This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any comments.
WSP remains at full speed as it continues to leverage the tools it has assembled, both on the artificial intelligence and M&A fronts, to drive its growth, CEO Alexandre L’Heureux told investors during the company’s first quarter earnings call on Thursday
Both have been key for the company lately, L’Heureux said. According to L’Heureux, the contractor is seeing a deluge of opportunities related to artificial intelligence, including data center and power generation projects, with the latter accounting for about a third of its revenue in the United States.
Power generation projects are gaining momentum as the rise of the data center forces homeowners and municipalities to consider the strain the facilities can place on local power grids. Amid legislation and community rejection, power limitations are among the leading causes of data center delays.
WSP’s own work in power generation, L’Heureux said, has been bolstered by the company acquisition of the electrical infrastructure company TRC in december
“We are very proud to have completed the strategic and timely acquisition of TRC, and our power and energy services offering is now second to none,” said L’Heureux.
To this end, M&A activity has been a key part of WSP’s growth strategy. Last year, the company acquired life sciences consultancy Lexica in June i Ricardo, an engineering consultant based in the UK in October
In response to an analyst question about future M&A plans, L’Heureux pointed to that history while acknowledging that the company has deployed roughly C$6 billion to C$7 billion ($4.4 billion to $5.1 billion) over the past two years on the M&A front.
“So I think it’s absolutely normal that we’re at the upper end of our range right now from a leverage point of view. That said, I always and continue to have informal and formal discussion with our portfolio of opportunities. That remains very much at the heart of our strategy and we intend to benefit from the current environment,” L’Heureux said.
The advantage of AI
In addition to M&A activity, WSP’s use of AI was also a topic of discussion for L’Heureux. The firm had recently wrapped up its biannual Global Technical Excellence Conference, where more than 400 WSP employees gathered to discuss how the company was using AI across the organization. Those use cases, L’Heureux said, focused primarily on improving quality and decision-making while mitigating risk.
He specifically pointed to the company’s use of Nature Vista, WSP’s environmental management platform, which leverages artificial intelligence and other technologies to help give asset owners insight into their project’s environmental impacts.
The calls came after WSP’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call in February, where L’Heureux warned investors against giving in to what he called “artificial intelligence hysteria” over the possibility of technology replacing the services provided by WSP.
“In short, by staying customer-focused, investing in our people and collaborating intelligently, we are leveraging AI to drive growth, increase our technical excellence and deliver value to our customer,” L’Heureux said on Thursday’s call.
To that end, an analyst asked L’Heureux if there were any metrics WSP could point to to show how much AI use has increased in the past year or two, which L’Heureux said the company didn’t track but bet would be a large number of employees.
“I can tell you that we’ve implemented AI tools this year to over 30,000 of our 80,000 employees. But I would tell you, and I would venture that the use of AI tools in our business is over 30,000 employees,” L’Heureux said.
WSP is far from alone in working to establish AI in its workflows. Contractors of all shapes and sizes are using technology, ie away from his childhoodin both front office and back office roles, in the workplace and in the meeting room.
By the numbers
In the first quarter of 2026, WSP generated revenue of approximately CA$4.55 billion, up 4% year-over-year from CA$4.39 billion in the first quarter of 2025. It also reported flat profits, posting CA$144.1 million for both the first quarter of 2026 and 2025.
WSP’s backlog was one of the bright spots for the company, which hit a record high of CA$19.7 billion. This represents an increase of approximately 19% year-over-year from 2025’s CA$16.6 billion.
The contractor has benefited from the AI boom. Some of the company’s key sectors, including power and energy, data centers, mining and digital solutions, are experiencing high growth, L’Heureux told investors. These sectors account for approximately one-third of WSP’s net income.
“Our track record and strong pipeline of opportunities continue to highlight the resilience of our globally diversified platform, and we are investing in talent and technology to deliver in a high-demand environment,” L’Heureux said.
