Kevin Ford, who spearheaded the rise of Calian Group from a mid-sized local company into a major Canadian defence industry player, is retiring at the end of this year after a decade as CEO of the Kanata-based firm. The 61-year-old Ottawa native will be succeeded in the top job by Patrick Houston, Calian’s chief financial […]
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Kevin Ford, who spearheaded the rise of Calian Group from a mid-sized local company into a major Canadian defence industry player, is retiring at the end of this year after a decade as CEO of the Kanata-based firm.
The 61-year-old Ottawa native will be succeeded in the top job by Patrick Houston, Calian’s chief financial officer and chief development officer, effective Jan. 1, 2026, the company announced Tuesday.
Ford, who joined Calian 15 years ago and became chief executive in 2015, used a sports analogy to explain why he decided now was the time to step down.
“I feel like as a coach of the team that I’ve taught the team everything,” he said in an interview from Calian’s head office on Tuesday. “We’ve done the systems, we’ve done different things. I think some new perspective on the bench is a good thing. I know Pat is going to bring great energy and vision to the company. I felt the timing was right.”
Ford showed an aggressive streak and a willingness to take risks that belied his humble, down-to-earth demeanour during his time at Calian, which began when he left his job as IBM’s global defence leader to take over Calian’s business and technology services division in 2010.
When he moved into the CEO’s suite five years later, Calian’s annual revenues barely cracked the $200-million mark. But Ford – who entered the workforce straight out of high school in the early 1980s as a key-punch operator at software outfit Computel and eventually landed a job as a computer programmer at the Department of National Defence before jumping to the private sector in the mid-1990s – soon charted Calian on a course for growth that has seen its revenues nearly quadruple over the past decade.
As CEO, Ford worked hard to shift the market’s perception of the company as an IT staffing firm, even long after it branched out into sectors such as providing health-care services, building military training software and manufacturing satellite components.
Ford summed up that mission during an interview in 2017, when he was named Ottawa’s CEO of the Year by OBJ and the Ottawa Board of Trade.
“The company was the best-kept secret around, and my job was to come on board and tell the story,” he said.
Revisiting the topic Tuesday, Ford said he was proud of how far the company has come in reshaping its public image.
“I think there’s a book to be written on evolving a company brand,” he said. “I think we’ve made a lot of progress on an unknown brand in the public markets, frankly. We had one analyst following us (in 2015). ‘Sleepy dividend company’ were the words that were kind of used at the time.
“But now I think we’re being viewed as an innovator – as a company that’s going global with a bunch of crazy great technology and innovation across defence, space and health care. I think we’ve made a lot of progress, but I think the journey for Pat and the team is to continue to evolve the brand and continue to take it global. There’s still work to be done, but I’m proud of where we’ve come from.”
Perhaps Ford’s greatest legacy was being the driving force behind Calian’s aggressive strategy of growth through acquisitions – a campaign that really began when he joined the firm.
Since then, Calian has completed more than two dozen M&A deals that have expanded the company’s customer base and product offerings beyond Canada and into the United States and Europe.
Nearly 85 per cent of Calian’s revenue growth last year came from newly acquired companies, while customers from outside Canada accounted for 32 per cent of its revenues, up from 25 per cent four years earlier. Meanwhile, revenue from commercial clients rose to $366 million from $203 million in the same timeframe.
Doubling down on defence
Under Ford’s leadership, Calian has also doubled down on its biggest source of revenue – services catering to the defence sector.
Founded by Larry O’Brien in 1982 as an IT staffing firm, Calian gradually diversified its offerings into what Ford often described as a “four-piston engine” – advanced technologies such as satellite components; health-care services; training hardware and software aimed largely at military personnel; and IT and cybersecurity solutions.
Over the past year, however, Calian has made a series of moves designed to reorient its focus toward the defence sector as western nations beef up their military commitments in the wake of the war in Ukraine and ongoing global instability.
Last December, Calian launched a new U.S. subsidiary with a goal of drumming up more defence and government business south of the border. Last spring, the firm announced it was combining its advanced technologies and learning divisions into a new unit led by former Thales Canada CEO Chris Pogue that would target customers in the defence and space sectors.
Defence customers already generate a bigger chunk of Calian’s revenues than any other business segment, and Ford expects that trend to continue.
“We’re uniquely positioned if you look at our capabilities,” he said. “There’s no other company like Calian doing what we do in defence that’s Canadian-based. I’m not saying that with any arrogance – it’s just a fact. We’re uniquely positioned as a Canadian company to take on more (business), to be a prime in our own right. And I think we’ve earned that right.”
Now, Ford is poised to pass the leadership baton to Houston. The 44-year-old also grew up in the nation’s capital, earning a bachelor of commerce at the University of Ottawa before embarking on a career in tech finance that included senior roles at DragonWave, CanvasPop and Corsa Security.
Since joining Calian in 2019, Houston has worked side by side with Ford as a key architect of the firm’s M&A strategy, leading 15 acquisitions that have helped grow the business and its international expansion.
Ford praises Houston as a hard-working, principled executive who has “earned the right” to be Calian’s next leader.
“This takes a lot of work,” Ford said. “I think he’s got the energy and it’s the right point in his career and the right point for Calian to bring him into this. I’m confident he has the energy and commitment to make this company an even better version of what it is today.”
Houston said Tuesday he has no plans to change his style once he sits in the CEO’s chair.
“Kevin leaves some big shoes to fill. I think he’s left an indelible imprint here on Calian, and my job is to keep that going,” he said. “I think there is an opportunity here that is generational. I don’t think there’s anybody better positioned than Calian. I think you’ll see me be aggressive and try to push the team to accelerate the growth that we’ve shown and really play from a position of strength there.”
Shareholder backlash
With an order backlog of $1.5 billion, Calian has a “great balance sheet” and will keep pursuing more acquisitions, Houston said.
“I think you’ll see us do more M&A,” he explained. “I think we always push ourselves to do the next great acquisition but stay disciplined. We do it the right way. I don't think that's going to change. I think that’s just part of our DNA, and that’s part of what makes us successful.”
Still, while Calian is on a trajectory that should soon see it hit $1 billion in annual revenues, that hasn’t been enough to satisfy some shareholders.
Earlier this summer, New Jersey-based Plantro – a private holding company that says it owns more than five per cent of Calian’s stock – sent a letter to the firm’s board of directors urging the company to shake up its operations in a bid to maximize share value.
Plantro said it had spoken to what it believed to be a majority of Calian shareholders who were seeking “meaningful, near-term changes” aimed at driving up the price of the company’s stock. The U.S. organization suggested the Kanata firm could explore various potential scenarios to boost the business, including an outright sale.
Houston said Tuesday that Calian takes feedback from shareholders seriously, adding he believes the firm is on the right track.
“I think we’ve been pretty open about where we’re going, with our focus on defence, space and health care and really trying to double down and do that, as well as try to simplify the business – look for opportunities to keep simplifying and focusing our efforts in those key markets,” he explained. “That’s resonated with shareholders, and now it’s just us going out and executing that.”
As for Ford, he said he plans to take “some time to recharge and reflect” before making his next move. The man who’s been known to pull out a bass guitar at an office party on more than one occasion jokingly mused about embarking on a new career – in music.
“I have an album to write still,” he said with a chuckle. “I keep saying I’m going to get an album done.”
Ford said he can look back on his career at Calian with pride.
“When I look at the sum of those parts, it’s been a hell of a journey. It’s been a lot of work. My gosh, I’ll write a book one day on moving an ocean liner an inch at a time,” he said, smiling.
“Everyone puts their DNA into a company. I’m confident Pat will continue to create his own legacy. I'm immensely proud of the legacy I think we’ll leave here (over) the last 10 years. This is a great Ottawa-based company. I’m hoping that’s my legacy, is that people know who we are, we’re a passionate company here, and we do things that matter.”
– With additional reporting from the Canadian Press 
