Large Northern Ontario firm acquired by Genivar

GENIVAR has acquired the largest independent multidisciplinary consulting engineering firm in Northern Ontario. The company, V.B. Cook Co. Limited of Thunder Bay, is known as “Cook Engineering.” It was founded in 1962 and now has over 110 employees.

Cook Engineering serves the industrial, transportation, building sciences and environmental sectors. It also has expertise in renewable energy, including biomass technology. Its clients include mining companies, as well as the federal and provincial governments and First Nations. It also has a wholly owned subsidiary called Laurentian Engineering LLC based in Duluth, Minnesota, which serves clients in the mid-western U.S.

Genivar, a publicly traded consulting engineering firm based in Montreal, now has more than 900 employees in Ontario.

Pierre Shoiry, Genivar’s president and chief executive officer , said “Cook Engineering’s solid expertise, particularly in the mining, renewable energy and transportation sectors, will enable us to strengthen our expertise in these areas. Its depth of mining experience also bodes well for the future, given the increasing demand in the sector, which is gradually stepping up production and undertaking infrastructure investments in Canada and internationally.”

David R. Knutson, president of Cook Engineering, said, “Our team is very pleased to be joining Genivar, not only because of the many business opportunities that will open up, but also because of our firms’ shared affinities. Among other things, this acquisition will ensure our continuity while providing us with renewed impetus to pursue our growth within Genivar. … With Genivar’s vast pool of resources, size and capacity, we will be able to further develop our potential by working on larger-scale projects.”