These days, John Simpson is perfectly content being a full-time rancher, caring for his herd of 1000 Hereford cows at Simpson Ranching Limited, a cow-calf ranch and mixed grain farm near Cochrane, Alberta, bought by the Simpson family in 1956. “The ranch is the heartbeat of John Simpson. It’s the love of my life,” he says.
Seven years ago, however, things were very different.
Simpson, chairman of CANA Group of Companies, a family-owned private construction services and development company, comprising CANA Construction, CANA Renew, Shepard Development and Shepard Logistics Centre, ran the company for 35 years before handing over the mantle of President and CEO to his son Luke in 2018. Simpson is also the founder of The Simpson Centre, a noted philanthropist, an ex-Olympian and a proud Albertan. He previously served on the board of Foothills Medical Centre and the Calgary Regional Health Authority and is currently a member of the Taylor Family Foundation advisory group.
Born and raised in Calgary, Simpson started riding at the age of five. Showing exceptional talent, he entered the professional show jumping arena, going on to represent Canada in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the 1978 World Show Jumping Championships in Aachen, Germany and at the 1979 Pan American Games, where his jumping team won a silver medal. After retiring from an illustrious 10-year career in show jumping in 1982, Simpson joined CANA Construction, where his father, Jack Simpson had been President since 1962. In 1984, John Simpson took over as CANA’s President, following his father’s demise.
“I had about a year from the time I joined CANA to when my father passed away. Since there was no succession plan in place, my first job was to approach each of the seven vice-presidents of the company to find the next president. As it turned out, none of them wanted the job and so at 35, I became the new president,” says Simpson. He continues candidly, “There were two or three very difficult years initially and I was lucky enough to have a circle that was long enough, because I was underwater for quite a long time. A lot of people didn’t think that the company could survive with this young, 35-year-old punk trying to make the company great again. But after 35 years, the proof is in the pudding. CANA has maintained its reputation for over eight decades as a respected and trusted service provider in Alberta, delivering projects safely, on budget, and on schedule.”
Under Simpson’s leadership, CANA Construction grew to greater heights, acquired ACE Construction and expanded to include erstwhile CANA Energy, CANA Renew and Shepard Development, changing its name to CANA Group of Companies. Simpson also closed CANA’s operations in Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, deciding to focus exclusively on operations in Alberta.
CANA Construction is known for constructing a multitude of cultural, institutional, commercial, industrial, residential, infrastructure, and recreational projects, which include Calgary Courts Centre, Hyatt Regency Hotel, the former Petro Canada Centre, the Telus Convention Centre and Studio Bell, Rockyview Hospital, the original Saddledome, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and Spruce Meadows. It also built Calgary’s first Esports Arena at Bow Valley College a year ago.
CANA Renew is focused on commercial renovations, tenant improvements, and exterior refurbishments, transforming spaces into modern and functional renewals. “Shepard Development came about naturally, because we had a farm that was incorporated into the city of Calgary and we created the development company to develop those lands with commercial and industrial properties. That marked our expansion from construction into development,”notes Simpson. Shepard Logistics Centre is a development in the works which is set to be the main logistics hub to the east of Calgary and part of the Prairie Economic Gateway of Calgary’s municipal plan. It will be located at the crossroads of the CANAMEX Highway, TransCanada Highway and CPKC’s main line that connects Canada to Mexico through the US.
Since 2002, CANA Group of Companies has been a member of Canada’s 50 Best Privately Managed Companies, receiving platinum status in 2008 which it has retained till date. What’s the secret to CANA’s success? “We have always prided ourselves on repeat clientele who recognise us for our expertise. To cater to the changing construction landscape, we also got into construction management, wherein we offer end-to-end full service, backed by our decades of construction and development experience,” explains Simpson.
The Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Innovation and Public Education was founded in February 2020 by Simpson in partnership with University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM). The academic policy institute aims to strengthen and support Canada’s agriculture and agri-foods sectors through focused, evidence-based, practical policy analysis on trade, the environment, and innovation. It also endeavours to foster transformative change by recognizing the central role of farmers and building a more resilient food system that enables diversity in food-sourcing.
“Agriculture is a major driver of Canada’s economic growth. The problem is that there’s some 4000 different agricultural organizations, each with their own lobby groups. What I was thinking when we started The Simpson Centre was that we needed an umbrella organization that could carry the agricultural flag to the federal government to say, let’s look at what the right agricultural policies are for Canada,” remarks Simpson.
The Simpson Centre engages with academics from its campus and from other universities, as well as with members of the agriculture and food industries to develop innovative research initiatives, disseminate knowledge and promote best practices.
“There’s so many different aspects of agriculture that need help, that government should recognize. We’ve made some small strides, but it’s a tough road to try to get everybody aligned. But I will do whatever it takes for the Centre to become a voice for Canadian agriculture,” Simpson avers.
The Simpson family is well known for their philanthropic contributions supporting multiple charitable organisations such Kids Cancer Care Foundation, Mustard Seed, Calgary Flames Foundation, YWCA, and St. John’s Ambulance. The family also sponsor the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ CANA Cup.
In 2005, Simpson was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal in recognition of his outstanding service to Alberta and in 2008, he was inducted into the Spruce Meadows Hall of Fame.
The most notable contribution of the Simpson Family has been to the University of Calgary(UoC), from building and donating one million dollars towards the Jack Simpson Gymnasium to setting up a $5 million Simpson Family Endowment Fund in support of the Sports Medicine Centre at the UoC Faculty of Kinesiology, donating $2 million to fund the Faculty of Medicine Simpson Ranch Chair in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, supporting a Student Leadership Development Initiative and in 2014 donating another $5 million towards UCalgaryStrong, a dynamic, campus-wide student mental health and wellness initiative. Apart from donations, CANA has built about 50% of the buildings at University of Calgary and has recruited several engineers from the university over the years.
In recognition of all his contributions to the university, Simpson received an Honorary Degree – Doctors of Law from the University of Calgary. He also received an Honorary Degree – Bachelor of Applied Small Business and Entrepreneurship from Mount Royal University, thanks to the Simpson family donations to several educational programs and CANA building a significant portion of the campus.
Talking about the honorary degrees, Simpson says, “When the chancellor of the University of Calgary called me, I initially asked him if he’d called the wrong person. When I went to give my convocation speech, I was standing on the podium in Jack Simpson gymnasium, which my company had built, which was named after my father. That was pretty close to a breakdown moment for John Simpson. I try not to make a big deal about it, because our family prefers to fly under the radar, but it feels good to have those degrees on my resume and to be recognised as someone who’s contributed to his community.”
On why philanthropy is important to him, Simpson reveals, “When my father died, there was no record of philanthropy, other than some political donations. Multitudes of people called me saying you need to give us money for this and that. And I kept thinking, how am I supposed to know what my now dead father was going to do with all this money? So I took a step back and thought about what the institutions are that our family believes in. And University of Calgary came up strong first. The Alberta Children’s Hospital came up big time second. YWCA came up third. Mount Royal is in the top five. So in a community that’s as small as Calgary and as big as Calgary, you have to be known to be someone who pays back. And that’s what we’ve done.”
Simpson doesn’t ride as much as he used to, but he and his wife, Jollean, enjoy golfing, shooting, and hanging out on the ranch. While neither of his children followed his footsteps into show jumping, they both ride frequently, along with his grandchildren.
Talking about his most prized accolades, Simpson says, “Being one of only 55 people in the world to have won the President’s Cup is definitely number one, followed closely by my 7’2’’ jump on my quarter horse Texas during my show jumping career–a feat few riders have accomplished.”
For Simpson, his tightly-knit family unit is his backbone. “It’s great having both my children involved in the business, with my son taking over from me at CANA and my daughter, Christie, also currently serving as Director of Shepard Development Corporation and Director of Simpson Ranching, apart from her role as senior vice-president at ATCO Land and Development. My three grandchildren are also keenly picking up our family values, at the core of which is hard work as the only path to success. This makes me very happy.”
Simpson is confident that his family will continue to be in both the construction and ranching businesses for many generations. Looking back on his entrepreneurial journey, he recounts, “When my father passed away, the late Ron Southern, veteran founder of ATCO and Spruce Meadows, whom I was lucky enough to call a friend, would often look at me and say, ‘John, running CANA is a mighty tall order. Are you sure you can do this?’ And I kept saying, ‘I think I can. I think I can. I think I can’, a line inspired by the classic children’s book The Little Engine That Could. And many years later, Ron said to me, ‘John, you did it.’ That’s a pretty meaningful reminder of what I’ve accomplished”.
