Multiplex builds success with global opportunities

Ivony Vistan counts on Multiplex Construction Canada Ltd. to back her in both her job as the project manager of a 325,000-square-foot residential waterfront development on Toronto’s Queens Quay West, and as an expectant mother preparing to welcome her second child.

“I’ve always had the support of my team and of the company,” says Vistan, who joined Multiplex nine years ago after graduating from the University of Toronto with a civil engineering degree. “My transition to maternity leave and back to work was super smooth with my first child and I expect it to be that way again.”

Vistan has been busy this fall completing the challenging Quay project, which involved constructing a new 21-storey tower and a 77-unit extension to a building, before she takes a one-year maternity leave.

“It’s a huge logistical challenge to get the work done but we’ve got great people working on the project,” she says. “We are constrained pretty much on all sides. On the north side, we’ve got the Gardiner Expressway and the Lakeshore. On the south side, we’ve got Queen’s Quay, which is quite busy, and then we’ve got the existing buildings on either side of the new tower.”

Since joining Multiplex as a project coordinator, Vistan has taken on bigger projects and increasing responsibilities, proving she can get the job done well in a male-dominated industry. “Construction is amazing for women,” she says. “At Multiplex, there is no discrimination because you’re a woman. Once you show you can do the work, the guys are very quick to consult you for answers and trust your judgment.”

With its home base in Australia, Multiplex operates with more than 2,500 employees on three continents. While the majority of its work in Canada is in the Greater Toronto Area, where it is also building the Etobicoke Civic Centre and a 44-storey tower on Yonge Street, the company is active too in Whitby, Kitchener and Hamilton, says Andréa Rinaldi, vice president, business development and procurement.

Working for an international company means local employees have opportunities to live abroad and work on projects in the United Kingdom or Australia. “We have all the benefits of working for a large global company but locally we are a fairly boutique-style contractor,” Rinaldi says. “We have good opportunities for young people. Folks who come in and work hard and produce results are recognized and rewarded.”

Vistan is an example of this. This year, she took part in Multiplex’s manager training program. “It’s been awesome,” she says. “It was reassuring to learn I didn’t have to fit into a mould to be an effective leader.”

Through the program, she developed more leadership skills and engaged in professional coaching sessions where she dove deeper into different approaches to addressing conflict and finding resolution.

“We value people. We put a lot into the development of our people,” Rinaldi says.

One of the other ways Vistan feels valued by her employer is through the benefits Multiplex offers. During her maternity leave, she will get topped up to 100 per cent of her salary for 17 weeks, continue to receive benefits and accrue vacation time.

Construction is a demanding industry, so when Vistan and the company’s other employees aren’t working, they like to have fun and give back to the community. This fall, they held their seventh annual charity golf day, raising more than $15,000 for the Smiles of Innocence Memorial Charity in support of SickKids Foundation.

“It’s a fun place to work. We work hard, play hard,” Rinaldi says.

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto’s Top Employers winners, published December 3, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.