Brigil : Building with purpose since 1985

A man poses for a photograph sitting down.
Gilles Desjardins, president of Brigil real estate. (Photo supplied)

*Article is sponsored.

Brigil is a leading real estate company in Canada’s National Capital Region. Since 1985, it has built more than 14,000 housing units and owns nearly 4,000 rental units, 2,000 of which are currently under construction. With an impressive collection of landholdings, Brigil intends to build more than 44,000 housing units within the next 20 years, strategically located in forty communities on both sides of the Ottawa River.

For 37 years, Brigil has been transforming and enhancing the National Capital Region with its craftsmanlike approach to creating communities that provide an unparalleled lifestyle. The company’s focus has always been on growing alongside its clients and adjusting its offerings to their evolving needs.

This drive for excellence has been in place since day one, when president Gilles Desjardins founded the company at only the age of 21. Entrepreneurship is baked into Desjardins’ DNA, as he began working at his father’s towing business and scrap yard in Gatineau when he was very young. Desjardins learned sales and accounting through the bodies of wrecked cars and the smells of motor oil and gasoline. “At seven to eight years old, I answered the telephone and did customer service, and at nine to 10 years old, I was filing small bank reconciliations,” says Desjardins.

Now, as the president of his own construction company, supported by a team of more than 300 professionals, Desjardins puts his decades of lived experience to work ensuring that his customers receive nothing but the best and that no detail is missed. “I have a gift, that of the memory of numbers,” he says. “I know the phone numbers of all my subcontractors by heart, the dates, I know exactly where we are with the budgets.”

Brigil is helping to alleviate the housing crisis while creating vibrant, sustainable and inclusive communities. The company has a green commitment to preserve the natural environment wherever they build, ensuring that their residential projects create a harmonious integration between homes and nature. The policy at Brigil is always for minimum clearance of the land it acquires for residential projects. Quality trees are conserved, enhancing both the value of the project and the quality of life of residents. Once construction is completed, a tree planting program is put in place.

Since its foundation, Brigil has been committed to its mission of being a community builder, by serving clients well and offering them living environments adapted to their changing needs. Working side by side with his sons Kevin and Jessy, Gilles Desjardins notes that it is their shared passion for the people and the region that has led the firm to become an integral part of the community. He humbly notes that they will continue to increase their philanthropic efforts in the environment, education, culture and health sectors.

Gilles Desjardins was awarded the Grand Bâtisseur (Great Builder) Award by the APCHQ Outaouais for his lifetime achievements. Committed to his community, he is recognized as one of Quebec’s greatest patrons and received the Meritorious Service Medal of Canada from the Governor General in 2018. This is why the company’s mission goes beyond that of the builder. Brigil builds with purpose.
Brigil offers a deep catalog of luxury rental opportunities across the National Capital Region, including two of the company’s flagship buildings right here in Kitchissippi.

The Dale is located at 121 Parkdale Ave, just across the road from Tunney’s Pasture and a stone’s throw away from the banks of the Ottawa River. This development offers luxurious suites for rent in Mechanicsville, just steps away from light rail transit, bike paths, and green space.

Also nearby, 929 Richmond Rd, has a fairly self explanatory address, nestled into the Lincoln Heights Neighbourhood and conveniently located just North of the Carlingwood Shopping Centre. This location also offers unprecedented access to green space along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway and the scenic Deschenes Rapids Lookout is just a short walk away.

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