Our story

WSP is a globally-recognized professional services firm employing approximately 49,000 people.

WSP is one of the world's leading professional services firms. WSP provides technical expertise and strategic advice to clients in the Transportation & Infrastructure, Property & Buildings, Environment, Industry, Resources (including Mining and Oil & Gas) and Energy sectors, as well as offering project and program delivery and advisory services. Its experts include engineers, advisors, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors and environmental specialists, as well as other design, program and construction management professionals.

Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 9,500 employees in 150 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.

In Canada, two engineering services firms, G.B.G.M. Ltd and Les Consultants Dupuis Côté, Inc. began operating in Quebec City in 1959. The two firms merged in 1987 to become Groupe-Conseil Solivar Inc., which acquired two more companies at the beginning of the 1990s, thus establishing its multidisciplinary approach. In 1993, geographic expansion began with the acquisition of three firms in Montreal and the company name changed to GENIVAR. Between 1993 and 2006 GENIVAR acquired at least 30 firms, establishing operations all across the province of Quebec. The company also entered the Ontario market. Between 2006 and 2012, over 60 firms were added and GENIVAR became one of the largest professional services firms in Canada, with offices in all provinces.

In 2012 GENIVAR acquired WSP Group PLC, a multidisciplinary consultancy based in London, UK, creating a professional services firm with 15,000 employees working in 300 offices worldwide. In January 2014, the company reorganized as WSP Global Inc. and adopted WSP as its brand. In the first quarter of 2014, Focus Group Holding Inc. joined the Corporation, strengthening the Corporation’s presence in the province of Alberta.

In 2015, we announced the acquisition of MMM Group, one of the largest privately-owned engineering consulting firms in Canada, as well as the acquisitions of Levelton and SPL Consultants.

WSP USA traces its origins back to 1885, when William Barclay Parsons founded the company that would become Parsons Brinckerhoff in New York City. Early projects included the design of the original New York City subway system and the Cape Cod Canal, as well as consulting for hydropower projects in New York State. The firm has worked on many of the major transit systems in the U.S., including San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Seattle, and has designed countless highways, bridges and tunnels, in addition to consulting on energy, water/wastewater and community development projects.

Parsons Brinckerhoff was acquired in 2014 by WSP, a global professional services consultancy.

WSP first entered the US market in 2000 through the acquisitions of Cantor Seinuk, a structural engineering firm established in 1953, and of Flack + Kurtz, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering business founded in 1969. The two firms later comprised the buildings service line of the company. Environment & Energy, an environmental and energy consulting business established in 1986, became part of the company in 2006.

The following year, WSP acquired Chas H. Sells, Inc., a firm established in 1925. During its history, Chas H. Sells, Inc. worked on such iconic New York projects as Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and the Gowanus Expressway. The firm is also known for its expertise in the planning and design of large-scale developments, including residences and offices. After its acquisition in 2007, it became WSP's transport and infrastructure engineering group in the U.S., with a specialization in bridge design and engineering.

In 2014, following the acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff, WSP acquired ccrd, a Texas-based MEP engineering and commissioning firm with deep experience in building for the healthcare, science and technology markets. ccrd was the MEP engineer for the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin, the world's first LEED® Platinum hospital.

WSP expanded its buildings services in the Midwest with the acquisition of Halvorson and Partners in 2015. The structural engineering firm, established in Chicago in 1996, provided structural designs for high-profile, award-winning projects in the U.S. and internationally, including the Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower in Abu Dhabi, which won the 2015 Best Tall Building Award for the Middle East and Africa from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats.

WSP acquired the water management division of Schlumberger, a specialist in the development, management and environmental protection of water resources, in 2016. Later that year, WSP also acquired substantially all the assets of CRC, a New York-based firm with expertise in central utility plants and cogeneration systems.

In 2017, WSP acquired Leggette, Brashears & Graham, a groundwater and environmental engineering services firm with seven decades of wide-ranging experience in hydrogeology, groundwater and surface water modeling, dewatering and depressurization, environmental investigation and remediation. We acquired YR&G, a sustainable design and consulting firm with offices in NYC, Chicago, Denver and Portland; this greatly expanded our sustainability services, adding consulting to our offering. The acquisition of Willoughby Engineers, an MEP firm with offices in Dallas and Chicago, expanded our MEP presence in Chicago and added additional market sector expertise to our Dallas office.

With the addition of Louis Berger in 2018, WSP now has approximately 48,000 talented people globally, and is uniquely positioned to deliver successful and sustainable projects, to wherever its clients need are.

Today, WSP USA continues to enjoy growth and enrichment of its service offering. Every milestone reached has enabled us to better fulfill our purpose of preparing our communities and environment for the future.

Parsons Brinckerhoff in the UK traces its roots back over 125 years through three consulting engineering practices: MRM Partnership, Kennedy & Donkin and Merz and McLellan.

MRM Partnership, a multidisciplinary consultancy first established in 1887, was acquired by WMX Technologies Inc. in the US in 1993, and in 1994 became Rust Consulting Limited. Kennedy & Donkin, originally focused on power generation and distribution projects, was founded in 1889. In 1994, Kennedy & Donkin was also sold to WMX Technologies Inc. and became Rust, Kennedy & Donkin.

In 1995, Parsons Brinckerhoff acquired Merz and McLellan, another century-old power engineering consultancy, based in Newcastle, UK. In 1997, Rust, Kennedy & Donkin and Rust Consulting integrated their expertise, and the company was purchased by Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1998.  

The Williams Sale Partnership Limited was established in 1969 as a building services consultancy in the UK. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987 as WSP. Between 1990 and 1995, UK-based acquisitions added structural and civil engineering capability to WSP’s skills portfolio. From 1996 to 1999, acquisitions were completed in the UK and South Africa, and then in 2001 WSP acquired Jacobson & Widmark in Sweden and two smaller Finnish consultancies. In 2003, further acquisitions in Finland increased our presence in the Nordics.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has been active in the Middle East since the 1940s. From 2005 to 2006, WSP gained a meaningful presence in the Middle East with two acquisitions in the region. In 2007, further acquisitions in Germany and the Middle East reinforced WSP’s profile as a global consultant. In 2014, the acquisition of Technip TPS, specialising in building and infrastructure engineering, enhanced our presence in the French market. In 2015, Faveo Group was acquired in Scandinavia. In 2016, further acquisitions were made in Sweden, Norway, Finland and the United Kingdom. In 2018, Kontigo and UnionConsult (based in Sweden and Norway) joined WSP. In 2019, we acquired Orbicon, a Denmark-based environmental consulting firm with a strong presence in the Nordics. We also acquired Lievense, a Netherlands-based multidisciplinary consulting firm, which enabled us to establish a footprint in the Dutch market.