the construction element assists in the hiring of contractors and vendors. General supervision of construction projects is also a Bantrel specialty. As an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firm, Bantrel has had a hand in some of Canada’s largest structures.

#4: Williams Engineering Canada, Inc.

Operating with over 100 professionals from 11 locations over four provinces, Williams Engineering Canada is among the engineering companies in Canada that focus on selected areas of consultative services. Its work in new construction and capital improvements to existing buildings zeroes in on sustainability and energy conservation.

Williams’ four core thrusts are: 1) performance engineering of energy management systems; 2) implementing designs with regard to strategic renewal; 3) enhancing a building’s function by means of renewable energy; 4) financing energy conservation projects and incorporating them into business plans.

Engineers at this firm stay current on the cutting-edge technologies necessary to improve building performance. Structural, electrical, and mechanical engineers engage in interdisciplinary fields like building science and sustainability consulting to bring increased value to properties.

#5. BBA

A 42-year-old company, BBA is located in Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and nine more cities in Canada. In addition, it maintains an office in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. All these locations are under the auspices of its hub in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. Nearly 1,000 employees work from these sites on an array of undertakings.

As multi-discipline engineering consultants, BBA embraces some particular fields as the nucleus of its work. Their industrial efforts cover structures, security, cyber-security, pollution mitigation, and ventilation. Moreover, BBA practices in economic geology, project execution, and asset management. With significant experience in mining engineering and mineral processing, BBA is also one of the few consulting services to offer expertise in the design and management of data centers. This is no small market for engineering consultants.

#6: GCM Consultants

GCM Consultants began doing business in 1994 and, since then, have earned a reputation as leaders in energy production systems, metallurgy, sustainable development, and manufacturing systems design. With a presence in Montreal, Calgary, and several more select locations throughout Canada, GCM has capital projects as high in value as $200 million to its credit.

Three words encapsulate its motto: “simplicity, authenticity, and efficiency.” To that end, GCM operates across the spectrum of engineering specialties and devotes considerable time, personnel, and resources to sustainable development, industrial air circulation, liquefied natural gas (LNG), safety improvement, and information/communication technological designs, among other specialties. Additionally, this firm is engaged in biotechnology and agriculture, pharmaceutical production systems, and forestry paper and pulp harvesting.

#7: GHD Group

The history of the GHD Group extends back nearly a century, and to the other side of the world in Melbourne, Australia. With Canadian operations centered in Ottawa, the GHD Group of building consulting engineers conveys plenty of services to clients that are both advisory and hands-on collaborative. Among its strengths are building design, digital system planning, environmental engineering, renewable fuels, hydro-power, and clean water management.

A somewhat unique feature of this company is that it is entirely owned by its employees. This company makes a priority of sustainable energy for the future and ensuring clean and healthy aquifers along with other groundwater channels. Furthermore, it is committed to, and successful at, helping businesses adapt to a digital future while imposing impenetrable cyber-security.

#8: McElhanney

Continuously operating for over 110 years, McElhanney is another employee-owned company. Starting off in the time-honored profession of land surveying, this company stays ahead of the times in areas as diverse as geographic information systems, remote sensing, environmental engineering, urban planning, and energy resources.

With nearly 30 offices primarily in western province cities (e.g. Calgary and Vancouver), McElhanney also operates in Newfoundland and Tampa, Florida in the U.S. In addition to the core areas of service noted above, the company consults on landscape architecture projects and the field of geomatics, the collection, and analysis of data obtained from the surface of the earth. Not to be forgotten is McElhanney’s strong record in structural engineering and construction management.

#9: MCW Group

At 58 years of age, the MCW Group has earned its fair share of awards, most recently from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). From its Toronto home, the company supervises 11 other offices in cities as widespread as Saint John, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.

The three major areas of focus are building designs, energy use, and conservation, as well as power grid development and management. Within each of these categories fall numerous specialties like overhead power transmission, underground power transmission, plumbing and drainage systems, power surge prevention, management of medical gas systems, and lighting control systems. MCW’s work is found in university buildings, government facilities, hospitals, public parks, and corporate office complexes, including General Motors Canada.

#10: Vista Projects

Based in Calgary, with an American office in Houston, Texas, Vista Projects is well-regarded for its “single-source-of-truth” (SSOT) project management approach. This refers to the use of one platform in which to store all data needed for project decision-making. This is especially efficient, in terms of time and money, with industrial engineering and digital project management. In fact, value improvement and cost reduction are a hallmark of Vista Projects’ work from pipeline design to cogeneration (creating more than one energy form simultaneously) to innovating shipping/receiving structures for truck loading docks.

Since 1985, the company has pinned its performance to transparency and collaboration, equipping high-quality employees to work independently, merit-based work culture, and decisions backed up by solid data.

#11: Tetra Tech Canada, Inc.

Fielding a team of 3,500, Tetra Tech Canada is part of the larger U.S.-based Tetra Tech company. Working out of the Yukon Territory, this subsidiary specializes in water management and conservation, city and regional infrastructure, power generation and mineral extraction, materials science, and building performance.

Given its national location, Tetra Tech Canada makes a special effort to cooperate on projects with the indigenous people of the northern provinces. To that end, its environmental engineers are careful to respect the land while improving and developing neighboring communities and businesses. Tetra Tech works with the government on defense-related and matters of artificial intelligence. Designing roads that are safe amidst the ice and managing solid waste are also areas of expertise.

#12: Associated Engineering

Associated Engineering (AE) was founded in Edmonton in the 1950s, and today carries a labor force of 1,000. With 21 field offices throughout the country, Associated Engineering stresses transportation infrastructure, building science, climate change response, contamination mitigation, and project management.

Among its many success stories, AE is involved with the revitalization of city centers, hydrogeology, engineering roads that are prone to ice hazards, fuel pipeline designs, water treatment facilities, and the restoration of wildlife and aquatic biomes. These projects have cemented AE’s relationships with farmers and agribusinesses, banks and financial institutions, producers of geological and renewable energy sources, and federal, provincial, and local government officials.

This is why AE is credited with projects as varied as an athletic arena in Saskatoon, a container port in Roberts Bank, and a glycol treatment facility in Calgary.

#13: Glotman Simpson Group of Companies

The 80 professionals at the Glotman Simpson Group of Companies carry on a tradition of nearly six decades. Concentrating vigorously on structural engineering, the Group consults on projects for residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial edifices and complexes. With more than 5,000 projects under its belt, Glotman Simpson makes its home base in Vancouver, yet its work extends over the North American continent.

Locally, the Group can point to luxury apartment buildings, convention centers, hotels, and pharmaceutical research laboratories as examples in its portfolio of achievements. Farther away, Glotman Simpson can show off retail outlets in Calgary and condominiums in San Diego, California (USA). In addition to building consultation, the Group is also assisting telecommunications businesses and agencies with innovative designs and feasibility studies.

#14: R.V. Anderson Associates, Ltd.

For almost 75 years, R.V. Anderson, Ltd. (RVA) has provided professional engineering and operations management to its Ontario neighbors and all over her sister provinces. From its North York headquarters, RVA conveys knowledge and information vital to the safe and efficient design of buildings, the conservation of natural resources alongside development, infrastructure for traffic flow commercial transport; and the configuration of circuitry and electrical access.

Its workforce of 400 is community-focused, no matter where in the world a current project takes them. Whether optimizing mobility on public roads and arteries, enhancing the sustainability of green spaces and wildlife habitats, or supporting architecture that services human needs and conforms to the landscape, RVA is committed to improving the locations of its projects in function, beauty, and overall public health.

#15: Belanger Engineering

Formed in 1995, Belanger Engineering serves property owners and managers, particularly those who struggle with issues of remodeling and restoration, maintenance and livability, and questions pertaining to value and appraisal. This Mississauga firm of building science engineers helps landlords administer contracts, audit reserve funds, assess mechanical systems, and determine replacements like plumbing components and HVAC systems.

Another Belanger specialty is the matter of building envelopes. Managing insulation, sealing, and mold mitigation is not always an easy decision, but this company helps owners arrive at one that is effective and affordable. Belanger views building science in terms of systems so it takes a systematic approach to problem-solving.

Conclusion

These Canada engineering companies represent the best in innovation, practical solutions, and original thinking in the engineering profession. Though they differ in size and specialties, they stand out above their peers and deliver high value with every project. Availing yourself of their services is as simple as a website visit or phone call to MNA Quality Consulting to find out which sectors we serve. Get started now.

Top Engineering Companies in Canada