Founded in Montreal in 1911, SNC-Lavalin started out as a one-man engineering consulting office with one client. Today it has grown to be one of the world’s largest engineering/construction firms with 24,000 employees in offices across Canada and in over 35 other countries around the world. At any given time its employees are working on thousands of projects in some 100 countries. In 2010, it earned revenues of $6.3 billion and a net income of $437 million.
“This is a tremendous achievement, and we’re very proud of every one of our employees, both past and present, who have made SNC-Lavalin the amazing company it is today,” said president and CEO, Pierre Duhaime. “Engineering and construction firms play a crucial role in shaping society. They constantly look for more efficient and sustainable ways to build the facilities and infrastructure we rely on – buildings, bridges, water treatment plants, industrial plants, power plants – the list goes on and on. It is challenging and fulfilling work that improves the well-being of communities around the world.”
SNC-Lavalin has grown and evolved to a remarkable extent over the last hundred years. It has world renowned expertise in numerous sectors of activity and extensive experience in hundreds of countries. It is also one of very few companies in the world that can cover the entire life cycle of a project. It has the know-how and resources to design, build, operate, maintain, and even arrange project financing, for facilities and infrastructure anywhere in the world.
To mark its 100th anniversary, SNC-Lavalin launched a 100 Acts of WE CARE initiative. Between April and November 2011, the company will recognize 100 examples of employees giving their time to a cause in their community related to one or more of its WE CARE values: health & safety, employees, communities, the environment and quality.
“We’re especially proud of the fact that sustainable development, as it is known today, has been an integral part of SNC-Lavalin’s culture from the very beginning,” said Duhaime. “Early in the company’s history, back in 1917, our first president, Arthur Surveyer, advocated ‘respecting the laws of nature and economically managing works that will improve the comfort and well-being of humanity.’ Today we promote a similar philosophy with our WE CARE values.”
Employees in SNC-Lavalin’s offices around the world will be marking the centennial throughout the year with various activities. A travelling hard hat is criss-crossing the globe visiting SNC-Lavalin’s offices and project sites for photo opportunities, while this spring, SNC-Lavalin will also be giving each of its 24,000 employees an official centennial history book as a memento to mark the occasion, also available for sale.