Mancal Corporation
Privately-owned and based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, The Mancal Group’s core principles are rooted in the values, insights and financial proficiency, acquired through our more than 125 years of business history.
Our commitment toward fostering engagement and transparent communication, with all stakeholders, is further complemented by the priority we place on health and safety, not just for people, but the communities in which we operate.
We find ourselves in a unique position. We have an ability to combine the discipline and techniques developed from a century of business experience, and a history of venture successes, with the resources to confront challenges, and embrace sound business proposals.
With appreciation for globalization, and an affectionate focus on Western Canada, we’re incredibly proud of our heritage, and the contributions we’ve made toward building this part of the world. Persevering with informed investments that include private equity, venture capital, portfolio management, oil and gas exploration, real estate, coal, and ranching, our attention remains steadfast on the development of operating companies in our areas of expertise.
Board of Directors
Providing governance and guidance in all business matters.
M. Elizabeth Cannon
Chair
Michael Berkson
Director
Greg Dart
Director
Robert Hanf
Director
Bob Lehodey
Director
Li-Anne Mannix
Director
Margaret-Jean Mannix
Director
Vanessa Mannix
Director
Myron Stadnyk
Director
Corporate Structure
The Mancal Group is a privately-held family of businesses.

Our Companies
Through Mancal Corporation and its four companies, the Mancal Group is building for tomorrow.

Energy
Mancal Energy Inc. (MEI) is a prominent player in the energy sector, dedicated to providing innovative and sustainable energy solutions.

Properties
Mancal Properties Inc. (MPI) has been operating since 1999. MPI’s diverse real estate holdings include land, industrial, multi-residential and office.

Private Capital
Manvest Inc. (MVT) was incorporated in 1978 to formalize the Mancal Group’s commitment to venture capital investing.

Coal
Mancal Coal Inc. (MCI) is actively pursuing opportunities to capitalize on it’s immense resource base, mine development and value creation.
Proud of our Past
With over a century of experience behind us, we have no shortage of stories to tell.
Full Steam Ahead
1997 – 2025
Nothing is permanent but change. The 1845 Great Famine drove nearly a million Irish abroad, beginning a long wave of emigration. Now, with a booming economy and peace in the North, the homeland’s pull is strong, and Irish across America, Canada, England, and Australia dream of returning.
- 1997 – October, Fred and Ron Mannix close one of the biggest transactions in Canadian History with the sales of Pembina Resources and Manalta Coal timing the sale perfectly at the peak of the market.
- 1998, A true operator at heart, Fred Mannix continues to build on his success of the past through the Mancal Group of companies. We are proud of our past and positioned to be meet the challenges presented today and into the future.
- 1998, The Mannix Family celebrates 100 years of business success.
- 1999, Mancal Energy Inc. (MEI) incorporates to conduct oil and gas exploration. Mancal Properties incorporates to acquire and develop commercial real estate properties.
- 2000, Alberta Coal Sales Limited changes its name to Mancal Coal Inc. (MCI).
The Global Frontier
1986 – 1996
In Ireland, it is easy to understand why the Irish-Gaelic word for “green” — glas — also means “blue.” It is not only the sea, seldom far away, that brings this ambiguity sublimely to life. The land does, too, as intense Irish greenness mixes with bluish pools of fir or beech, and every tone changes constantly under the play of light.
- 1986, Highvale Mine coal contributes coal to the TransAlta Utilities electrical generating station with mine production approaching 12 million tonnes (13.2 million tons).
- 1987, Manalta Coal Ltd. mines supply more than 22 million tonnes (24.2 million tons) of coal with an energy equivalent of 63 million barrels of crude oil.
- 1987, Manvest Ltd. provides venture capital to First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation to assist in the development of The Family Channel.
- 1988, Pembina pipeline system cumulative throughputs total 1.5 billion barrels where the original estimate was 500,000 barrels.
- 1988, The Loram Group of Companies celebrates the 90th anniversay of the Mannix Family in business.
- 1991, The Gregg River Mine, near Hinton, Alberta, shows active mining and reclamation (depicted above).
- 1996, Highvale Mine and TransAlta Utilities sign a new coal supply agreement that extends to the year 2000.
In the Business of Business
1978 – 1985
In 1978, the global population reached 4.4 billion, growing by 200,000 daily, as humanity continued its delicate balance between war and peace. The Middle East remained volatile, but a 17-day summit that year produced a peace framework between Egypt, Israel, and the U.S. Meanwhile, Vietnamese forces, backed by Soviet arms, invaded Cambodia to oust Pol Pot’s regime.
- 1978, The Alberta Gas Trunk Line continues to expand its system in the Peace River area of Alberta.
- 1978, Manvest Ltd. is incorporated in 1978 to centralize and control the long history of venture capital investing.
- 1979, Loram pipeline crews complete the Regina split casings work for TransCanada PipeLines.
- 1980, A new Bucyrus-Erie 1570-W dragline is commissioned for the Klimax Mine, under budget, and becomes the largest dragline owned by Manalta Coal (depicted above).
- 1981, Saskatchewan Power Corporation awards Loram International the contract to build deep wells, shafts and a drainage tunnel system to support the Nipawin hydroelectric power station.
- 1982, BC Hydro & Power Authority awards Loram a $53-million contract to supply and install the mechanical and electrical equipment for the Revelstoke Dam powerhouse, spillway and switchgear building.
Dawn of a New Age
1968 – 1977
Like most decades, the Sixties left a lot of unfinished business. But there is one achievement of the Sixties that seems most likely to be remembered a few centuries from now, if anything is remembered — at 7:58pm MST on Sunday, July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong left his footprints in the lunar dust and the history of mankind.
- 1968, Mannix International Inc. completes construction of its first shoulder ballast cleaner.
- 1969, La Cie Mannix (Quebec) Ltée., the Mannix Quebec subsidiary, completes the Alberta Resources Railway from near Jasper National Park to Grande Prairie.
- 1970, Alberta Coal Ltd. begins mining at the Highvale Mine near Wabamun, Alberta.
- 1970, Mannix Co. Ltd. begins construction on the Bighorn Dam for Calgary Power Ltd (depicted above).
- 1972, Mannix Co. Ltd. provides rock bolts, hydraulic scaling and sprayed concrete (shotcrete) to help CNR after suffering falling rocks on their tracks through BC’s Fraser River Canyon.
- 1973, A Mannix-sponsored joint venture builds a massive canal system to divert Churchill River water to the Nelson River for Manitoba Hydro.
- 1976, In a leading environmental initiative, ring-necked pheasants raised by MHL Holdings Ltd. are released by Manalta Coal as part of reclamation activities.
Keeping the Flame Alive
1957 – 1967
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnick 1, the first artificial earth satellite. The Space Age had begun, but so had the age of intercontinental ballistic missile. “Mankind, through the roaring thrust of a Russion rocket Friday, burst the bonds of gravity and stood on the black, cold threshold of space,” commented a Calgary Herald editorial of October 8, 1957.
- 1959, A Mannix Co. Ltd. joint venture with Standard Gravel Ltd. begins construction of a new Calgary plant for Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. of Canada Ltd (depicted above).
- 1960, Site preparation and overburden removal near Fort McMurray, Alberta for Great Canadian Oil Sands (depicted above).
- 1961, Mannix representatives visit the NKK steelworks in Japan (depicted above).
- 1961, Continuing to lay the Alberta Gas Trunk Line system, Mannix crews work from Priddis to Rocky Mountain House and from Crowsnest Pass to Corway on the U.S. border (depicted above).
- 1963, Mannix Construction Inc. joins joint venture partners Vinnell, McNamara and George A. Fuller Company to build the John Day hydro project (depicted above).
- 1963, When completed, the $70.5 million John Day project includes a hydroelectric dam, lock, fishladder, access road and rail spur.
- 1956, Trans-Canada Highway construction clears the summit of the Rockies through Banff and Yoho national parks.
The Building of Modern Canada
1951 – 1956
History is often marked by symbolic acts. For Canada, one came in February 1952, when Vincent Massey became the first native-born Governor General. He served with distinction, easing the transition such a shift in tradition represented.
- 1951, Mannix Ltd. sponsors a joint venture with McNamara Construction to build the Toronto Subway (as depicted above).
- 1951, Mannix Ltd. Superintendents at the 1951 Superintendents’ Conference (as depicted above).
- 1951, The Kenney Dam camp is home to 1,300 people during the dam construction (as depicted above).
- 1952, Building in process of the Toronto Subway, Canada’s first (as depicted above).
- 1954, Mannix Gill Limited is formed, bringing 31 years’ experience with oil and gas engineering and construction.
- 1956, Trans-Canada Highway construction clears the summit of the Rockies through Banff and Yoho national parks.
Meeting the Test
1943 – 1950
In 1943, with the backdrop of the Second World War reaching a turning point, in preparation for the Allies’ second front, the United States Air Force dropped the first of 1,500,000 tons (1,360,770 tonnes) of bombs on what had been heavily fortified as ‘Fortress Europe’.
- 1943, Mannix crews complete the Kananaskis Dam, in May.
- 1944, Supporting the war effort, coal stripping in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
- 1945, The John Hart Highway begins building across the rugged mountains of northern British Columbia, introducing prefabricated bridge construction innovation integrated into civilian construction by Mannix crews.
- 1946, Mannix & Company Ltd. builds the Snare River hydroelectric power development northwest of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
- 1949, Loading a Caterpillar scraper during the airlift of supplies for the QNS&L Railway (as depicted above).
- 1950, In a joint venture, known as Bechtel-Mannix, the Mannix crews build the interprovincial pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Saskatchewan.
Fred Mannix & Company, Ltd.
1935 – 1942
Since its beginnings, the Mannix outfit was very much a family business. Two of F.S. Mannix’s first employees were his brothers, Alf and Len. They worked alongside F.S. until the mid-1930s, when they took off on ventures of their own. “They had an entirely different attitude toward the business than Dad did,” recalled Luella Mannix Wilson. “Dad used to say, ‘God, if they only knew how much I owe the banks.’
- 1912, Origins of inner office of Ferguson Supply in Calgary, circa 1912 (depicted above).
- 1935, F.S. Mannix brings son, F.C. Mannix into business as partner, financing a 75E Cat and Letourneau scraper.
- 1936, Fred Mannix & Company Ltd. awarded the contract to build CN rail line from Senneterre to Rouyn, Quebec.
- 1938, Work begins on an international airport near Patricia Bay on Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island.
- 1941, The operations at Coal Valley, Alberta (depicted above).
- 1942, Mannix-built Kananaskis Dam harnessing the hydroelectric potential of the Bow River.
Gambling on The Times
1920 – 1934
Ushered in on the heels of the war, the 1920s was a fleeting golden age. The Roaring Twenties were a considerably misunderstood decade, made up of equal parts fact and fancy. The fancy of the era was perhaps best symbolized by the introduction of neon lights, which first appeared in Calgary in 1928, along Eighth Avenue.
- 1920, Bountiful wheat profits provide needed capital after disastrous rail job in Cochrane, Ont.
- 1921, F.S. Mannix and partner Clarence E. Walgren purchase a two-yard steam dragline (depicted above).
- 1922, Noehren & Mannix subcontract Lethbridge Northern Irrigation work to Mannix & Walgren.
- 1923, Railway grade construction near Wadena, Sask., a joint venture of Dutton, Mannix & Foley.
- 1924, Mannix crews extend the Cut Knife line near Artland, Sask.
- 1929, Tom Kramer and Spottie, the Mannix dog (depicted above), with a 60 Cat and elevating grader in Southern Alberta.
- 1932, Mile 14 along the Red Deer River, a steam shovel excavates material for crib ballast (depicted above).
- 1934, Mannix & Kramer begin coal stripping operations at Sheerness, Alberta.
Born with The Railway
1881 – 1919
Within a decade of leaving Ireland, 27-year-old George Charles Mannix had become a pioneering settler in the Red River Settlement — then known as the “Bull’s Eye of the Pacific.” Located where the Canadian Shield meets the prairie, at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, this “Gateway to the West” became home to George, his wife Frances, and their seven children.
- 1898, Water License granted to Calgary Power Ltd.
- 1904, Rail laid onto Mannix-built railway near Turtleford, Sask.
- 1905, Alberta is made a province and CN Railway reaches Edmonton November 24.
- 1909, Mannix crews help build 64-km canal connecting Bow River to Lake McGregor reservoir.
- 1910, Near Alliance Alberta, Mannix crews build rail-grade using wheeled Fresnoes.
- 1911, F.S. Mannix crews build irrigation structures in Brooks Alberta.
- 1919, F.S. Mannix begins farming operations near Rockyford, Alberta.
