WSI Sign Systems Ltd. fabricates signage for high-profile companies across North America
By Lisa Ryan
Signs are a vital component to society, whether they’re informational or directional, LED or static. They tell us where to go (or not go), and provide us with any necessary data specific to a certain site. WSI Sign Systems has emerged as Ontario’s top architectural-signage company, providing signs to high-profile clients across the province—and even in the United States.
Founded in 1988, WSI began as a small company, bringing in approximately $1 million in annual sales. It carried on that way until 1994, when new partners came in and the company grew substantially. In February 1996, the company acquired Display Signs, which at the time employed Peter Weber, who now serves as WSI’s president. “Our first full year together—1997—the two businesses managed to bring in $4.3 million,” Weber says. “It was a great acquisition.”
That same year, the company decided to go after larger projects. It was awarded a coveted contract—with Entro Communications as a design partner—to design and build all of the signage for the Air Canada Centre, which at the time was the home of the Toronto Raptors. When the Toronto Maple Leafs bought the property shortly thereafter, the organization asked WSI to upgrade all of the signs in the project.
It took the team nine months to design, build, and install what turned out to be $2.2 million worth of signs, just in time for the centre’s grand opening in February 1999. “That was a key point for the company,” Weber says. “The contract was much larger than anything we had done before. They were very happy with the work, and our reputation grew in the industry.”
In 2002, WSI won a $3 million contract for the signage of the new Terminal 1 at the Lester B. Pearson International Airport, in Toronto. “Again, we came to a new level,” Weber says.
In 2005, WSI also acquired another company that had a particular significance to Weber—the architectural division of King. “That company happens to be where I started my career,” he says.
Over 15 years, WSI has grown into a $12-million-per-year operation, continuing to work with heavily sought-after, high-profile signage projects. The company recently manufactured all of the interior signage for Google’s Eighth Avenue offices in New York City. “It was a nice job, and quite innovative signage,” Weber says. “It was a lot of fun, and we’re still working on some things with them.”
The company spent much of 2011 creating signage for Mississauga Civic Square, a large, public gathering space adjacent to the Mississauga City Hall and Living Arts Centre. WSI utilized several freestanding pylons with LED signs, in addition to static signs used as directional components, throughout the space to keep visitors informed of their surroundings. WSI also worked on the signage of a large parking facility close to the square.
Weber attributes the company’s success to its attention to detail and ability to manage several different components of a project at once. “We make sure the messages are correct and approved by the customer,” he says. “It takes a lot of project management, which is one of our strengths.”