europe’s largest building-products maker sees housing shortages in quebec and the rest of canada as the perfect opportunity to drive sales growth over the coming decade.
fresh from the purchase of pointe-claire-based kaycan and lasalle-based building products of canada for more than $2.5 billion combined, france’s compagnie de saint-gobain is working to expand output at its canadian plants while scouting for additional acquisitions locally, chief executive officer benoit bazin said.
in quebec, saint-gobain is completing a $126-million investment to electrify its wallboard factory in ste-catherine on montreal’s south shore, and make it the first zero-carbon drywall plant of its kind in north america. quebec is providing about $40 million in financing for the project, which will boost capacity by 40 per cent, bazin said.
canada will need to add about 3.5 million residential units by 2030 to restore housing affordability, according to a september projection released by the canada mortgage and housing corporation (cmhc). of that total, about 860,000 new dwellings will be required in quebec, cmhc said.
saint-gobain is so keen on canada that it will be appointing former hydro-québec ceo sophie brochu to its board at the company’s next shareholder meeting, which is scheduled for june 6. brochu, who left hydro-québec last year, is also a director of companies such as information technology firm cgi and flight simulator maker cae.
advertisement
recent warnings by quebec energy minister pierre fitzgibbon about a shortage of available electricity for future industrial projects haven’t dented bazin’s optimism. he predicts housing starts in canada and elsewhere will pick up later this year as central banks start cutting interest rates.
advertisement