By Susanna McLeod
Special to Canadian Design and Construction Report
Frequently in the news, Bird Construction is awarded contracts for prominent, large-scale projects throughout the country. Hubert J.A. Bird founded the company in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan over a century ago, and Bird Construction Inc. grew from a local partnership into an international colossus. The construction company features advanced expertise applied to residential, industrial, and infrastructure projects across Ontario.
Immigrating to Canada in 1905 from Plymouth, England, fifteen-year-old Hubert Bird joined family members who were homesteading near Melfort, Saskatchewan. Three years later, the industrious young Bird found work “as a cutter of cordwood at Stonewall and, by late 1914, was working as a construction supervisor for a general contractor at Wolfville, Nova Scotia,” said Gordon Goldsborough in “Memorable Manitobans: Hubert John Allen Bird (1889-1965),” Manitoba Historical Society and Archives. World War One temporarily interrupted his plans, but also honed his skills in construction trades.
Enlisting the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Private Bird served initially with the 1st Canadian Division’s 5th Battalion (infantry). His medical form noted that the blue-eyed recruit had a height of 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) and weighed 155 lbs (70.3 kgs). In 1915, Bird transferred to the Canadian Engineers but suffered severe appendicitis while overseas. Undergoing an appendectomy at Bailleul, France in early January, the soldier was returned to duty weeks later on Feb. 4, 1916.
Climbing the military ladder, Bird served as Resident Engineer with the British Air Ministry in 1917-1918. He achieved the rank of Captain at war’s end, and sailed for Canada in March 1919. Bird’s first wife, Violet Ruth Stewart (1887-1964), was awaiting his arrival. Marrying on September 3, 1914 in Nova Scotia, the Birds made Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan their home; they would have two children, Kathleen Frances and Robert Allen.
In 1920, Bird and two business partners purchased Navin Brothers construction firm. The company had a proud record of erecting prominent buildings in Moose Jaw, such as the Land Titles Building, the Fire Hall, both 1909-1910, and many more. Calling the new operation Bird and Woodall in 1920, six years later the operation was renamed Bird Woodall and Simpson. During its first decade, the company struggled “as an economic depression substantially reduced the rate of construction,” said Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. (WAF).
Surviving the Great Depression with secured contracts, Bird bought out his partners and in 1930, incorporated the firm as Bird Construction. The company was already a significant presence, receiving “its first contract $1 million contract, Canadian Pacific Railway’s Region Union Station,” according to company “History.”
“Just some of the Moose Jaw buildings Bird built include Moose Jaw General Hospital, Providence Hospital, Royal Bank on High Street, Natatorium, Timothy Eaton Centre and St. Joseph’s Church,” wrote Ron Walter in Moose Jaw Today, April 19, 2020. (The Natatorium is a social hub and swimming pool building.)
In 1937, Bird moved the head office to Winnipeg, just as war clouds gathered. The firm earned large contracts, “from building half the air training schools in the west to military bases,” Walter said. Respecting wartime urgency, the efficient firm completed projects in only six months. Company growth was about to skyrocket.
“In the mid-1940s, Bird was the largest home builder in Canada, awarded a contract with Wartime Housing Ltd. to build 15,000 homes” in the Prairies and Atlantic provinces, according to “History.” After war’s end, Bird Construction received contracts to build over 5,000 peace-time houses.
The executive made time for other social and industry interests. Bird was a member of the St. Charles Country Club and Anglican Church, plus held memberships in Engineering Institute of Canada, Winnipeg Builders’ Exchange and others. He also “took an active interest in the Lakeside Fresh Air Club,” noted Goldsborough. (A summer camp for disadvantaged children.)
When Winnipeg’s Red River disastrously flooded in 1950, Bird Construction participated “in the construction of Winnipeg’s flood management infrastructure,” described the company. That same year, Hubert Bird received an extraordinary award—he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Canadian Engineers.
Bird’s construction team was experienced in many facets of the industry and could offer “a multi-disciplined engineering and construction package” to clients. In 1968, Bird Construction soared into Ontario, settling the corporate headquarters in Mississauga. However, the head of the company did not live to see the impressive expansion.
While visiting England, Hubert John Allen Bird died suddenly on October 21, 1965 and was buried St. Margaret’s Cemetery, Oxford, England. Bird was survived by his children and his second wife, Myrtle Collier Fox (1898-1993). On his father’s death, Robert Allen Bird (1926-2018), took on the president’s mantle of the booming construction company.
Bird Construction Inc. continues to enhance a robust Ontario through contracts for Bruce Power Refurbishment, Go Kitchener Extension, Stage 2 of Ottawa’s LRT system, Darlington Nuclear Refurbishment, and many more The projects are evidence of the grand vision ignited by Hubert Bird.
© 2025 Susanna McLeod. She is a writer specializing in Canadian history.
Sources:
“Biography: Bird Construction,” Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. Retrieved from https://winnipegarchitecture.ca/bird-construction/
“Bird, Hubert John Allen: Canadian Forces Personnel Records Envelope,” Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved from https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=pffww&IdNumber=44498&ecopy=746-03
Goldsborough, Glen, “Memorable Manitobans: Hubert John Allen Bird (1889-1965),” Manitoba Historical Society and Archives, Retrieved from https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/bird_hja.shtml
Walter, Ron, “Century-old Bird Construction firm began in Moose Jaw and just grew,” Moose Jaw Today, April 219, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.moosejawtoday.com/local-news/century-old-bird-construction-firm-began-in-moose-jaw-and-just-grew-2260855
“Who We Are: History,” Bird Construction Inc. Retrieved from https://www.bird.ca/who-we-are/history/
