About SOPREMA
Innovative and Sustainable Solutions for Builders
Since 1908, SOPREMA has been improving people’s well-being and protecting their environment with innovative and sustainable waterproofing, insulation, soundproofing and vegetated solutions for builders in the roofing, building envelope and civil engineering sectors.
SOPREMA Canada employs over 1,000 people in 14 manufacturing facilities and 11 technical-sales support offices located throughout Canada, including the Research and Development Centre in Drummondville, Québec.
Since beginning operations in Canada in 1978, SOPREMA has manufactured and installed millions of square metres of membranes. Each year, thousands of building professionals choose SOPREMA for the quality of its products and the comprehensive service of its technical support team. Indeed, SOPREMA develops all of its products around the idea that material quality, durability and reliability must meet builders’ expectations and ambitions.
Discover Seven Reasons to Choose SOPREMA Products for the Construction of Your Building.
Mission, Vision and Values
Our Mission
Ensure company growth and profitability with:
- Innovation and business opportunities
- The autonomy and skills of our employees
- Efficient production of quality products
- The best technical support in the industry
- The sale of products for waterproofing systems for buildings and civil engineering structures and for industrial applications
We improve people’s well-being by protecting their environments with innovative and sustainable solutions for builders.
Our Vision
To be the leader in the areas of development, production and sale of products that meet and exceed the requirements of our markets.
Building for Life.
A century-old company recognizes the influence it has on its profession and the importance of the role it must play for the future. At SOPREMA, this conviction drives us to inspire responsible construction and enable smarter, more resilient environments worldwide.
Because everything we do today impacts tomorrow, it’s up to each and every one of us to make that impact a positive one.
Because Earth is also our home, we must do everything we can to keep it healthy.
Building for Life.
A century-old company recognizes the influence it has on its profession and the importance of the role it must play for the future. At SOPREMA, this conviction drives us to inspire responsible construction and enable smarter, more resilient environments worldwide.
Because everything we do today impacts tomorrow, it’s up to each and every one of us to make that impact a positive one.
Because Earth is also our home, we must do everything we can to keep it healthy.
Building For Life
Our Values
Integrity and Respect
Integrity and respect will always be at the foundation of our relationships with customers, suppliers, colleagues, and the community.
Commitment
We are committed to excellence in all of our undertakings. We will exercise judgment, professionalism, diligence, personal discipline, perseverance, team spirit and a strong focus on customer satisfaction.
The Environment
ll activities and growth must target sustainable development to minimize the impact on the environment.
Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Success
Our strength in innovating and constantly progressing is driven by our people. Go-getters, high achievers and ambitious collaborators, leveraging their entrepreneurial spirit and determination to succeed by serving and protecting communities with real solutions to crucial issues.
Respectful by Nature
For us, integrity, fairness, attentive listening, and respect form the cornerstone of our relationships with clients, collaborators, and the community. All our actions are guided by a humble willingness to learn, seizing every opportunity to improve and do better.
Dare to Care
Leading by example requires courage, but above all, the ability to surround oneself with the best, promote collaboration, and nurture deep, sincere relationships. It involves daring to think beyond the immediate, anticipating needs, breaking from convention, and placing the long-term well-being of others at the centre of our decisions and actions.
Build a Better Future
Building with awareness takes rigour, perseverance and reliability. We’ve been doing it for over a century now. And we shall continue to do so, both intelligently and sustainably, driven by our desire to redefine industry standards and lead the evolution of our profession.
SOPREMA in Figures
In Canada
One North American head office in Drummondville, Quebec
11 sales offices
14 production units
More than 100 technicians and technical representatives
One research centre located in Drummondville, with more than 20 people working full time
11 training centres
Internationally
One head office in Strasbourg, France
More than 11,200 employees worldwide
More than 120 subsidiaries
128 production plants worldwide
23 research centres
270 maintained patents
48 training centres in 15 countries
History
1908: Sir Charles Geisen, a building materials trader, founds Les Usines Alsaciennes d’Émulsions in Strasbourg, France.
1909: Charles Geisen discovers a material that is impermeable yet flexible and easy to apply: canvas dipped in hot bitumen. As the finished product resembles the skin of an elephant, it is called “MAMMOUTH” (the French word for mammoth). Some installations built with this product have not been touched since, and some of them are more than 80 years old!
1914: The company expands into Switzerland.
1933: Pierre Geisen, the founder’s son, becomes President of the company.
1941: Pierre Geisen builds a new plant in Avignon, and founds SOPREMA, SOciété des PRoduits et Revêtements d’Étanchéité MAmmouth (The Mammoth Waterproofing Products and Coatings Company).
1975: The laboratory in Strasbourg develops the first line of SBS elastomeric bitumen waterproofing products called SOPRALENE.
1978: Market development spreads to Canada. A Canadian division is created in Québec to introduce SOPRALENE to North America.
1978: SOPREMA Canada establishes its head office in Drummondville, Québec.
1981: Growing demand for airtightness in Canadian buildings creates an opportunity for SOPREMA to take part in the development of building envelope products. Working with the National Research Council, SOPREMA develops an air/vapour barrier product called SOPRASEAL 180.
1982: SOPREMA Canada introduces parking-deck and foundation waterproofing products.
1984: SOPREMA opens its first Canadian production facility in Drummondville, Québec.
1987: SOPREMA’s product lines continue to expand with the addition of waterproofing products for bridges.
1992: Pierre Geisen steps down and appoints his grandson Pierre-Étienne BINDSCHEDLER as President of SOPREMA.
1995: Two new products are launched, which allow SOPREMA to leverage its waterproofing expertise in environmental protection. First, ENVIRONAP bitumen geomembranes are introduced on the market for the waterproofing of basins and even as an environmental protection barrier. Then, the same year, SOPREMA launches its brand new SOPRANATURE green roof system that can turn any roof into an actual garden while ensuring complete waterproofing.
1996: SOPREMA innovates with the creation of a North American Research and Development Department at its Drummondville plant.
1996: A new unit is added to the Drummondville facility for the production of self-adhesive air barriers and roofing membranes. This same unit allows the launching of the RESISTO product line for the residential market.
1998: SOPREMA presents its latest innovation in the field of SBS modified bitumen membranes: the MACADEN, the first device for automated installation of waterproofing sheet membranes on bridges and parking lots. This new device allows the installation of 400 m2 of membranes in one operation.
1999: SOPREMA opens a second Canadian production facility in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
2004: SOPREMA CANADA introduces its waterproofing products on the Chinese market. 2008: Following up on its success in China, SOPREMA Canada expands to the Middle East.
2010: The company announces the opening of new offices in the United Arab Emirates and Australia.
2011: SOPREMA opens an office in Singapore.
2011: Richard VOYER is appointed Vice-President and General Manager of SOPREMA North America.
2011: At its North American headquarters in Québec, SOPREMA unveils the Mammouth SPIRIT, the largest bronze statue ever cast in Canada.
2012: SOPREMA opens an office in Brazil.
2012: SOPREMA acquires the entirety of CONVOY, a North American distributor of building and roofing materials.
2013: SOPREMA acquires Texsa (3 plants across Spain and headquartered in Barcelona).
2014: SOPREMA acquires Topox, an extruded polystyrene manufacturer in Spain.
2015: SOPREMA opens a polyisocyanurate plant in Drummondville, Quebec.
2016: SOPREMA acquires CHEM LINK, a producer of polymers, and Benolec, a manufacturer of cellulosic products.
2017: SOPREMA opens a factory in China for the production of PVC waterproofing membranes and acquires ModulR TS, a company specializing in the development of factory prelaminated roof insulation.
2018: SOPREMA opens an extruded polystyrene plant (XPS) in Sherbrooke, Québec.
2018: SOPREMA acquires LAMA, a manufacturer of bituminous waterproofing solutions based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
2018: Opening of a sales office in Mexico.
2019: SOPREMA acquires Benolec, a producer of cellulose insulation in Sainte-Julie.
2020: Opening of an SBS modified bitumen membrane plant in Woodstock (Ontario).
2021: SOPREMA acquires Can-Cell Industries, a company located in Edmonton, Canada, specializing in the production and distribution of insulation products, building materials, and building solutions.
2022: Establishment of a new polyurethane (SPF) production line in Drummondville, Quebec
2023: Acquisition of Prairie Fibre, a company specialized in the production of cellulose insulation located in Steinbach, Manitoba.