Sylvain Bertrand to receive seniors' foundation community merit award

Tashi Farmilo

Sylvain Bertrand, president of BBL Construction, will receive the community merit award of the Fondation pour les aînés de l'Outaouais on October 24 at the Cabane en bois rond in Hull. The wine and cheese evening will recognize his philanthropy and raise money for seniors' programming in the region.

The foundation says the honour goes to a business leader who believes a company's success should show up in concrete contributions to the community. Bertrand's own path began in accounting. He holds CPA and MBA designations and founded BBL in 2009 with Nadia Boucher, who is now vice-president of the commercial division. The company, based on Boulevard des Affaires, works as a general contractor on commercial, institutional and high-rise residential projects across the Outaouais, and sells a turnkey approach that runs from design to construction. Its website records groundbreakings for a new Boulons Éclair warehouse and for the Quadécor logistics centre on Chemin Industriel.

The foundation's tribute emphasizes that he did not get there alone. It credits a leadership circle that includes associates Marie-Pier Lanthier, Isabelle Massie and Sabrina Boucher, who joined BBL's management committee after years with the company. Benoit Chrétien leads the multi-residential division, and Sylvie Carbonneau serves as general manager. The foundation also points to a profit-sharing program open to every employee, which it says reflects his view that success is built by a team.

The same outlook shapes his giving, according to the foundation. It says Bertrand and BBL have backed many regional causes with money and construction know-how, and that he takes an active interest in them, enlisting his staff and using his influence to bring other partners on board. The foundation describes this as a responsibility rather than image-building.

The company says it met a target of 2,500 hours of volunteer work and set the same goal for 2024. In 2023, it says, its team helped clean up the Parc de l'Aéroport, dove into Lac Vert to haul out garbage and planted 100 mature trees in the Boucher forest, which the company calls one of the largest plantings in the forest's history. It also reports assembling more than 250 school bags with 17 partners and supporting a blood and plasma drive with Héma-Québec.

Peers have taken notice. The Gatineau Chamber of Commerce named Bertrand personality of the year at its Excelor awards on November 18, 2023, before about 1,000 guests at the Hilton Lac-Leamy, and BBL took home the chamber's philanthropic commitment prize that night. This spring, he was among three finalists for executive of the year at the gala of the Regroupement des gens d'affaires de la Capitale nationale, a francophone business network, held May 7 at the Château Cartier. The foundation says he won. It describes him as a builder of projects who is just as much a builder of a stronger future for his community.

For a builder, the venue is a fitting one. The Cabane began in 1975 as a modest log building on the grounds of the Collège de l'Outaouais, raised as part of a course in piece-on-piece log construction. The foundation's history describes founder Pierre Schnobb picking out logs during the river's timber drive and having them hauled ashore, with friends of friends chipping in advice and technical help for free. When the college decided to enlarge the building in 1986, volunteers again did much of the work, reportedly being handed nails and told to bring their own hammers and sweat. By October the money had run out before the roof was finished, which set off a second fundraising campaign. The foundation, created on August 1, 1983, gained exclusive rights to use and manage the Cabane in 1988, after promising the college it would complete construction and finance it.

All proceeds from the evening will go to its mission which includes managing the Cabane. A sommelier who is an accredited wine adviser with the SAQ, will guide the cheese and wine pairings. A painting by artist Nathalie Dupras, donated to the foundation, will be auctioned, and part of the ticket price is eligible for a tax receipt. The foundation says a donation from anyone who cannot attend helps about 1,000 seniors keep taking part in activities, courses, conferences and other leisure activities at the Cabane.

Seating is limited. Tickets can be reserved online, by phone at 819-777-3595 or by email at fao@vl.videotron.ca. They are also sold at office 108 of the foundation, inside the Cabane at 331 Cité-des-Jeunes Boulevard.