The following marks the milestones in the 50 Year history of J.D. Barnes Limited:

1960 – J.D. Barnes purchases the assets of H.L. Coons OLS on October 1, 1960.

1966 – J.D. Barnes Limited becomes one of Toronto’s largest survey firms with a staff of 45 including 6 Ontario Land
Surveyors.*

1967 – J.D. Barnes Limited registers the first condominium plan in the Province of Ontario.

1972 – Barnes first established aerial mapping division.

1974 – Barnes purchased ProConsul Ltd. offering computer application services for engineers, surveyors,
municipalities and utility companies.

1975 – Barnes is the first Canadian survey company to purchase and utilize a flatbed plotter capable of producing final ink on
mylar survey plans ($100,000+).

1975 – Barnes retained by MNR to develop MANOR Program (horizontal control adjustment).

1976 – John D. Barber is elected President of the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors.

1976 – Barnes allocates 43 employees to survey the construction of the 30” Inter-Provincial Pipeline from Sarnia to Montreal.

1976 – Barnes commenced preparation of digital property mapping for the City of North York exclusively.

1977 – Barnes commenced preparation of digital title record plans for Metro Toronto Roads (more than 450 road concessions
carried out exclusively by Barnes).

1981 – Barnes is the first Canadian survey company to perform Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) with the purchase of
a Tecktronix monitor ($65,000)

1981 – Barnes is the first Canadian survey company to purchase a “total station” Wild TC1 ($100,000+)

1983 – Barnes acquired Synercom Mapping System and carried out first digital municipal mapping project in Ontario under
the OBM program - City of Peterborough.

1985 – Barnes wins contract for the development of COSINE control survey data base for the Ministry of Natural Resources

1985 – John D. Barber becomes President of J.D. Barnes Limited.

1986 – Barnes entered into multi-year project for compilation of topographic and legal easement data for Bell fibre-optic program, incorporating the use of Total Stations and automated drawing generators developed by Barnes.

1986 – Barnes and Proconsul develop GEM software (coordinate geometry for surveyors capable of running on a desktop PC) and sell it throughout Canada.

1987 – John (Jack) Barnes, the founder of the firm, passes away.

1987 – The firm of E.W. Petzold Ltd. of Toronto purchased by Barnes.

1988 – Barnes purchases the firm of Howard M. Graham Ltd. in Thunder Bay.

1988 – Barnes purchases the firm of Sydney W. Woods Inc. in Hamilton.

1990 – Barnes and associated consortium members awarded the POLARIS mapping project which involves the conversion of all of Ontario’s Registry Office property mapping data.

1991 -– Barnes awarded City of Toronto PUCC utility records conversion (over 4,000 compiled utility maps).

1993 – Barnes awarded contract by the City of Mississauga to infill horizontal and vertical control using static GPS methods.  Over 130 points set to 3rd order standards with 2nd order precision.

1994 – Barnes relocates its head office from Toronto to Markham.

1994 – Gary B. Kirstine becomes President of J.D. Barnes Limited.

1994 – Barnes awarded exclusive contract for the provision of survey services to Rapid Transit Expansion Program (RTEP). 

1994 – Barnes awarded contract for survey services on Highway 407 7N segment for Canadian Highways International Constructors.  Services include design, calculations, quality assurance and layout of 407 diversions between Bayview Avenue and Bathurst Street.

1994 – Barnes purchases two Leica System 200 GPS receivers capable of sub-centimeter measurements plus SKI Software and uses same for various cadastral, geodetic and engineering applications.

1995 – Barnes awarded contract by the City of Thunder Bay for the provision of second order control points to MNR Cosine standards using GPS technology.

1995 – Barnes awarded contract to provide 2nd order control monuments across entire length of Highway 407 using GPS technology.

1997 – Barnes implements an Employee Share Ownership Plan and becomes an employee owned company.

1999 – Barnes migrates from stereoplotter photogrammetry to softcopy ortho-mapping using high end processing systems that enable 3D imagery to be viewed on a desktop PC.

1999 – Barnes successfully completes AM/FM/GIS Conversion Projects for gas and hydro utilities in Hamilton, Whitby, Toronto and Sarnia.

1999 – Transcanada Pipelines contracts Barnes to convert all station and offset data into geographic coordinates for their facilities from Alberta to Quebec.

2000 – Frank J. Mauro is appointed President of J.D. Barnes Limited.

2002 – J.D. Barnes Limited purchases Marcel E. Renaud Surveying in Ottawa.

2002 – The assets of the mapping division are transferred to First Base Solutions Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of J.D. Barnes Limited.

2003 – Peter de Haan Surveying Ltd. in Thunder Bay purchased by J.D. Barnes Limited.

2003 – J.D. Barnes Limited opens office in the Town of Milton.

2003 – Network of GPS base stations broadcasting real-time corrections for sub-centimeter corrections is built and activated by J.D. Barnes Limited in Markham, Whitby, Mississauga, Milton, Cambridge and Ottawa.

2004 – J.D. Barnes Limited awarded the ORN project from the Ministry of Natural Resources to create a unified road network for Ontario.

2004 – J.D. Barnes Limited opens office in the City of Barrie.

2005 – First Base Solutions Inc. purchases its first Vexcel 85mp digital aerial camera and supporting IBM 1tb data processing/storage facility.

2005 – First Base Solutions Inc. featured on Global TV’s “Moneywise” program.

2006 – Professional Land Planning added to the services offered by J.D. Barnes Limited.

2006 – Parsons Wilson Milton Ltd. in Thunder Bay purchased by J.D. Barnes Limited.

2006 – First Base Solutions Inc. purchases a Cessna 414 aircraft for aerial mapping.

2006 – The Markham Board of Trade awards First Base Solutions Inc. with the “Extraordinary Business Achievement Award”.

2008 – J.D. Barnes Limited opens an office in downtown Toronto.

2010 – J.D. Barnes Limited celebrates its 50th anniversary.


References

* John L. Ladell, They Left Their Mark (Dundurn Press 1993), Pg.272.
Other milestones shown hereon have been derived from company archives (resumes, proposals, personnel records and newsletters)