Partners: network

Anthony Franceschini, Robert Gomes, Louis Grimble, Gord Johnston, Herbert Roblin, Donald R. Stanley, Ronald Triffo

Active 1954-present

Firm Notes

Based in Edmonton, AB, Canada,Stantec Incorporated, began operations in 1954 as "D. R. Stanley Associates."About a year later, the firm became known as"Stanley, Grimble and Roblin, Ltd.," with the addition of Herbert Roblin, a railway engineer, and the bridge engineer, Louis Grimble. Roblin and Grimble focused on transportation infrastructure engineering, and this specialty saw great demand as large-scale rail, roadway and bridge investments increased dramatically in post-war North America. The young's company's standing in the engineering community was bolstered by its commission for a new bridge at Taylor, BC to replace a suspension span that collapsed on 10/16/1957. The company's web site stated: "In 1958, it was contracted to redesign the Peace River Bridge on the Alaska Highway, a project that, upon successful completion, significantly enhanced the Company’s reputation for bridge engineering." Within a decade, Stanley Associates employed about 30 people, and would grow to about 50 by 1967. (See Stantec, Incorporated, "Our Evolution," accessed 01/19/2018.) The company began to diversify in the 1970s, and spun even more sub-ventures following some financial retrenchment during the 1980s. These various engineering ventures were placed under a parent company called "Stanley Technology Group" in the early 1990s.

Ronald Triffo took over for Donald Stanley in 1983, becoming President of the firm through 1998, when he became Chief Executive Officer, a post he held until 2011. While Triffo served as CEO, Anthony Franceschini rose within the organization, eventually replacing Triffo. Franceschini was responsible for rebranding the company "Stantec" and pursuing a very aggressive growth strategy. Engineer Robert Gomes replaced Franceschini as CEO in 05/2009.

Stantec acquired Sear-Brown Group, Incorporated, Engineers, in 04/2004; in 2004, Stantec had 27 offices and 1,500 employees in North America. It became a joint-stock company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005.

Thirteen years later, this huge, comprehensive engineering consultanship had 167 offices throughout Canada and the US in 2017. (Of this 167, 74 were located in Canada.) At this time, it maintained 27 offices in CA, and 12 in the Pacific Northwest. It also had five offices worldwide in the UK, the Middle East and the Caribbean, as well as 101 offices of MWH Global: Water Resources Engineering, that it took over in 2016. Although some of these branches would doubtless be closed, this added up to a total of 273 offices worldwide in 2017. It ranked as one of the Engineering News-Record's top 10 global design firms by revenue in 2017, and employed over 22,000 people.

PCAD id: 2117