An engineering firm that got its start in Collingwood years ago is celebrating 20 years in the business.
Crozier Consulting Engineers celebrated their 20th anniversary in September after starting up in Collingwood in 2004. Since then the business has expanded, today also offering offices in Milton, Toronto, Bradford West Gwillimbury and Guelph.
“I always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Chris Crozier, founder and CEO, in an interview with CollingwoodToday at his Collingwood office. “I saw an opportunity. We were at the cusp 20 years ago.”
Crozier started the business in 2004 with founding partner Kevin Morris.
Crozier had moved to Collingwood with his wife Lisa in 2000, working for another engineering firm in the area. In 2004, he had recently read the book Boom, Bust & Echo by David Foot. The book had predicted there were three areas of Ontario that were set to blow up through demographics due to the aging baby boomer population as they approached retirement: Collingwood, Niagara and Cobourg.
“We had the opportunity to create something special here: a boutique consulting engineering firm that would focus on the private sector land development industry. I thought there would be a demand for these services,” said Crozier.
And he was right.
Crozier has five children who, in 2004, were all under 10 years old.
“The brave person in all of this is my wife because she could have told me I was crazy, but she believed in me,” he said.
The company started with a staff of four. Today, following the company’s expansion over the years, the company now boasts close to 300 employees.
“There are these watershed moments in your career. I remember a gentleman calling me while I was on-site. I told him we had eight employees (at that time),” recalls Crozier. “He said I’d have 28 in no time, and I remember laughing out loud.”
Crozier is a consulting engineering firm committed to private-sector land development, providing services in civil, water resources, transportation, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, complemented by hydrogeology, environmental consulting, landscape architecture, and building science services.
“Many of our friends in the business work for municipalities and developers. We’ve chosen to be specialists,” he said.
Crozier said the past 18 months have been difficult in the land development industry.
“It’s no surprise, but we’ve stayed the course and we’ve done quite well considering how difficult it’s been. We’re committing to helping Ontario hit that target of 1.5 million homes in 10 years,” he said. “We’re laser-focused on that.”
From his vantage point, Crozier said one of the key changes in the development landscape over the past 20 years has been an increase in red tape.
“It’s far more challenging now navigating through the approval process than it was 20 or 30 years ago,” he said. “We have a housing crisis. There are people living in tents in this community, and other communities. Yet, it’s never been harder to move things through the process.”
“We have to be able to get through the process quicker. It’s not getting any better. It’s getting worse with each passing year. 2024 has seen some dark days,” said Crozier.
Crozier Engineering ended up in a similar situation to some of their clients when they pulled out of building a new company headquarters at 380 First St. in Sept. 2023.
“That was squarely on interest rates and economic conditions. It was financially untenable for us. We were a tiny example of what is happening in our industry,” he said. “We’ve weathered it, and are feeling optimistic in 2025.”
Of all the offices Crozier has across Ontario, Crozier said there was a different reason for opening them all. Crozier grew up in Milton, and it was at the suggestion of his late father that he expanded into that area.
Many of Crozier’s clients are downtown-Toronto based, so it only made sense for him to also open an office there. For Bradford West-Gwillimbury, he was inspired to open that office as he had staff members living between Bradford and Toronto commuting into the city and wanted to offer them an option to commute north instead every day, cutting their commute time in half.
The Guelph office was opened earlier this year, in an effort to reach clients in that market and also make it easier on staff who were commuting to Toronto from there.
“Every one of the offices has had a different rationale, and they’ve all been successful. They all have their own personality,” said Crozier.
While Crozier doesn’t require employees participate in their communities through philanthropy, it’s become a tradition at their offices. Over the years, the company has participated in sponsoring major fundraisers such as the CIBC Run for the Cure, as well as raising funds for charities, employees sitting on non-profit boards, coaching hockey or participating in area Rotary Clubs.
“It’s really ingrained in the culture of the company. One of our core values is ‘Show you care,’ and that extends beyond the walls of this office,” he said. “We’ve got amazing people here who volunteer. I don’t ever tell anybody to get involved. They just do it.”
When looking back over the past 20 years, Crozier said there is one attribute that stands out above all others that has served him well over time.
“An important attribute is to be patient. Over the years, there have been difficult circumstances. I’m a very patient guy. I think it has boded well for the success of the company. Nine times out of 10, things work out,” he said.
He also said complacency is the “kiss of death” for a small or medium-sized business.
“If you don’t grow, you’re dead, so we’re always looking to improve,” he said.
As for the future of Crozier Consulting Engineers, Crozier himself is starting succession planning for eventually stepping away from the company one day, but has aspirations of going national before that happens.
“We’d like to become a national consultancy. It’s in our strategic plan, and we’re working on that right now,” he said. “I think it’s important for the success of our company, but also the success of our people.”
“We’re here for the long haul.”
For more information on Crozier Consulting Engineers, click here.
