Lafarge Canada, Inc.

farge Canada, Inc:

Forging a Path in Sustainability

Written by Kristin D’Agostino Produced by Stephen Marino

Founded in 1833 in La Teil, France by Joseph-Auguste Pavin de Lafarge, Lafarge Canada, Inc can trace its lineage back to the Suez Canal, its first construction project back in 1864, which required 110,000 tons of lime from its limestone quarry. Since then, the construction company has steadily grown, merging with Holcim Group in 2015, and forging a reputation for being Canada’s largest provider of sustainable and innovative building solutions

With 6,900 employees and 400 sites across Canada, Lafarge specializes in environmentally friendly construction solutions including Aggregates, Cement, Ready Mix and Precast Concrete, Asphalt and Paving, and Road and Civil Construction.

“We are actually quite a big waste solutions company and growing,” explains Eastern Canada President & CEO David Redfern. “We are also adding roofing systems. And we are a huge logistics company. Probably about 25% of our revenue is derived from logistics.”

Lafarge’s purpose is to build progress for people and the planet creating safe, sustainable communities and the company has streamlined its operations to align with this goal, using

“We are being pushed to more creative climate is changing, and we infrastructure… I look at the operations getting that once in a hundred year year. We look at the weather patterns

- CEO David “

creative design,” he reflects. “The we need much more resilient operations I run and, you know, we’re year flood now sometimes twice a patterns and it’s a huge change.”

David Redfern

EQUIPMENT

Since 1988, Tri-City Equipment has grown from a modest one-man operation, to an industry leader in on-site equipment and earthworks solutions. We specialize in renting top quality heavy equipment and completing earthmoving projects throughout Ontario. From working in pits and quarries, overburden stripping , silt removal and rehabilitation, we enable top construction firms to successfully fulfill projects of any size and scale.

Tri-City Equipment is proud par tners of La farge Canada. We have established a close working relationship and look forward to continued success.

recycled materials whenever possible, digitizing its operations, and creating low carbon cement that greatly reduces harmful CO2 emissions. ECOPlanet Ultra Low Carbon Cement, and OneCem Portland Limestone Cement offer standard cement grade performance with less carbon footprint.

“We can do OneCem for the same cost as regular cement,” Redfern explains. “We’re really moving to convert all of the general use cement (GU) to OneCem and we’re almost there. It’s a straight 10% reduction in CO2 per tonne… With ECOPlanet we’re starting to use more specialized techniques

to reduce the CO2 footprint. Someone can say I want this strength, this characteristic and depending on how elastic their ability on cost is, we can push it significantly. In general, it’s at least 30% lower than a mix with general use of cement.”

When it comes to its environmental goals, Holcim and Lafarge put their money where their mouth is. The global Group offers sustainabilitylinked bonds to shareholders and aims to move 40% of financing to these bonds. “Really what this means is if we don’t meet these targets, we’ve publicly stated on these key metrics there will be an extra coupon or penalty for us

and the bond holders,” says Redfern. “September of last year I think they issued a $100 million USD bond with the stipulations on it, so it’s right at the center of what we’re doing.”

The company also supports a circular economy and uses recycled materials whenever possible in its operations. This includes replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon fuel derived from waste materials and taking concrete from demolition sites and turning it into a product for new buildings.

Lafarge Canada is on a journey to Net Zero and advancement towards sustainable and profitable

development. In their operations across Canada, they have committed to transition their lightduty fleet to electric vehicles by 2025, creating the potential of reducing over 25,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions across Canada. For instance, Lafarge Eastern Canada has been providing employees and suppliers with electric vehicles stations for over four yearscurrently they have 10 operating charging stations in Eastern Canada and will install 40 new stations across Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia by the end of this year with 100s more in future years. In August of 2022 Lafarge’s Western Canada announced the launching of four electric vehicle

“ We are proud to bring our preeminent expertise to critical projects across North America. Through our long-standing partnership with Lafarge, we’re safely and sustainably building the infrastructure of tomorrow.”

JOIN OUR TEAM

Build and operate the infrastructure of tomorrow. Aecon is currently recruiting for a wide range of construction, operational and functional service roles to work on transformative projects across Canada. As a first-choice employer, we’re looking for talented and diverse individuals to build what matters and help future generations thrive.

Apply today: aecon.com/careers

Aecon is purpose-built to deliver transformative infrastructure projects

Jean-Louis Servranckx, President & CEO, Aecon Group Inc.

charging stations at its Kent Ave Ready Mix Concrete plant in Vancouver, British Columbia. The stations mark the first of 100 charging stations Lafarge aims to install at 30 sites across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba with the aim of transitioning their light duty vehicle fleet to electric vehicles by 2025. This would potentially eliminate 188 tons of C02 emissions over the course of five years.

Rapid Transformation

Redfern has seen many changes since he came to Lafarge 25 years ago. The CEO says he started “with the shovel” working road crews in the days when university

students did manual labor. After studying at university in the UK, he joined Lafarge and worked all over Canada from Vancouver to Toronto. In the two-and-a-half decades since he has seen many mergers and acquisitions. When asked what advice he might give his younger self, Redfern chuckles, “Buy Apple stock?” he jokes. Then a moment later he adds. “Critical to my success is the importance of storytelling… Having a story that people understand and taking time to craft the story is super important. Stakeholders are not going to join you because of some facts and experiences. They’re going to join you because of the story you’re telling.”

The company has worked hard to redefine its story in an ever changing world and it is currently in the midst of digitizing many areas of business from aggregate logistics to the trucks that carry their supplies. They are contemplating switching to autonomous trucks in the future, which would relieve the challenge of finding drivers, an ever-present challenge these days.

Lafarge aims to create a work culture that emphasizes turning ideas into action. “There’s a lot of good ideas out there whether it’s about sustainability or digitalization,” says Redfern. “But it’s tough work to get the ideas through. So someone’s got to be

tenacious. A big part of the people we are hiring have that skill set.”

This tenacious spirit extends to the vendors and subcontractors Lafarge works with. Redfern says the company seeks out long term relationships where trust develops over time. “We have a number of policies and audit processes, a code of conduct that protect us from dealing with the bad actors and ensure we’re on the right side of the line.”

Overcoming Challenges

The construction industry has seen its share of covid -related challenges, Lafarge included. Among them, Redfern lists cement

Reliability

Preventive maintenance avoids on-road breakdowns. When a truck is non-operational, it's not profitable and incurs costtowing, recovery, and missed deliveries. Many breakdowns can be avoided by applying a rigorous preventive maintenance program that avoids equipment failure before it occurs. A robust maintenance program instills confidence and reliability of your vehicles to deliver the goods.

Safety

In truck transport, failure to maintain can be fatal. Whether it’s brakes, tires, engines, or electrical problems, a disciplined program of scheduled maintenance helps truck equipment and systems work as they should, when they should, where they should. A maintenance program can save the lives of drivers, and others while avoiding the loss of cargo.

RELIABILITY. SAFETY. EFFICIENCY. ECONOMY. OUR FLEET PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM PROVIDES THEM ALL

Effieciency Economy

Preventive maintenance, performed on-time and prescribed intervals, by qualified technicians, results in greater fuel efficiency, better operational performance, and helps drivers and fleet operators meet the demands and schedules of their customers.

A Disciplined, Rigorous, Maintenance Program Pays Dividends. Ask Us How We Can Make it Pay for You.

Without a disciplined and well-planned maintenance program, performed by skilled technicians, fleets will incur unnecessary costs Parts will be replaced at unplanned times, unexpected failures may occur, and vehicle power trains may run with less efficiency than if they had been rigorously maintained. Everything from dirty filters to improper pressure, fluid leaks, dirty components, and other maintenance issues seem small, but are big when it comes to the economics of operating a truck and a truck fleet.

info@tristanfleet.com

shortages, a super tight supply chain and “the zoomification” of work life during the pandemic. “I think if anyone had said that within 24 hours’ notice you were going to start working from home for two years off and on,” he says, “I would’ve said no way, it’s not possible… It was kind of a grind, you know, going on ten zoom calls from your basement. But, what it really did drive was more proactive planning and much more focus on the numbers and the details… And that translated into some incredible execution.”

The biggest challenge these days though is one that won’t likely

go away anytime soon. “We are being pushed to more creative design,” he reflects. “The climate is changing, and we need much more resilient infrastructure… I look at the operations I run and you know, we’re getting that oncein-a-hundred-year-flood now sometimes twice a year. We look at the weather patterns and it’s a huge change.”

To tackle this problem, Redfern says, the company has worked hard to change its standards and to make sustainability the profitable solution. Lafarge has expanded its stakeholders to include sustainability groups

such as the Circular Economy Leadership Council of Canada and the National Zero Waste Council. “What we like about it … it’s a place where we can speak to political leaders about how to operationalize some of their

ambitions,” he says.

“Our purpose,” he adds, “is building progress for people and the planet. And really, that is our North Star that we gauge all our actions against.”

“Our purpose,” he adds, “Is building progress for people and the planet. And really, that is our North Star that we gauge all our actions against.”

“- CEO David Redfern