FirstService Corporation is a Canadian public real estate services company, specializing in residential property services, and based in Toronto, Ontario. It is listed on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
FirstService was founded in 1989 by Jay S. Hennick. Its initial assets were a swimming pool management company formerly owned by Hennick, and the College Pro Franchise system acquired by Hennick in 1989.
It held an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1993. In the 1990s, it expanded into various other residential service franchises, in part through its subsidiary The Franchise Company (later renamed FirstService Brands).
In 1996, it expanded into the residential property management business with the acquisition of two Florida property-management firms. Further acquisitions in the residential property management business followed, including the acquisition of the Merit Companies in 2007, and Planned Communities in 2008.
In 2003, Hennick’s father left the board of directors, as part of a general corporate governance shake-up.
In 2004, FirstService acquired CMN international, the largest member of Colliers International, an international real estate services group. The cost of the acquisition was $88 million.
In 2010, FirstService merged the entire Colliers International platform into itself, creating the third largest real estate services firm in the world.
In 2015, FirstService spun off its Colliers International subsidiary as a commercial property as a new public company, called Colliers International. The remaining company was focused on residential property services, and was led by D. Scott Patterson instead of Hennick.
Traded as: NASDAQ: FSV; TSX: FSV; S&P/TSX Composite Component
Industry: Real estate services
Founded: 1989
Founder: Jay S. Hennick
Headquarters: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Website: http://www.firstservice.ca