For more than four decades, Jubilee Engineering has quietly helped shape Calgary and communities across Alberta. From subdivisions and schools to apartment developments, commercial sites and municipal infrastructure, the firm’s work is largely hidden beneath the surface – literally. Yet every road, stormwater system, underground utility and carefully graded site plays a critical role in how communities function.

The company has consistently delivered quality results since founder Hamid Mohamed started the company in 1982. He was a victim of the 1980s recession and while he may have been laid off, he wasn’t idle long. 

“Our dad’s friend had an empty office and he said, ‘Just work out of the space and start your own thing. Our receptionist can pick up the phone for you and take messages. You’re an engineer. Consult.’,” says Faraz Mohamed, Hamid’s son and president of Jubilee Engineering.

Working from that single office, Hamid slowly built a civil engineering consultancy, one project at a time. His technical ability earned him clients, and his personality kept them. An outgoing people-person, Hamid was known throughout Calgary’s development community for treating every interaction as the beginning of a friendship rather than simply another business deal. Whether he was meeting with a client at a boardroom table, chatting with a staff member over coffee or greeting a courier dropping a package, Hamid invested in people. 

“Something our dad always focused on, and something we continue to focus on too, is treating people well. If you treat people well, they reciprocate,” Faraz says.

Because of that, many of the relationships Hamid forged in the engineering and construction industry in those early years remained with him throughout his career. Even his first field hire still works for the company part-time as he approaches the age of 80. Hamid never underestimated the power of face-to-face conversations, a not-so-clean joke to break the tension and a strong handshake to bond two people. As a result, Jubilee Engineering has made a significant impact on Calgary development over the decades. That’s nothing compared to the impact made by its founder.

The Loss of a Leader

Hamid Mohamed was the heart of Jubilee Engineering. When he passed away unexpectedly in 2023, the loss extended well beyond his family, affecting staff members who had worked beside him for decades and clients and industry associates who had become friends. The engineering community lost someone known as much for his warmth as his technical knowledge. 

“He was a people-first person. A super sociable, outgoing person who loved building relationships and loved people. He was a huge extrovert. Two thousand people showed up to his funeral, and some couldn’t even get in because they couldn’t find parking,” says Faraz. “We were joking that he would have loved his own funeral, getting to see all the people he knew.”

His absence is still felt every day, but so is his memory. The annual Stampede breakfast now features a handmade ‘Hamid’s Saloon’ sign crafted by staff shortly after his passing. Meetings still begin with the occasional joke and every Christmas, Faraz ends a speech at the company’s client luncheon with a joke in his father’s honour.

More importantly, the culture Hamid created in the company remains intact. There’s no shortage of good times, between donair lunches, spirited conversations with colleagues, World Cup soccer matches playing in the boardroom and hosting social gatherings outside the office.

“It’s a pretty fun workplace where people get along and have a good time as well as focus on highly technical engineering. There’s a good balance here,” says Aliya Mohamed, Hamid’s daughter and HR associate at Jubilee Engineering.

That strong culture helped steady the company, and the family, during one of its most difficult periods. More than half of Jubilee’s employees have been with the company for more than 10 years, with all the core staff having more than 25 years. And many watched Faraz and Aliya grow up. As children, they’d sprawl out on the boardroom floor to do homework while their parents worked, wander the halls and visit with employees, growing alongside the people who now help them run the company.

“They’ve not mentioned that we were presumably annoying small children around them then. Everyone has been really gracious about it,” Aliya jokes. “It’s a big change, going from having the founder who has all these relationships and contacts to the next generation. At the same time, Faraz spent a lot of time with him, they shared an office before he passed, so that helped us transition.”

Now Faraz has stepped into his father’s enormous shoes and Aliya is at his side for support. 

Both have been learning the business for years and have enjoyed a front-row seat to how a great professional and a great person builds a legacy. Together with the dedicated team and advisors around them, they are protecting and growing Hamid’s legacy.

The Next Chapter

While Jubilee’s story is rooted in people, its reputation has been built on engineering. The firm provides civil municipal engineering services for public- and private-sector clients throughout Alberta, designing the infrastructure that allows communities to function long before the first homes or businesses are built. This includes land development, grading design, underground utilities, stormwater management, sanitary servicing studies and municipal infrastructure for projects ranging from four-plex developments to entire master-planned communities, in addition to construction survey layouts and field supervision. 

The firm also provides contract administration, development approvals and consulting services for commercial, industrial and institutional projects. With decades of expertise tackling technically complex projects, Jubilee is a one-stop shop with a reputation for delivering practical, innovative solutions tailored to each client’s needs.

Over the years, Jubilee has helped develop more than 4,000 acres in the City of Calgary and surrounding municipalities and is responsible for approximately one-quarter of Development Site Servicing Plan submissions to the City. It has worked on the Mount Royal University expansion, the Canada Sports Hall of Fame and Truman’s Imperia, Lincoln and Stampede tower. It also worked on communities including Belvedere in East Calgary, which is nearing completion, Tillotson in Okotoks, starting Phase 2 this year, as well as completed communities such as Encore Phase 1 and 2 in West Springs and Knightsbridge Phase 1 and 2 in Conrich. The scope of the company’s work, spanning various sectors and service areas, along with its broad portfolio, places Jubilee in a class all its own.

“I think the diversity of all the things that we do has really helped us in the past when there have been slowdowns, because if one area is down, the others pick up the slack,” says Faraz. 

Jubilee has worked alongside many of Alberta’s leading developers including Truman Developments, TriStar Communities, Amar Developments, Bri-Mor Developments and many more, engineering everything from residential neighbourhoods to schools, shopping centres, industrial developments and community infrastructure.

Growing into the Future

Whether they are working on a single site earmarked for a residence, a 20-year project to develop an entire community or expanding a recreation centre, Jubilee Engineering brings the same service and commitment to every project. Faraz and Aliya aren’t interested in changing that or the company’s direction, and instead they are focused on strengthening what already works so well.

As a mid-sized engineering firm, Jubilee offers something that many larger competitors can’t: the ability to nimbly pivot and adjust to new situations and requirements quickly. The engineers and technologists stay involved with projects from start to finish rather than handling only one small piece of the design process. Not only does this allow them to track developments and react but it also makes for interesting, fulfilling work. And the company’s decades of experience and connections help ensure speedy approvals and minimize resubmissions. The Jubilee team stays engaged and excited about every new project.

“Instead of being a cog in a wheel where you’re doing the same thing over and over, we really like our staff to have a holistic view of what they’re doing so they understand it all,” Faraz says.

This philosophy also extends to mentorship. Junior engineers learn directly from experienced professionals who have spent decades with the company, thus bringing new ideas and tech savviness together with knowledge-sharing from seasoned engineers. This is critical as the work Jubilee does largely falls outside of formal education. There’s a lot for new hires to learn on the job. As Hamid did, Faraz and the leadership team encourage young engineers to tap all possible resources to grow, and that includes going into the field to understand better what the lines on a drawing equate to in reality. The field professionals provide a different perspective that can help facilitate better designs.

It’s this teamwork and wealth of knowledge that have helped Jubilee grow organically throughout the years and will continue to support the second generation to do the same moving forward. Repeat and referral business keeps the team of 30 busy, so instead of being consumed with bidding for work, Faraz and Aliya are tasked with carrying Jubilee Engineering into the future. 

One step in that direction is embracing technology, exploring ways artificial intelligence can automate tedious, repetitive tasks to allow staff to focus on complex problem solving, higher-value design work and client service. 

Since losing Hamid, the siblings have been moving the company forward, but they refuse to sacrifice the high service levels, integrity and relationships to achieve growth. 

“Our dad was someone with really strong ethics and he really cared about people. We want to stay true to the values that he held,” says Faraz. 

Hamid would be proud to see his children growing into their leadership roles while growing the company he built for decades. And he would agree that in this next phase of the business, Jubilee Engineering is in good hands.

3702 Edmonton Trail N.E.
Calgary, AB   T2E 3P4
T:  (403) 276-1001 • F:  (403) 276-1012

jubileeengineering.com