Changing Scene

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    Legrand Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Avtron Power Solutions, a Global Provider of Load Banks & Power Quality Solutions

    Legrand has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Avtron Power Solutions, a major global provider of load banks and power quality solutions that serve a wide range of high-growth markets where reliable delivery of power is required. Avtron employs 600 people, operates five manufacturing sites across North America and Europe, and is expected to generate nearly $350 million in revenue in 2025, with high profitability. With a commitment to innovation and quality, Avtron delivers dependable solutions for data centers, healthcare facilities, renewable energy applications and industrial manufacturing sites to ensure that critical power is available when it’s needed by customers worldwide.

  • EB Horsman & Son Announces Adam Dries as New Alberta & Midwest Regional Vice President

    EB Horsman & Son is pleased to announce the promotion of Adam Dries to Regional Vice President for Alberta & Midwest. With over two decades of experience in the electrical industry, Adam has been a driving force in their expansion across Western Canada. Since joining EB Horsman & Son as District Manager for Alberta, he has played an integral role in shaping the company’s presence in the province and beyond. His leadership has guided the successful openings of their Edmonton and Calgary branches, supported the seamless integrations of Intec Controls and MCL, and driven strategy east of the Rockies to build new opportunities for growth. Adam has also been instrumental in hiring and developing top talent and championing the planning and launch of their Alberta Distribution Centre (DC2) in 2024—an important milestone in EB Horsman’s ongoing investment in the region.

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    Sonepar Announces Brand Consolidation in Ontario

    Sonepar proudly announces the consolidation of their Ontario businesses from five brands to two. Aztec, Dixon and MGM will rebrand as a new and refreshed Dixon. Electrozad and Sesco will carry forward the new Electrozad brand. “Through many years of continued growth and acquisitions at Sonepar Canada, we have reached an exciting point in Ontario where we can make changes to our overall brand structure to continue advancing our best-in-class experience for our customers, vendors and associates,” stated Sonepar Canada President Serge Leblanc.  “The alignment of Ontario from five distinct brands to two will allow us to leverage our size and shared knowledge to propel the business forward. We are excited for the growth and synergy this alignment will allow us to bring to market in Ontario.”  Sonepar Ontario President James Taylor added. Brand alignment is expected to take place at the beginning of November. Customers and vendors will be kept informed of changes which may affect them directly. Further details can be found on the operating

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    Bell & Simon Fraser University Team Up to Advance Canada’s AI & Supercomputing Ecosystem

    Bell and Simon Fraser University (SFU) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on advancing Canada’s artificial intelligence (AI) and sovereign supercomputing ecosystem. The Cedar Supercomputing Centre (CSC) located in Burnaby, British Columbia, is one of Canada’s most powerful and energy-efficient research computing platforms. The CSC specializes in handling secure and sensitive data, making it a critical resource for Canadian researchers, industry, and government working on cutting-edge AI applications. Through this agreement, Bell and SFU will work to expand the CSC and provide Canadian researchers and industry users with the computational resources they need to make groundbreaking discoveries and develop innovative solutions to pressing challenges.

  • EB Horsman & Son Announces Maxim Laberge as New Process Instrumentation Manager

    EB Horsman & Son is excited to welcome Maxim Laberge as their new Process Instrumentation Manager. Maxim brings over 25 years of experience in electrical, instrumentation, and control systems, with a proven record in business development, client engagement, and strategic project leadership. He is known for his consultative approach, combining technical insight with a strong focus on building long-term customer partnerships. Throughout his career, Maxim has led proposal pursuits valued at up to $95M, collaborated with EPCs, Owner/Operators, and integrators, and delivered solutions across industries such as water/wastewater, ports/terminals, mining, aluminum, marine, and industrial automation of all kinds. He is a Certified Professional Sales Consultant (CPSC) and fluent in both English and French.

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    Bell Canada & Cohere Forge Strategic Partnership to Deliver Sovereign AI-Powered Solutions for Government and Business

    Bell Canada and security-first enterprise AI company Cohere recently announced a strategic partnership to provide full-stack sovereign AI solutions for government and enterprise customers across Canada, and to deploy proprietary, secure AI solutions within Bell. Cohere will make its secure enterprise-grade AI solutions available through Bell AI Fabric, providing government and enterprise customers with access to fully sovereign, advanced models and customized applications. This includes leveraging North, Cohere’s agentic AI platform for both customers and Bell employees. In turn, Bell will become Cohere’s preferred Canadian AI infrastructure provider, while Cohere will become Bell’s preferred Canadian agentic AI solution and LLM provider. Together, Bell Canada and Cohere will offer a turnkey solution for Canadian organizations that want to deploy world-class AI capabilities, with Cohere now providing cutting edge enterprise AI software to the expanding Bell AI Fabric ecosystem.

  • EB Horsman & Son Announces Stephen Murray as New Calgary Branch Manager

    EB Horsman & Son is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Murray as Branch Manager of their Calgary location. Stephen brings over two decades of experience in the industrial automation sector, where he has built a strong reputation for driving growth, expanding market presence, and developing high-performing teams. His career began as an Electrical Controls Technologist with Stantec, where he specialized in PLC programming, HMI development, and safety integration. He went on to hold leadership positions with SNS Industrial Group, Proax Technologies, and Aztec Electrical Supply, gaining valuable expertise in sales, customer relations, and territory development. Most recently, Stephen served as Regional Vice President of Sales, Western Canada at Siemens Canada. In this role, he successfully led sales strategy and business development across a wide range of industries, consistently delivering value to customers and partners alike.

  • Apex Automation Welcomes Amar Halim to Their Engineering Department in Calgary

    Join Apex in welcoming Amar Halim! Amar is joining their Engineering Department and will be based out of Calgary. With over 20 years of experience in the instrumentation and control world of Canada’s Oil & Gas industry, Amar brings a wealth of knowledge and a truly unique skillset to the Apex team. Throughout his career, Amar has worked across a diverse range of sectors. From conventional gas plants to SAGD operations, heavy oil facilities, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. His journey has taken him to some of the most remote and challenging locations in the country, including Zama, AB, Norman Wells, NWT, Cold Lake, AB, and Kitimat, BC. As a Process Control Engineer, Amar has been directly involved in the full lifecycle of major oil and gas assets; from FEED and design to commissioning and startup. His experience spans Emerson DeltaV (PCS & SIS), Honeywell TDC3000, Yokogawa Centum VP, and numerous PLC systems, giving him an unmatched perspective on solving complex industrial automation challenges. For Amar, Integrity is the cornerstone of his work:

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    Electromate Announces Fall 2025 SPARK Symposiums in Waterloo, Ontario & Montreal, Quebec

    Electromate is pleased to announce its biennial Fall SPARK Symposiums (Showcasing Precision and Robotic Knowledge), scheduled for October 28, 2025, in Waterloo, Ontario, and October 30, 2025, in Montreal, Quebec. The symposiums will feature a tabletop show format accompanied by classroom presentations focusing on robotics and mechatronics. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with leading manufacturers. These complimentary events are tailored for OEMs, machine builders, system integrators, and engineering students. Sorry, no competitors, please.

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    Training More Than 17,300 Canadian Workers to Help Build the Strongest Skilled Trades Workforce in the G7

    The Government of Canada is building one strong Canadian economy. To do so, Canada needs the strongest skilled trades workforce in the G7. By collaborating with unions, the federal government is supporting workers, so they get the skills and training they need and is also creating well-paying sustainable jobs for generations to come. On August 12, while speaking at a conference with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Honourable John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour), on behalf of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, announced close to $10 million in funding for the Western Joint Electrical Training Society. This project will provide innovative, hands-on training to construction electrician apprentices, journeypersons and other workers across Canada to address green skills, knowledge, and competency gaps. Secretary of State Zerucelli also announced more than $3 million to the National Electrical Trade Council for a project that will train Red Seal powerline technicians to use drones for powerline maintenance to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Together, these projects will mean nearly 17,350 workers will be able to upgrade or gain new skills.

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    NOARK Showcases Next-Gen Technology at NECA 2025, Chicago

    NOARK Electric will debut its cutting-edge Ex9VF7 Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) at NECA 2025, September 12–15, at McCormick Place West Convention Center. As attendees step into the Showstopper Showcase Booth (#1800), they will notice NOARK’s VFD demo and engaging multimedia experiences. At the main NOARK booth (#5238)—easily spotted under the signature green NOARK hanging sign—visitors can explore innovations across power distribution, motor control and energy efficiency.

  • Sonepar Announces James Taylor as the New Ontario Region President

    Sonepar announced the appointment of James Taylor, as the new Ontario Region President, effective September 29th, 2025. James has been in the industry for over 20 years and has gained a wealth of experience working for Electrozad and Rockwell Automation. The success he achieved in his previous roles as, Electrozad’s former President and Vice-President Sales and Operations, is a testament to his transformational leadership abilities.

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    Rexel Announces the Launch of Talley Canada

    Rexel is proud to announce the establishment of Talley Canada with its headquarters in Toronto, marking a significant milestone in Rexel’s commitment to strengthening its presence across North America. The expansion into Canada complements Rexel Canada’s existing North American footprint by integrating Talley’s expertise and product offerings with Rexel’s connected and electrified solutions. Leading Talley Canada will be Justin Cameron, who will serve as General Manager for Canada. He will focus on high-growth verticals, including in-building wireless, private LTE, enterprise networks, network coverage densification, broadband infrastructure, and future technology upgrades.

  • Jacmar Announces Michel Lapierre as New Director of Power and Power Quality

    Jacmar is pleased to welcome Michel Lapierre to their team as Director of Power and Power Quality. With his expertise, Michel will contribute to strengthening Jacmar’s support in the optimization of electrical networks and the analysis of power quality (electrical distribution, MCC, power factor, harmonics, imbalance, etc.), essential issues to ensure the performance and reliability of your industrial automation projects. At Jacmar, a member of the Rexel Canada group and active in industrial automation for more than 30 years, they are committed to delivering high-performance, innovative solutions adapted to the real needs of their customers.