The Redcap&Truss Deal Brief – October 2026

Insights for owners of privately held businesses in Western Canada

As I write this fall has officially arrived in Calgary.  Thanksgiving plans are underway and I have already made a trip to the “Spirit of Halloween” to see what they have conjured up this year to scare the kids.   September has been a bit of a blur and there have been no shortage of announcements and news – I honestly can’t say that I recall more optimism in Western Canada in the last 15+ years as I am seeing right now.  It feels like Calgary and Western Canada in general has a bit of a bounce in its step.  Great to see.

As a reminder, this newsletter is intended for owners and entrepreneurs of manufacturing, oilfield services, and industrial businesses in Western Canada (but hopefully also appeal to a wider audience).   Our Deal Brief focuses on one goal: helping owners create value in their business.  It’s intended to be short, insightful and we want to introduce news, topics and ideas that you may not otherwise have been exposed to, particularly as it relates to selling a business.  We hope you enjoy it.

The Western Canadian M&A Lens

What buyers, sellers and investors are doing across Western Canada.

Over the past 30 days, buyers mostly did small add-on deals, buying a skill, a crew or a location rather than getting bigger for its own sake. In oilfield services, Calgary’s Noralta Technologies bought ARG Group on September 21. ARG is a Lloydminster electrical and gas-fitting contractor, and the deal extends Noralta’s reach on the Alberta–Saskatchewan border (BOE Report). In manufacturing, Crossfield-based MODUS Structures closed its purchase of ROC Modular on September 9. The combined business has 460+ employees and about 260,000 sq. ft. of plant space in Crossfield and Bow Island, and ROC also builds wellsite buildings and workforce housing (MODUS). Englobe also bought Calgary mechanical engineering firm Reinbold Engineering Group (Newswire.ca).

On the seller side, one theme we saw was that price isn’t always the sole factor (something that we remind our clients of constantly).  Two examples were owners choose buyers who will also look after their people and their name (and are not necessarily just the highest bidder). ARG’s owners said they wanted their employees and clients taken care of (BOE Report). The same idea shows up in the month’s largest regional deal, which is above our $250M cap. The Gregg family is selling Edmonton’s Gregg Distributors to Brookfield’s private equity arm, about $1.6 billion including debt, while employee shareholders keep a meaningful stake (Fimmer).

The practical takeaway for owners: if your crews, certifications or shop floor are hard to replace, both strategic buyers and funds will pay for them. The owners who get the deal they want set out ahead of time what they need for their people (jobs kept, some equity rolled over), and don’t leave it to the end of negotiations.

Exit Ready

Practical advice to increase value before selling your business.

Understand the Lifestyle Business vs. Saleable Business Divide

A “lifestyle business” built around an owner’s personal preferences, relationships, and involvement is often far less transferable — and less valuable — than a business designed to run independently of its founder. In oilfield services, this frequently shows up as an owner who personally maintains every major customer relationship with E&P companies or drilling contractors, making the business feel more like a personal book of business than a standalone company.

This distinction matters enormously at sale time because buyers price transferability, not just cash flow — a business that disappears in value the moment the owner leaves is fundamentally a different asset than one that persists. Recognizing which category a business currently falls into is the first honest diagnostic an owner should run, ideally years before any sale conversation.

Practically, owners should list their top 10 customer and supplier relationships and honestly assess who else in the company could maintain each one if the owner were unavailable for six months. Any relationship with no clear second point of contact should become a priority for deliberate relationship-transfer over the following 12-18 months.

Building Enterprise Value

The decisions that make businesses more valuable.

Document Decision Rights and Delegate Authority

In many founder-led companies, every material decision — a hiring choice, a discount approval, a capital purchase — routes through the owner personally, regardless of company size. Formalizing decision rights (who can approve what dollar amount, who can hire, who can sign contracts) removes bottlenecks and builds the leadership muscle needed for the company to scale.

This matters because a business that requires the owner’s sign-off on routine decisions caps its own growth rate and signals fragility to any outside party assessing management depth. Delegation done well accelerates decision speed while still protecting against major risk.

Practically, owners should write a simple one-page delegation of authority matrix — spending limits by role, hiring authority, contract signing authority — and hold to it for at least a full quarter before revising, resisting the urge to overrule delegated decisions except in genuine emergencies.

What Owners Need to Know

Tax, regulation, financing and AI developments affecting private businesses.

Tariff support — Ottawa’s $7.5B package for affected businesses

On August 25, Finance Canada announced a $7.5 billion package, adding to about $25 billion in earlier tariff supports (Finance Canada). It has four parts:

  • Regional funding (RTRI): The Regional Tariff Response Initiative, run by the regional development agencies, got $1.5 billion more. Its cap on non-repayable funding rose from $1 million to $3 million, and cash-flow needs now qualify.
  • BDC loans: BDC’s Pivot to Grow program adds a $500 million stream of $250K–$5M loans, with 36 months of interest-only payments, open to any sector. BDC also cut its revenue minimum for tariff programs to $1 million.
  • Diversification fund: A new $2 billion Canada Strong Diversification Fund backs shovel-ready capital projects, with a single-step approval.
  • Workforce program: EI Work-Sharing and the Worker Retention Grant are merged into one program, with up to $1,000 per worker for training and admin costs.

Prairies businesses have been able to apply to PrairiesCan since September 8: up to $2 million for cash-flow needs and $1 million for pivot projects such as automation, new equipment or bringing work in-house.

What it means for owners: “non-repayable” is the key word. If tariffs are squeezing a Calgary fabricator’s margins, an RTRI application for cash-flow support plus a pivot project comes before any new debt. BDC’s interest-only loans then cover the gap. Canada’s counter-tariffs took effect September 8 at 15%, 25% and 50% on $27.6 billion of U.S. goods (Finance Canada). If you’re hit on U.S. inputs, the remission framework is still open. Document the tariff impact now, because every one of these programs asks for it.

Tax — the Productivity Mega Deduction

At the Canada Investment Summit on September 15, Ottawa proposed a permanent 100% write-off in the year of use for most depreciable property bought on or after that date. Finance says it covers about two-thirds of business capital investment and will cost $36 billion over five years (Finance Canada). It does not cover:

  • buildings (classes 1 and 3)
  • goodwill, franchises and licences (classes 14 and 14.1)
  • certain vehicles

Manufacturing and processing buildings still rely on the separate temporary write-off in Bill C-31. That bill has been sitting in House committee since June (LEGISinfo).

What it means for owners: this is a major change for equipment-heavy businesses. For example, a service company buying a $3 million fleet of new pumps could deduct all of it in year one instead of over many years. There are catches, though (McCarthy Tétrault):

  • The property generally has to be new, or bought from an unrelated seller.
  • Buying from a related party or through a tax-deferred rollover doesn’t qualify.
  • It’s still draft legislation, with no guarantee it passes as written.

If you’re planning a sale, keep one more thing in mind. A 100% write-off leaves the assets with zero tax value, so an asset sale later could trigger large “recapture” (the write-offs added back as income). Plan the structure of any sale before you load up on new equipment.

Closing Note

We hope you both enjoyed our first few editions of Deal Brief helpful.  We would welcome any feedback you may have on it.  As a reminder, Redcap&Truss is a Calgary-based boutique M&A advisory firm that advises entrepreneurs on the sale or growth of their businesses.  Redcap&Truss focuses on manufacturing, oilfield services and other industrial business in Western Canada, with our typical client having revenues between roughly $15 million and $200 million and EBITDA above $3 million. Please connect with us on LinkedIn or via our website at www.redcapandtruss.com.