Our 100 Years - Sifton 100 Years

Message from our president

Wow! Celebrating a 100^th anniversary as an organization is a big achievement; one that the Sifton family is honoured to realize. Not only are we filled with gratitude for the opportunities that helped us reach this milestone, we look back in awe on the journey we’ve taken as a family company. That family includes every employee, partner and customer that has played a part in shaping our goals and realizing our dreams.

100 Steps Forward – what does this mean? Over 100 years our dreams were ever-changing. Together, we navigated a century of twists and turns, dynamic markets and even a global pandemic, one step at a time. As we look back at the footprints that brought us to today, we are full of excitement for the steps that lay ahead of us.

I look forward to sharing more about how we got here, offering an insider glimpse at our organization, and having a lot of fun while we celebrate!

Moments of History & Innovation

1923

Birth of Sifton Construction Company with Harry Sifton building his first homes on Rosedale Avenue.

1930

Sifton Diversifies: Sifton perseveres through the Great Depression by expanding their product to include larger, more distinctive homes.

1949

Sifton develops London’s first ever subdivision on Braemar Crescentwith 57 homes outside of city limits.

1950

Oakridge Acres: Sifton creates Canada’s first planned community spanning 74 acres and including 1,649 housing units. This was facilitated by building the first privately developed public sewage treatment plant, now known as the Oxford Street Pollution Plant.

1962

Sifton Bog: Mowbray Sifton donates The Sifton Bog, totalling 103 acres, to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authorityand city residents, starting a tradition of significant parkland donations.

1964

Berkshire Village: Sifton builds London’s first residential townhouse complex known as Berkshire Village.

1970

Sifton builds its most diverse community in Westmount including Westmount Shopping Centre, multiple levels of housing, community and commercial development. Sifton expands outside of London delivering excellent customer experiences to residents in Guelph and Brantford. Sifton begins placing the iconic Sifton brick in their homes.

1978

Solar Home: Sifton takes a progressive leap and builds London’s first solar home.

1989

Sifton Family Foundation was established, focusing on community outreach. Collectively, the foundation’s endowments currently represent over $12 million.

1992

One London Place: After 4 years of construction, Sifton opens One London Place, the tallest and most energy efficient building in Southwestern Ontario.

1995

Sifton moves into the retirement industry with the acquisition of Devonshire Erin Mills Incorporated.

2000

Sifton begins construction of Ontario’s first gated golf community: RiverBend Golf Community

2009

Sifton named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.

2010

Sifton constructs first production-built tripled labeled home in London (ENERGYSTARⓇ qualified, LEEDⓇ Registered, and GreenhouseTM Certified).

2015

Sifton leads the way for sustainable developments and energy efficiency when it breaks ground at West 5, the largest multi-use sustainable development project in North America. Sifton unveils London’s first Net Zero Home which is built to generate as much energy as it consumes.

2017

Sifton moves into The Sifton Centre, the first of many Net Zero buildings in West 5.

2018

Sifton places first bee hive colony at West 5, later expanding to 10 hives company-wide and over 1,000,000 bees at the height of the season.

2019

Ministry of Natural Resources announces investment in Helio, Canada’s first mixed-use, multi-unit residential high-rise building to target net-zero energy. Helio opens bringing new residents to West 5 alongside West 5 townhomes.

2021

The Ontario government names West 5 a new demonstration project to explore how a community can work together to generate renewable energy and help protect the environment.

2023