CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
By Anna Guy
McCaine Electric Ltd. provides electrical installation, maintenance and services to a large number of clients in the industrial, institutional and commercial markets.
In 2018, McCaine Electric achieved a milestone few companies ever do: 100 years of operation.
For a little context, when McCaine was established in Winnipeg in 1918 following the First World War, lightbulbs had only been around for 40 years, and most Canadians still lit their homes with gas light and candles.
Incorporated in 1942, McCaine has grown to be the largest independent electrical contractor in the Manitoba and North Western Ontario market. Through technical and social evolution, McCaine’s stalwart dedication to exemplary service and its customers has never gone out of style.
Ken Smith, GSC, Branch Manager, has been with McCaine for 28 years. As he tells it, McCaine originally opened as a sub contract business for general contractors, later diversifying into selling appliances in the retail market until 1955. McCaine continued to grow during the Second World War, capitalizing on installations at airports around Manitoba.
When asked what’s the secret to the company’s 100 years, Smith says “I think its remaining true to our customers and standing behind our high quality of workmanship. We take pride in our electrical installations and will address issues with the clients before doing the work. McCaine stays competitive by using the most up to date methods of installation, and we are a leader in the prefab aspect in our industry.”
Throughout the company’s long history, “McCaine has always valued their employees through out its history, promoting those within,” says Smith. “This was the case as John McFadzean took control in 1953 till his death in 1956. The shares remained within the McCaine family until the 1959 when a trio of employees made up of Gavin McFadzean, Ken Callis, and Earl Eager made an offer to take ownership and looked forward to a bright future and growth.”
Eger eventually took full control, before bringing in John Schubert (son in law) and Frank Mutcher (employee) as partners in 1979. Earl Eger stayed on till 1985. The company went from a 20 to 80-man field staff during this time period. From 1990 till 2011 McCaine grew to 140 men shop under their direction and leadership of Frank and John.
In 2011, McCaine was purchased by Canem, a national electrical contracting firm, growing McCaine to over 250 field electricians. The growth to a large corporate entity led to doing major projects such as IGF stadium, Winnipeg Police Station head office and RBC Convention Center. Frank and John stayed on during the transition for three and five years, respectively.
Today, McCaine serves many clients across the province and, as part of Canem, offers services from Ontario to BC, averaging in revenue excess of $250 million nationally. Primarily serving clients in need of commercial, light industrial, institutional electrical, data and security services. McCaine draws from decades of electrical systems design experience and implementation expertise to deliver Building Performance. McCaine customers also benefit from information Management, Building Systems Integration, Energy Management, Lifecycle Services and Construction Management Methodologies. As part of the its effort to provide a complete set of service offerings, McCaine also provide brand consultancy services designed to help developers and operators across multiple geographies.
McCaine is confident that the its Smart Building Technologies and information management will help customers to competitively differentiate and thus win more business. McCaine’s unique solution design and sub-contract services as well as our CM Methodology will take your building project performance to another level.
Design Build
McCaine brings added value to its clients for many years with the design build process. Successful on major projects such as the Investor’s group field and RBC Convention center, McCaine applies this service to projects of all sizes. The team meets with suppliers and distributer’s constantly to discuss new and innovative techniques and installations. Our management group meets monthly and distributes information across the company.
Innovators in the industry when computer cabling started in the 90’s, McCaine’s strongest sector is commercial with the security group growing rapidly. McCaine brings 100 years of practical experience in the design and installation of electrical and communication contracting services to the practice of Building Performance, working on such projects as University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, Trans Canada Pipelines, Winnipeg Police Headquarters, and St. Boniface General Hospital Cardiac Care Unit.
Throughout the journey, McCaine is proud to hold the same values and care for its employees as a family. They continue to support the community and be active with the local associations, including WCA, EAM, CCA, and BOMA.
On McCaine’s success as an independent company, Smith says, “We are well known in our market and have built lasting relationships and trust with local partners. The local general contractors and clients know we stand behind our work. We have highly trained individuals that are requested for on certain projects. This helps our success in that they know they have a relationship with people they can trust. There is a lot of experience from the long-term employees. “
For the 100th anniversary, Smith says the team has a big celebration in mind for employees and partners.
The combination of its longevity in business and its continued growth means the McCaine team has the necessary training and experience, to provide its customers with a reliable infrastructure and a single point of contact for all electrical, structured cabling and security needs.
“We have a great culture and staff that are willing to assist each other to ensure jobs are done on time and on budget,” says Smith. “Our team approach has everyone within the office working to make sure every project/client is satisfied and feel they received value for the work we have done.”
