Engineering, construction and maintenance for Canada’s largest hydrocarbon processing region, three hours up Highway 2 from our Calgary office.
Alberta’s Industrial Heartland stretches northeast of Edmonton across Strathcona County, Fort Saskatchewan, Sturgeon County and Lamont County. It’s Canada’s largest hydrocarbon processing region, home to refineries, an oil sands upgrader, petrochemical and polymer plants, fertilizer production, and a growing number of hydrogen and carbon capture projects. The Alberta Industrial Heartland Association has more on the region.
These facilities run around the clock. They need contractors who can work safely inside an operating unit, plan around turnaround windows and staff several crafts without a long list of subcontractors. That’s the work Rice Brothers has done for decades in the chemical and refining plants around Houston, and it’s the work Rice Brothers Canada brings to the Heartland.
Edmonton is about three hours from our Calgary office, close enough for our project managers to be on site whenever the job needs them. Crews mobilize for single projects, turnarounds or long-term maintenance.
Single-source delivery for operating plants.
The Heartland’s mix of industries matches the work Rice Brothers knows best.
Refineries and the upgrader that turn crude and bitumen into fuels, with constant maintenance and periodic turnarounds. See oil & gas.
Ethylene, polyethylene and polypropylene plants that need multi-craft crews at home on a live chemical site. See chemical & petrochemical.
Nitrogen fertilizer and specialty chemical plants with demanding process piping and safety requirements.
New hydrogen production, carbon capture and CO2 pipeline projects that are changing the region.
Storage terminals and pipeline facilities that move product in and out of the Heartland. See midstream.
Water treatment, cooling water and utility systems that keep every plant running. See water & wastewater.
Most Heartland work happens inside fenced, operating facilities with their own site orientations, permit systems and contractor prequalification requirements. Every worker completes company orientation, Basic Plus+, site-specific orientation, pre-employment drug and alcohol screening, respirator fit testing, a medical evaluation and physical, and NCCER or equivalent industry certification before starting work. On site, we work within each owner’s safety and permitting program.
Turnaround season puts heavy demand on skilled trades across the region. We plan staffing early, keep crews together from job to job where we can, and back our Canadian team with the wider Rice Brothers organization when a project needs more people or equipment.
Winter is a fact of life in Edmonton. Heat tracing, hoarding, cold-weather welding procedures and winter material handling go into the schedule from the start, so work keeps moving when the temperature drops.
Many Heartland owners run several plants side by side, and contractors often move between units on the same site. We keep documentation, orientations and training records organized so crews can be cleared quickly for new work areas. When a facility needs engineering as well as field work, our engineers and project managers coordinate directly with the plant’s own process and maintenance teams, so design decisions reflect how the unit actually runs. That close coordination is especially valuable on brownfield revamps, where new equipment has to tie into decades-old systems without surprises.
Yes. We serve the whole Industrial Heartland, including Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Strathcona County, Sturgeon County and Lamont County.
Yes. Our multi-discipline crews handle tie-ins, overhauls and turnaround scope, planned well ahead to fit your outage window.
Yes. Ongoing in-plant maintenance with qualified crafts, supervision and site safety coordination is one of our core services.
Our Canadian office is in Calgary at 685 Centre Street South, Suite 2700, about three hours from Edmonton by highway. Project managers travel to site as often as the job needs.
Yes. Hydrogen and carbon capture facilities use the same process piping, equipment setting, and electrical and instrumentation work we deliver in refineries and chemical plants.
Our memberships and prequalifications include ISN, Avetta, Veriforce, Associated Builders and Contractors, NASC, PEPLS and Rockwater. Our program is led by Daniel Garcia, CSP, Director of Environmental Health and Safety.
Tell us about the facility and the scope. Our Calgary team will come back with a plan and the people to deliver it.