Lamarre to step down as head of SNC-Lavalin

The head of Canada’s largest engineering and construction company is stepping down in May.

Jacques Lamarre is president and chief executive officer of SNC-Lavalin Group until May 7, when he will retire at age 65 and “pass the baton” to his successor, Pierre Duhaime.

Lamarre has been with the Montreal-based company for 42 years since he joined Lavalin in 1967 as a civil engineer and stayed when the company merged with SNC in 1991. He was president and CEO for the last 13 years and has led the company through unprecedented growth and global expansion. The company now has offices in 35 countries and projects in 100 countries. It reported net income of $312 million in 2008.

In a statement, Lamarre said: “SNC-Lavalin has been a second family for me, somewhere I felt at home. I have had the privilege of meeting and working with so many people of high calibre on SNC-Lavalin’s multicultural teams across Canada and around the world, as well as those of our clients. This has always given me immense pleasure, and part of me says I would like this to go on forever.”

He said he has no doubt that Pierre Duhaime “will take this great Company to new levels.” Duhaime is currently executive vice president in charge of SNC-Lavalin’s worldwide mining and metallurgy activities.

Lamarre’s stepping down follows a similar announcement by another of Canada’s largest engineering companies. Tony Franceschini, CEO of Stantec based in Edmonton has announced that as from May he will be no longer be president and CEO of the company. His successor is engineer Bob Gomes (see CCE Headline News, November 10, 2008).