1959
Supermetal was incorporated in 1959. The company began with a group of three to five employees who worked on various small projects. Doing mostly ornamental metalwork, they operated out of a rented garage in a residential neighborhood.
1961
The first major project for the young company was a metal stairway in the Quebec suburb of Montmorency. The public stairway climbed the side of a hill and connected two streets for pedestrian use. This project is pictured to the right.
The proceeds from the Montmorency project were invested in the construction of Supermetal's first plant in an industrial section of Vanier, Quebec.
1961 - 1970
The Vanier plant was significantly expanded during this period.
During the 1960's, Supermetal became more involved in structural steel projects. By 1970, the tonnage of our average project had grown considerably, and ornamental metal projects were discontinued.
1970 - 1979
The Vanier plant was expanded repeatedly during the ‘70s. The largest expansion occurred in 1979.
In addition to building the size of our organization, we also built on our reputation for quality and service. By the end of the decade, Supermetal was clearly a major regional steel fabricator and erector.
1979 - 1983
All of Supermetal's current executives were hired to various positions in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
1983
1983 was a very big year for Supermetal. As the size of projects continued to grow, our original plant in Vanier no longer had room for expansion. To meet the greater demand, we purchased a new plant at a site across the St. Lawrence River in St. Romuald, near Quebec City.
Our current President, André Bouchard, accepted the position of General Manager at Supermetal.
The new property in St. Romuald featured a more modern plant, an 800,000-square-foot yard, and easy access to highways, rail yards and docks. At the time, the plant was roughly half the size that it is today.
1983 - 1994
Several expansions were made to our St. Romuald facility as the size of our projects continued to increase.
In 1994, office facilities were added to the St. Romuald property. After their completion, our administrative and engineering staff was moved from the Vanier location.
In 1987, Mr. Bouchard took on the position of President of Supermetal, while retaining his role as General Manager.
1996 - 2001
In the years leading up to our company's 40th anniversary, we invested over $5 million to expand the size, efficiency and capabilities of the St. Romuald plant.
In 1997, Supermetal became one of the first steel fabricators in Canada to achieve ISO-9001certification.
Included in our investment plan was a move to the sophisticated technology of the SDS-2 design software package. This software and the CNC machines on the production floor have radically altered our methods and capabilities for engineering, detailing, fabrication and resource management.
In 1998, work began on the project that would eventually become one of our largest to date. Over the next three years, we fabricated and erected 15,000 tons of steel for ALCAN's huge aluminum smelter project in Alma, Quebec.
Early in 2001, we completed the purchase of the Sherbrooke plant. The new plant's capacities for extra heavy and oversized beams perfectly complement the capabilities of our existing facilities.
2002 to today
Over the last few years, Supermetal has undertaken different expansion projects to extend the company's geographic presence and production capacity throughout North America. The company is now better placed than ever to serve clients all over the continent.
In 2002, Supermetal opened a sales office in Alabama, USA, positioning itself in the American South.
2004 has been an important year for the company. Supermetal acquired a fabrication plant in Edmonton, Alberta and expanded its erection division to all of western Canada. Most recently, Supermetal acquired a detailing office in Manila, Philippines, where its Drafting division is based.
In 2008, just as Supermetal was getting ready to celebrate its half-century, and with 31 years of industrial peace to its credit, the company moved its plant from Edmonton to Leduc, a few kilometers away, and signed its first contracts in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and British Columbia. At the age of 50, Supermetal has the wind in its sails.
Tribute to the founders (french only)
Back to top