The year is 1951. Kitchener is nearly 45,000 people strong with a vibrant shopping district, a healthy textile industry, and a newly erected Memorial Auditorium Complex. The city is booming, and eager to support a metropolis on the rise, our founders Herman Walter and Bill Roberts open a mechanical and electrical engineering firm. Tucked in an understated office on Francis Street with only a handful of staff, the two would launch HK Walter & Associates — a firm that, in the years that followed, would grow to include architecture, full-service engineering, and construction management, undergo three name changes, employ hundreds of staff, expand to three offices, and help weave the remarkable tapestry that is Waterloo Region and beyond.

It’s now 2021. Kitchener’s population has soared to 571,000 people, and the textile manufacturing facilities that drove the economy in the 50s have since been transformed into start-ups, tech hubs, and trendy apartments. The office space where it all started has since been wiped from the map and is now a vacant parking lot and future site of a 44-storey glass monolith. In our 70 years of business, there isn’t much that hasn’t changed, but one important thing remains: we continue to have the privilege of shaping the communities we call home through our work.

As we reflect on our history, we can happily recount the projects that helped put us on the map. But anniversaries, at their core, are more than a list of accomplishments. They are a celebration of a beautiful relationship. And so, as we celebrate our 70th year in business, we turn our attention to the community that has trusted us to play a leading role in enhancing the world around them, and in so doing have provided meaningful employment for so many. Thank you.

“In the past 70 years, WalterFedy has had many incredible employees grace our hallways to help build us into the company we are today,” says Garth Cressman. CEO. “We wouldn’t be where we are without the people who helped us grow and the community that supported us in that growth for the past 70 years.”

In honour of our anniversary, we will be performing 70+ Acts of Good in our community from now until December. It is one small way we can demonstrate our gratitude for the communities that continue to inspire and support the work we do.

• Buying lunch for 7 frontline workers
• Giving away 7 gift certificates to support local businesses in Kitchener and Hamilton
• Buying 7 bags of cat food for the KW Humane Society and 7 more for the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA
• Buying 7 essential household items for the YWCA supportive and affordable housing project
• Filling up the community fridges in Kitchener and Hamilton for 7 days
• Cleaning up 7 parks before the snowfall
• Raise 70 lbs of food and donate 70 meals to the Waterloo Region Food Bank and the Hamilton Food Share
• Planting 70 trees through the Grand River Conservation Foundation
• Donating funds for the equivalent of 70 pairs of socks to the Toasty Toes Campaign

Keep up with us on Instagram and LinkedIn to engage with and follow our campaign.

WalterFedy’s History

1951 – HK Walter and Associates is formed, offering mechanical and electrical engineering services

1969 – Structural and civil engineering services are added to our offerings while HK Walter and Associates becomes Walter Fedy McCargar Hachborn

1971 – Architects Horton & Ball Ltd join our team

1974 – Construction management services are added, allowing us to provide start to finish design and construction services to our clients

1991 - Walter Fedy McCargar Hachborn becomes the Walter Fedy Partnership

2011 – The team moves to a new LEED CI Certified office and becomes WalterFedy

2014- AEC Developments is created to independently manage the construction management arm of the business

2015 – WalterFedy opens a new office in Hamilton with mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil engineers. Energy and Carbon Solutions is added to our service offerings.

2018 – Architecture is added to the suite of services offered in Hamilton

2019 – The Hamilton Team gets a new consolidated home in the downtown core

2021 – WalterFedy commits to achieving Beyond Zero Carbon, offsetting all carbon emissions plus an additional 10%. We also open a new office in Toronto.