>
>
Our History
Our Story
The story of how Qualico came to be is the story of its founders — Dr. David Friesen and Katherine Friesen. It was their vision, incredible work ethic, and intuitive business savvy that laid the foundation for what Qualico has been able to achieve since its inception in 1951. A vision that began with the construction of six homes and grew to become one of Canada’s most successful integrated real estate companies.
Established in Winnipeg, Quality Construction expanded into Calgary in 1954 and Edmonton in 1955. In 1972, the company changed its name to Qualico and it has since expanded into Metro Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina, and Austin and Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.
Today, thousands of families choose Qualico to build their homes. The company’s activities span the entire real estate spectrum and include land acquisition and development, single-family and multi-family home divisions, commercial development and leasing, property management and building materials and services.
Our principles and ethics remain true to those of our founders. Qualico remains a privately-owned business through Ruth and Brian Hastings – daughter of Dr. David and Katherine Friesen. Qualico saw tremendous growth and success under Ruth and Brian’s leadership. The company has entered its third generation of leadership with Kevin Van as President – husband of Lisa Hastings.
View our timeline
1951
Quality Construction Company Ltd. is incorporated.
1951
Quality Construction operates out of the historic Electric Railway Chambers building in downtown Winnipeg.
1952
The Quality Construction office is located on Dawson Road in Winnipeg.
1954
Quality Construction expands into the Calgary, Alberta market. This is the first expansion market for the company.
1955
Quality Construction expands into the Edmonton, Alberta market and builds 20 homes in the first year.
1957
Quality Construction participates in a nationwide competition to build a house in 24 hours. The Quality Construction team includes close to 200 employees who build the home in 19 hours and 10 minutes. This time beats the previous record set by a Toronto homebuilder by 2 hours and 20 minutes. The house still stands today in the Windsor Park community in Winnipeg.
1957
Rancho Realty Ltd. is incorporated. Led by Katherine Friesen, Rancho Realty introduces a new way of selling homes in the market.
1958
Star Building Materials Ltd. is incorporated in Winnipeg. This represents the first vertically integrated company for Quality Construction.
1959
By the end of 1959, over 2,000 of Quality Construction’s homes are sold in Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Calgary.
1959-1962
Over a period of three years, Quality Construction builds pre-fabricated homes in Regina. Securing land holdings proves to be a challenge and with mounting opportunity in Alberta, Quality Construction leaves Regina to focus on other growing markets.
1961
Quality Construction is proud to be part of Windsor Park. This community is one of Winnipeg’s (it was the City of St. Boniface back in 1961) first attempts at a master-planned community, which includes street hierarchy, parks, school locations, and evidence of a grand scheme to connect to existing streets.
1965
Quality Construction hits a milestone of building $40,000,000-worth of homes in its 14 years as a company.
1968
The new Quality Construction pre-fabrication plant, located at 5716 – 1st Street SE in Calgary, is the largest of its kind in Western Canada.
1968
The Calgary Herald notes Qualico as the largest builder in Winnipeg and Edmonton, and the third largest in Calgary.
1969
Quality Construction introduces condominium living to the Prairies with Lakewood Village condominiums. The project would become Winnipeg Condo Corp. No. 1.
1970
Quality Construction starts its investment portfolio and develops 6,239 units over the next decade and into the early 1980s.
1972
Quality Construction rebrands as Qualico Developments.
1973
Qualico enters the Surrey, British Columbia market. They introduce the Foxridge Homes brand later in the 1990s.
1976
The development of the River Park South community starts in Winnipeg. It later becomes Qualico’s largest community to date, with over 8,000 homes and businesses.
1977
Qualico starts developing All Season Estates in Winnipeg. This is Qualico’s first official master-planned community.
1982
First Edmonton Place is Qualico’s first-ever commercial project and high-rise office building in Edmonton. Qualico owns it for two decades and sells it in 2003.
1989
Star Building Materials, Qualico’s building supply company, expands its business and starts supplying non-Qualico companies in the building industry, as well as the public.
1990
StreetSide Developments is registered as a corporation in Alberta. This brand will represent the condominium products provided by Qualico.
1992
Horizon Village is the first multi-family project developed in Edmonton. The project consists of 65 duplex bungalows.
1994
Qualico’s multi-family business in Edmonton takes part in a unique opportunity to develop residential units in connection with a long-term care facility – Shepard’s Care. Qualico delivers a total of 194 rental apartments, 101 condominium apartments, and 82 condominium townhomes as part of the full ‘village’.
1996
Qualico enters into one of the largest redevelopment projects in Western Canada at the time – Jameswood. The project includes the refurbishment of 430 homes in Winnipeg previously owned by the Canadian Department of National Defence.
1998
The first ‘package sales’ company is introduced at Qualico. The business focuses on selling cottage and deck packages in the Winnipeg market. Today, the brand is known as Star Ready to Move Homes.
2001
Qualico celebrates half a century of building homes with its 50th anniversary as a company.
2004
Qualico enters the US with a mixed portfolio of community development, single-family homes, and multi-family rental apartments. Austin, Texas becomes the Qualico US regional office.
2008
A significant milestone is achieved. Rancho Management Services reaches the top 10 in Canada for total square footage in properties managed, as reported by Canadian Property Management Magazine's Who's Who list.
2009
Qualico moves into its new corporate office, a LEED® certified building within the new flagship Qualico community in Winnipeg – Sage Creek.
2011
EPCOR Tower is completed in downtown Edmonton, a joint-venture project that is Qualico’s largest and tallest office tower.
2011
Qualico re-enters the Regina, Saskatchewan market with the Qualico single-family homes brand, Pacesetter Homes.
2013
Qualico enters the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan market with the single-family homebuilder, Montana Homes.
2015
Qualico breaks ground in the development of Harmony, a master-planned community in Calgary that will span over 1,700 acres and feature a first-of-its-kind golf course in Canada.
2016
Qualico celebrates its 65th anniversary in every region with an award-winning campaign focused on the company’s history.
2017
Qualico enters the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas market in the US with a goal of 50 home starts in its first year.
2019
Qualico opens its largest contractor store with Star Building Materials in Winnipeg. The 15,000-sq.-ft. store is accompanied by a new warehouse and customer service yard.
2019
Star Building Materials in Calgary relocates their shipping yard to a new location that is three times in size. This expansion is paired with a new engineered wood product saw shop, warehouse, and office facilities.
Let us help you direct your questions to the right team at Qualico.
