A privately owned Canadian company, founded in 1946 by Colonel Hugh McKay and Herbert Cocker, McKay-Cocker Construction Limited has played a significant role in the construction of new facilities throughout Ontario and across Canada.  With an extensive portfolio of school and church projects throughout southwestern Ontario in the early years, the company expanded into bridges and sewage treatment plants. 

In 1991, Paul Cocker and his cousin, Jock Tindale, bought the company from the shareholders and it has continued to grow and diversify.  Following Jock Tindale’s untimely death in 1997, David Blake (Executive Vice President) and Paul Shanks (Chief Financial Officer) increased their equity position.  Today, McKay-Cocker offers a full complement of construction services which include: Design-Build, Construction Management, Special Projects, Lease-Back, General Contracting and Green Building (LEED).

Our attention to service, quality, budget and safety has established McKay-Cocker as one of Ontario’s pre-eminent construction companies with an annual sales volume in the range of $80 million - $130 million.

Recently, McKay-Cocker presented the new revitalized McKay-Cocker.  New people, new ideas and new systems are enhancing the procedures, quality and safety standards, which McKay-Cocker has been known for during our 65 years of building.  This LEAN Construction approach has been implemented and is known as “The McKay-Cocker Way”.

Invitations to join project teams continue to this day.  Companies such as Wal-Mart Canada, M.I. Developments, 3M Canada and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Company are just a few examples of longstanding successful business relationships.  With a solid reputation as “Team Builders”, we have a strong set of core beliefs: honesty, integrity, transparency, creativity and consensus which are recognized by clients, subtrades and suppliers. 

Every project is important to McKay-Cocker.  We go beyond merely designing and building.  We pride ourselves in finding solutions to the challenges that are part of the design and construction process.

Delivering quality, service and performance is paramount in all areas of our business. Project management software tools have been an integral part of how we have handled our systems and processes.  Recently, we implemented Viewpoint state-of-the-art project management software to further enhance efficiencies. This allows for continuous improvement, both internally and externally for our clients, partners and subcontractors, through the use of reporting, tracking and collaboration tools; a real advantage for all members of the project team.

Design-Build has become a dominant part of our business volume, providing an owner with a single source of responsibility.  Using the expertise of a large talent pool of experienced consultants, McKay-Cocker continues to expand the size and complexity of its design-build projects. The 6-storey Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) Nuclear Support Office Building (Pickering, ON) was built by McKay-Cocker on a design-build/leaseback basis. 

In October 2005, the company received the prestigious first-place ‘Award of Excellence’ from the Canadian Design-Build Institute for the highest standard in building design for the OPG project.

Headquartered in London, Ontario, with a second location in Toronto, McKay-Cocker primarily services an area from Kingston to Windsor.  Today the company has 55 permanent staff as well as a variable employee component of up to 300 workers who are involved with a number of projects at any given time.

Health and Safety is a primary focus for McKay-Cocker.  An increasing number of owners choose only to work with companies that have sound Health and Safety programs in effect, along with the results to prove it.  Our excellent record is one of the best in the industry.  McKay-Cocker believes in “Safety Citizenship” versus “Safety Compliance”.