Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 92
92
( 2026)
SPONSOR CONTENT
Multiplex Construction builds on training and networks
I
n construction, there are
interesting projects and
there are very interesting
(and truly innovative)
projects. Lawrence Ogbeide,
site coordinator at Multiplex
Construction Canada Ltd., breaks
out in a smile talking about his
first job — a mega project — since
joining in the summer of 2025.
You’ve got to be
creative and willing to
learn, no matter the
challenge, and get a
good solution through
collaboration.
— Lawrence Ogbeide
Site Coordinator
Lawrence Ogbeide, site coordinator at Multiplex Construction Canada.
“The Kitchener Indoor
Recreation Complex is the city’s
first net-zero carbon building. It’s
a 227,000-square-foot facility with
geothermal heating and cooling
and a rooftop solar panel,” he says.
“That kind of project doesn’t come
around a lot. It’s a big learning
curve to expand my capacity and
that’s what drew me to Multiplex.”
The complex will open in
late 2026 and will house a
tournament-sized indoor turf
fieldhouse, an indoor aquatic
centre including a warm-water
leisure pool and eight-lane
competition pool, a cricket batting
cage and a 30,000-square-foot
quad gymnasium. That means
Lawrence, a civil engineer by
training, must keep tabs on a
myriad of factors, including
coordinating all site activities,
collaborating with trades,
ensuring safety, staying on
schedule and on budget, and
working closely with the project
management team.
With several active projects and
a growing team, the company is
aiming to expand its operations
over the next five years, says
Siqian Fan, director of finance.
The key to growing sustainably
is expanding the company’s
knowledge sharing, she adds.
“The benefit of being a global
company is you’re never alone.
We’re the smallest and the newest
region but chances are someone
else has encountered a similar
challenge. You just need to find
the right person to talk to. They
could have the solution or may
have tried something that didn’t
work and will tell you, ‘Hey, don’t
do that!’” she says.
The internal resource network
— accessible through the
company’s intranet and in-person
connections — means tapping
into the expertise of colleagues
in the United Kingdom and
Australia, as well as locally.
Increasing knowledge share is part
of the company’s modus operandi
endorsed by the global leadership
team and is built into annual
performance goals.
Supporting employees through
a robust offering of training
programs helps them build a wide
breadth of skills, both technical
and non-technical. “I’ve already
done four trainings including
supervisory and safety,” says
Lawrence. “They have given me
more confidence to better execute
my role on site.”
As director of finance, Siqian
says challenging conversations
about the allocation of resources
is part of the job. “Money is always
a sensitive topic, right? Growing
the business in a sustainable way
means trade-offs — dialling back
on spending in one area to invest
in another. I’ve had to develop
the skills to have those tough
conversations,” she says.
“Two years ago, when my
predecessor left, I took leadership
courses during my transition from
financial controller to director.
I got coaching on leadership
and how to build the emotional
intelligence to bring empathy to
my role.”
