WalterFedy is happy to announce we have opened an office in Calgary – our first in Alberta.

As WalterFedy has continued to thrive in

the Ontario market, we have been looking for opportunities to expand our business into new markets across Canada. Calgary jumped out as a great option for us. We are renting space in the beautiful Stephen Avenue Place WeWork office in downtown Calgary. One reason we're so excited about being in the WeWork space is the opportunity to mingle and connect with others in Calgary daily, which will help grow our network and presence in the city. It will also give us the chance to explore the city and find the right place for permanent office space in the upcoming months.

As with all our offices, our goal is to have architects and engineers working together in the same ecosystem. This gives members of the WalterFedy team a unique perspective on projects and into the A/E/C industry while our clients reap the benefits of having architects and engineers in close quarters ready to collaborate at any time.

As architects and engineers, we recognize the crucial role in shaping the way our communities feel and function. Our ambition is to enhance the world around us. We look forward to delivering thoughtful holistic design solutions to a variety of projects, including a focus on education, food production, and the future of energy/sustainability, through our collaborative, multidisciplinary practice.

The city has a lot to offer and we are ready to meet potential clients and partners, and get to work! If you’re interested in collaborating with us or finding out more about WalterFedy, email solutions@walterfedy.com and we will get in touch.

It is with great pleasure that WalterFedy announces the company has achieved Canada’s Top Small and Medium Employer (SME) status for the fourth consecutive year. Administered by Mediacorp Canada Inc., the annual awards program recognizes employers across Canada for their exceptional workplace practices and policies, including workplace, atmosphere, social opportunities, benefits, vacation, and training, among other criteria. 

“Early in the pandemic, smaller employers were able to respond to employees’ needs quickly and with agility,” says Anthony Meehan, Publisher at Mediacorp. “Once again, small and medium employers are responding with agility by adopting many of the benefits previously seen only at larger, more established organizations.” 

In Mediacorp Canada Inc.’s official release, WalterFedy was commended for adapting to better support employees in the pandemic: 

“Along with moving all employees to work-from-home arrangements early in the pandemic, Kitchener, Ont.-based WalterFedy let employees take home needed tech and furniture along with introducing a special program to provide interest-free loans (up to $1,000) for home office improvements.”   

“We’ve learned we can work differently and want to ensure our employees have the resources and tools to do so,” said Victoria Campbell, Director, Human Resources. “Flexibility and communication continue to be essential elements in our strategy as we navigate through the future of our workplace.” 

WalterFedy was also recognized by Mediacorp Canada Inc in January 2022 as a Waterloo Region Top Employer. 

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Read the official MediaCorp Release. 

Learn more about WalterFedy’s 2022 award recognition here. 

We are always on the lookout for great candidates. If you are interested in joining our team, you can find a full list of open positions here. 

WalterFedy was among 25 local businesses recognized as one of Waterloo Area’s Top Employers today. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the firm has made the list, carefully curated by the team at Mediacorp Canada Inc, and the fifth win since 2016.

The Waterloo Area’s Top Employers competition is part of the larger Canada’s Top 100 Employers contest, now in its 15th year. Employers are judged on eight criteria – physical workplace, atmosphere and social culture, benefits, vacation/time away policies, employee communications, performance management, professional development opportunities, and community involvement.

The staff editors at Mediacorp Canada Inc. cited WalterFedy’s pandemic response and vacation policy in their reasoning for selection. The full employer profile is available here.

"Hearing from our employees through regular pulse surveys and open forums helped us understand their changing needs as we moved through different stages of the pandemic," said Victoria Campbell, Director of Human Resources. "We continue to adjust our approaches based on the challenges our employees face. Our hope is to maintain this invaluable open dialogue so we can continue to pivot to the needs of our business and our people."

“The past few years have been challenging for businesses across Waterloo Region,” said Garth Cressman, CEO. “That we were able to maintain our culture amid a pandemic without compromising on the programs and supports we could offer really speaks to our people. Despite the adversity and uncertainty presented by the pandemic, they continued to drive us forward and challenge us to rethink the workplace.”

And just like that, after seven fantastic weeks, our 70+ Acts of Good campaign has come to an end. When we set out to celebrate WalterFedy’s 70th Anniversary, we knew we had to do something that would include and benefit the community around us.

In the final three weeks, we covered a lot of ground, including purchasing 70 trees through the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) to be planted in the Waterloo Region via their Give Grand program. This isn’t the first time we’ve teamed up with the GRCA and we hope to work with them again to help plant some of those trees!

After a successful run at Community Fridge KW, we connected with  Community Fridges Hamilton to fill up the Beasley Fridge in Downtown Hamilton for three days. Like their Kitchener counterpart, Community Fridges Hamilton provides 24/7 low-barrier access to free food provided entirely by the community. We were happy to play a small part in filling their fridges for a week and look forward to supporting them again in the future.

We also purchased seven essential items from YWCA's wish list for their affordable and supportive housing project on Block Line. We’ve been providing project management services to this project and were happy to give back and help support this project that is so important to the Waterloo Region.

We wrapped up the campaign by delivering 401lbs of food and $915 to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. That translates to 3,060 meals to help feed our hungry neighbours. In Hamilton, our team rallied to provide an assortment of festive gifts that will be distributed to people in need this holiday season through the Good Shepherd. 

We’re sad that the campaign is over, but after a long 2021, this was the perfect way to end the year. We might be 70, but we’re feeling spritely heading into 2022 . We look forward to finding new and exciting ways to live out our core value of community building! 

The International Parking and Mobility Institute recently honoured Metrolinx’s Cooksville Go Station with an Excellence in Architectural Design award in their June publication of Parking & Mobility Magazine. The project, conducted in partnership with Infrastructure Ontario, includes a new station with upgraded pedestrian tunnels, platforms, and an overhead pedestrian bridge; a civic plaza; a bus loop; and a six-storey parking structure with 1,900 spaces for commuters. 

Servicing a corridor with the third-highest ridership of the seven rail corridors in Ontario, the Cooksville GO Station is an important node in the Province’s transit system. Metrolinx’s goal was for Cooksville to evolve into a major mobility hub connecting users to larger transportation networks. 

As Project Architect on the station, WalterFedy’s architectural team worked closely with the Design Architects, NORR Architects & Engineers, to ensure the facility anchored the Cooksville GO Station with iconic architecture to create a sense of placemaking at the urban and human scale. The facility’s most notable feature is the geometric mesh façade abstracted with long, slotted cut-outs. The cladding adds texture and movement to the building and has the unique characteristic of transfiguring the façade with the changing position of sun and shadow.  

The system was designed to maximize natural light and airflow while minimizing light disruption in the surrounding neighbourhoods. The design team also employed Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles and accessibility standards to ensure passive supervision of the parking structure. The design is meant to increase the user experience and ease of use for all, regardless of ability or need.  

Congratulations to everyone who had a hand in making this project a grand success!

You can view the full project profile in the IPMI Parking & Mobility e-magazine on pages 60-61. 

WalterFedy was honoured today with a Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Business Achievement Award in the category of Large Business. This award celebrates the achievements of a local business with over 50 employees in the areas of entrepreneurship, employee relations, promotion of Hamilton, community relations, and product innovation over the past year.

WalterFedy has called Hamilton home since 2015, when we opened our second Ontario office in the Hamilton Port Authority building. Just four years later we moved into a new home in the heart of downtown Hamilton, where we are surrounded by big-thinkers, entrepreneurs, and industry trailblazers. The culture of innovation and artistic expression in this city inspires the work that we do. We are excited to be part of Hamilton’s transformation from an industrial haven, into a vibrant business and cultural hub in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We look forward to being a part of this community and bolstering its success for many years to come.

Congratulations to this year’s winners and all those nominated who continue to make Hamilton a great place to live and work.

Small Business: Laser Spa Group

Mid-Sized Business: Eccles Auto Service

Not-for-Profit: Amity Goodwill Industries

Young Entrepreneur & Professional: Lohifa Pogoson Acker

Accessibility Award: TownePlace Suites Hamilton

COVID Champion: Good Shepherd

Century Award: YWCA Hamilton and YMCA Hamilton Burlington Brantford and

Citizen of the Year: Paul Johnson and Dr. Elizabeth Richardson

WalterFedy is pleased to announce we have achieved Canada’s Top Small and Medium Employer (SME) status for the third consecutive year. Administered by Mediacorp Canada Inc., the annual awards program recognizes employers across Canada for their exceptional workplace practices and policies. This includes consideration of physical workplace; work atmosphere & social; health, financial & family benefits; vacation & time off; employee communications; performance management; training & skills development; and community Involvement.

“These companies have proven to be extremely agile,” says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project. “Not only were they able to transition employees to working from home right out of the gate, but many already had policies in place that allowed for flexible work. It was simply a matter of extending existing benefits, such as home office allowances and internet subsidies, to make the full transition.”

This year, WalterFedy’s RSP contribution matching program, profit-sharing model, and personal development opportunities were among the top reasons behind being selected for this prestigious award.

“It is an honour to be recognized as a Canada’s Top SME for another year, especially in the middle of a pandemic,” said Victoria Campbell, Human Resources Director for WalterFedy. “Our leadership and employees continually make a positive impact on our work, clients, and community and this award is a great way to celebrate the efforts of our incredible team here at WalterFedy!”

“In professional services, our people are our most valuable asset,” said Garth Cressman, CEO, WalterFedy. “Among other things, this award recognizes our firm for the programs that we put in place to support and develop our teams.  This award reinforces that we are doing the right things to build our business and attract and retain talent."

WalterFedy was also recognized by Mediacorp Canada Inc at the end of 2020 as a Waterloo Region Top Employer for 2021.

View our 2021 Waterloo Region Top Employer and Canada’s Top Small and Medium Employer award profiles.

View our active career opportunities.

Read Mediacorp Canada’s official release.

On the north end of the University of Waterloo’s main campus, a four-storey tall Warrior emblazoned on a golden background looks out across the football stadium. A symbol of university spirit and pride, the emblem is a bold focal point on the newly erected Columbia Icefield Field House. We are pleased to announce this project has received an Outstanding Project Award from LEARNING BY DESIGN magazine. This publication recognizes educational facility design projects from K-12 and post-secondary institutions that excel in the areas of innovation, sustainability, interior design, next-generation learning, planning and functional design, and community needs.

Designed by our architecture and engineering team at WalterFedy, the 65,000 SF facility offers an expansive and divisible turf field and ancillary spaces developed to increase the capacity for drop-in recreation, intramurals, and varsity training.

The Field House is constructed of durable pre-cast concrete, giving the appearance of strength, stability, and permanence. The façade is decorated by texturized concrete to break down the scale, add visual interest, and support a more contemporary look. Large windows jet across the top of the building, allowing natural light to flood the playing field inside. The south side of the building incorporates special light-diffusing glass that scatters rays and casts an even glow across the field below.

The soaring ceilings were deliberately designed to allow varsity athletes to practice indoors with relatively few obstructions. The height also allows for the integration of a second-level running track, viewing gallery, and change room facilities, as mapped out in the Recreation Master Plan our team completed for the University in 2017.

Beyond its functional purpose, the Field House represents the University’s ongoing commitment to creating a memorable student experience and prioritizing physical and mental wellbeing.

View the LEARNING BY DESIGN Spring 2021 publication here.

February 25, 2021 – WalterFedy is pleased to announce that local Kitchener office development, One Young, has received an Ontario Wood Design Award for Mid-Rise Development. The award was presented by The Canadian Wood Council’s Ontario Wood WORKS! in partnership with the Ontario Forest Industries Association on February 24 in Toronto.

 “The winning projects reflect the innovation of an evolving wood culture that is gaining momentum in Ontario,” explained Marianne Berube, Executive Director for the Ontario Wood WORKS! Program.

“The design and construction teams from the winning projects are revolutionizing the way we think about wood in construction,” said Ian Dunn, Interim President & CEO of OFIA. “Growing pressure for the built environment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has resulted in more sustainably conscious building material choices that align with our members’ commitment for sustainable development – meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations.” 

The project was a collaboration between WalterFedy architects and engineers, Timmerman Timberworks, Dfy Studio, and Jackman Construction Ltd., among others. Congratulations to everyone involved in making this project a success. 

Read the full news release from Ontario Wood WORKS!

Learn more about One Young.

ATS is an industry-leading automation solutions provider for many of the world’s most successful companies. Since the Waterloo Region is known as the “Silicon Valley of Canada”, ATS is following suit and continuing to promote innovation within our community.

We had the privilege of providing architectural services, structural, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering, with support from GSP Group who provided landscaping and site plan application for ATS’s new Cambridge plant and corporate office space. ATS required additional manufacturing space for their life sciences department, a research and development (R & D) innovation lab, a new corporate office space, collaborative spaces (such as kitchenettes), and a cafeteria for up to 400 people. The total area of the project was 120,000 SF. 

“ATS has a strong focus and knowledge within automation project management and quality control,” says Will Pentesco, Project Manager. “They showed great interest in the finer details of this project. This gave our team many opportunities to have in-depth design meetings and collaborate using renderings from our 3D modeling programs.”

ATS needed an innovation lab that had a functional layout. Underneath this minimalistic design, though, there were highly intricate designs requiring a lot of mechanical, electrical, and structural coordination. Our team’s goal was to keep this complicated technical layout as simple looking as possible.

This functional style was carried over into the corporate office space as well. ATS wanted to ensure they had a modern and tech-savvy space for their offices, which included a variety of touchdown and collaborative spaces throughout. During the design development, ATS decided that two floors wouldn’t fulfill the office staff needs, and decided to add a third floor. Our design team showcased the 3D design models via renderings and by utilizing Virtual Reality (VR), which allowed us to showcase and provide an immersive look into the complex details of the whole project. VR also allowed us to reveal the building designs to staff focus groups so they could experience what their new workspaces would feel like.

“ATS enjoyed the close relationship with our design team while using VR,” says Will. “It allowed them to fine-tune finish selections for the staff amenity spaces, such as the touchdown kitchenettes on each floor, and the main cafeteria.  We did a series of iterative floor plans, so we could find the right balance for the total number of seats that could fit into the floor plan. It also provided architectural opportunities to showcase their innovative product designs.”

A key architectural feature was a grand swooping “A” framing the main entrance. This accent on the façade is reminiscent of the typography used in their corporate logo. It scales the three-stories, peaking at the rooftop. Inside the main lobby, the “A” creates a grand three-story atrium showcasing a prominent staircase, views into the research and development (R&D) innovation lab, as well as a view right into the main cafeteria.

This innovative building, completed in the Fall of 2020, can be seen right off the 401 while driving through Cambridge.