From its first homes in Winnipeg to communities and commercial properties across Western Canada, Qualico’s 75-year legacy is seen in the places it built and the people who use them.
By Maya Wisher
I
n 1951, David and Katherine Friesen’s Quality Construction Company Ltd. built 13 homes in Winnipeg. Seventy-five years later, Qualico operates across Western Canada and into Texas, but Winnipeg remains its home.
“Winnipeg is home to our owners, and it’s our head office,” says Bryan Ward, Qualico’s Regional Vice-President for Manitoba & Saskatchewan. “It’s still the centre for our company and where we’re based, even though we reach out to all sorts of different markets now.”
The company expanded into Calgary and Edmonton within the first seven years of its founding. It also established a realty business and added building materials to its operations. That early growth was about more than reaching new cities: Qualico was becoming more involved in the work behind building and managing property.
More Than a Homebuilder
Katherine Friesen helped design and sell Qualico’s first homes before going on to lead Rancho Realty. For Ward, her role is an important part of the company’s history. “In the ’50s, having a woman involved in the leadership and growth of a real estate company wasn’t a common thing,” he says. “Katherine was an incredibly integral part.”
As Qualico began acquiring income properties, Rancho grew beyond home sales to manage the properties the company owned. It was one of several businesses that found room to take on more. “When people have ideas or a passion to follow something, or someone brings an opportunity, there’s a real willingness to hear them out at Qualico,” Ward says.
It wasn’t just Rancho Realty that was needing more room to grow. Star Building Materials began by supplying Qualico’s builders and eventually took on customers outside the company. Qualico was assembling wall sections and other components indoors as early as the 1960s, helping construction continue through the short Prairie building seasons.
“In the ’50s, having a woman involved in the leadership and growth of a real estate company wasn’t a common thing. Katherine was an incredibly integral part.”
– Bryan Ward,
Regional Vice-President for Manitoba & Saskatchewan
In 2025, Star’s Winnipeg operation began producing prefabricated wall panels for Qualico’s single-family and multifamily builders in response to a shortage of experienced framers.
“The ability to pre-manufacture exterior and interior wall panels helps our builder partners achieve greater consistency in quality while giving them more control over construction timelines and site efficiencies,” says Mark Kennedy, Vice-President of Star Building Materials Winnipeg.
The businesses work together, but each has room to develop on its own. “We all want to be the best in whatever we’re doing,” Ward says. “We work alongside one another, but there’s also this entrepreneurial and competitive nature to our business.”
That approach helped Rancho grow past selling homes and managing Qualico’s own properties. Its story leads to the commercial development and property management business many BOMA members know today.
From Rancho to Qualico Properties
In 2022, Qualico brought Rancho’s residential, office, and retail property management work together with Qualico Commercial’s development and leasing business under the Qualico Properties name. Rancho’s third-party condominium management business remained separate.
The change brought decades of property work into one main business. Qualico Properties could develop and lease a site, then continue to manage it after tenants moved in.
Laurent Soret is Vice President and General Manager at Qualico Properties in Winnipeg. “Qualico Communities creates new neighbourhoods, while Qualico’s homebuilders
deliver high-quality homes that attract residents and establish new markets in growing areas,” he says. “Qualico Properties builds on that foundation by developing the retail, office, and industrial spaces that support those communities.”
The portfolio extends beyond neighbourhood retail. In early 2026, Qualico Properties reported close to five million square feet of property across several Western Canadian cities, including commercial space and residential apartments. Its Winnipeg multi-residential portfolio alone included about 1,500 units.
“We develop and manage commercial properties with long-term value in mind, creating places where people can work, shop and access services.”
– Laurent Soret,
Vice President & General Manager, Qualico Properties
In Edmonton, Qualico’s 28-storey EPCOR Tower opened in 2011 as the first phase of Station Lands. The office tower now stands alongside apartments and a public plaza as the former rail yard takes shape as a mixed-use district, with more commercial space planned.
In Winnipeg, Sage Village East shows how Qualico’s businesses can meet on a single site. Qualico Properties developed the nearly 10,000-square-foot commercial block beside StreetSide Winnipeg’s Sage Village condominiums in Sage Creek. The space was fully leased by late 2025, with tenants chosen to add to the services already available in the neighbourhood.
“There was interest and high demand for these units right from the very beginning,” Soret said when Qualico announced the leasing milestone.
For Soret, choosing tenants is part of a relationship that continues well after construction. “Our focus extends beyond constructing buildings or filling space in the short term,” he says. “We develop and manage commercial properties with long-term value in mind, creating places where people can work, shop and access services.”
That responsibility continues after tenants move in. At Winnipeg’s River Park Village shopping centre, Qualico had to plan upgrades while businesses remained open. When renovations started in 2021, the work included the centre’s grocery anchor and plans for additional buildings.
The team made it a priority to keep customers informed that stores were still open and coordinated any construction work around the times that worked best for the individual retailers.
Soret has watched demand for those spaces transform. “One of the most significant changes I have seen is the pace of Winnipeg’s population growth over the past 20 years,” he says. “That growth has created demand not only for more housing, but also for the commercial spaces, services, and amenities needed to support expanding communities.”
He has also seen Winnipeg’s economic stability attract businesses from across Canada. That interest gives owners more to consider when deciding which businesses suit a location.
“We also look for businesses that meet the needs of the surrounding community and have the potential to succeed and continue serving it for years to come,” Soret says.
Qualico Properties has shown patience with a commercial parcel at the entrance to Sage Creek Village North. The prominent site remained vacant while the team worked to secure an anchor tenant and decide what other businesses would suit the location. As market conditions changed, so did the plans for one of the last undeveloped parcels at Sage Creek’s entrance.
This fourth and final phase will complete the area’s commercial offerings. Plans include a grocery store, restaurants, fitness facilities, and other neighbourhood services, although tenant negotiations were still underway when Qualico announced the phase in August 2026.
“Patience and vision have been key qualities in Qualico’s long-term success,” Soret says.
People and the Industry Around Them
Trained as a city planner, Ward had always wanted to work in housing, though he had not expected to work for a developer. Qualico appealed to him as a local company that supported employees’ involvement beyond their regular jobs.
Ward chairs the board of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. “I can do that, which does take time, in part because our company values that and supports me and others in getting involved in the community,” he says.
Qualico’s connection with Habitat extends across its Manitoba team. In 2026, 20 employees spent two days at Habitat’s 900 Pandora Avenue West build in Transcona. Habitat Manitoba’s largest homebuilding project, it is planned to provide homes for 55 families when completed. Qualico has also supported Habitat’s Women Build Speaker Series since it began in 2018.
“Our company values and supports me and others in getting involved in the community.”
– Bryan Ward,
Regional Vice-President for Manitoba & Saskatchewan
For its anniversary year, Qualico set a company- wide goal of 7,500 employee volunteer hours, encouraging staff to spend time with organizations in the places where they live and work.
The company is also investing in new people entering the industry. In 2025, Qualico announced a $1.25-million gift to RRC Polytech to support skilled trades education, focusing on Indigenous learners and women. The partnership gives students opportunities to meet people already working in the industry and see projects firsthand.
Ward says employees gain something from taking part, too. “It’s good for me, in gaining experience, meeting people, and understanding other parts of the industry that we’re in,” he says. “It really is completely mutually beneficial.”
That exchange of experience also happens through industry relationships. Soret points to the connections Qualico has made as a BOMA member. “BOMA Manitoba has successfully connected us with many great companies with whom we now do business,” he says.
“Our monthly member luncheons have also been very productive, providing opportunities to find solutions to real estate issues and exchange perspectives on various aspects of owning and managing commercial real estate in Winnipeg.”
Still Making Room to Grow
Qualico has begun building homes in Sage North as work at Sage Creek approaches completion. In Oakbank, servicing began this year at Emberside, the company’s first community there. Ward says the goal is to have show homes ready for the fall 2027 Parade of Homes.
At Sage Creek, he has seen how long it takes for a new neighbourhood to feel established. “It takes a long time for trees to mature and parks to establish and communities to build within them,” he says. “It isn’t quick.”
When asked to describe Qualico’s legacy in a few words, Ward returns to the company’s tagline. “For me, it’s going to be a bit cheesy, but it’s ‘helping build better cities,’” he says. “Especially for me as a planner, coming from city planning and community design, it fits with what I hope we’re trying to do pretty much every day.”