EP 47 · 2023-03-29 · 1:10:49
From Bankruptcy to $10M: How This NB-Born CEO Built Canada's Top Construction Staffing Firm
Shannon Warren built Matrix Labour Leasing from a $8,000 family loan and a bankruptcy into a 20-year, debt-free national staffing firm — and explains exactly how labour leasing, payrolling, and wage parity actually work.
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⟶ The story, written up — a sharp read with every fact on the record. Or skip straight to the moments that matter, as clips.
// CHAPTERS — TAP TO JUMP THE PLAYER
0:00Sponsor intros — Pizzant Building Products and Procore Technologies sponsor mentions.0:42Shannon's origin story: Rexton, NB to Vancouver — Shannon grows up in Rexton, NB watching his uncles' construction business, starts a car wash at 20, then takes a one-way ticket to Vancouver to frame houses at $8/hour, moving from framing to concrete formwork.6:40First company, bankruptcy, and the Matrix pivot — Shannon launches Warren's Contracting in Calgary, grows quickly for two years, takes on a complex hospital formwork job with Sholton Olsen, goes bankrupt in year three. His father opens Matrix Labour Leasing so Shannon can continue. Shannon makes the decision to stay strictly in staffing — a discipline he has held for 20 years.16:20How labour leasing and payrolling work — Dan and Shannon walk through the three service tiers (hourly, hourly-to-perm, permanent placement), the internal database of 40,000 and social following of 60,000, the Pomerleau Victoria naval base contract, and why payrolling (via People 2.0) offloads WCB, employer health tax, wrongful dismissal risk, and cash-flow pressure onto Matrix.29:20Competition, ethics, and 500% growth — Shannon describes watching competitors cut corners on overtime and CRA compliance during the 2014 Alberta downturn. Matrix maintained standards, lost some margin, but kept its name clean. The 2019 People 2.0 partnership enabled 500 percent organic growth and US expansion.37:00Atlantic Canada opportunity and wage parity — Shannon reveals a Halifax shipbuilding contract at $43/hour (closing the gap with Alberta's $45-50/hour industrial rates), explains why wage parity prevents on-site crew infighting, and pitches Red Seal welders and metal fabricators to come home from the west.45:00Labour shortage diagnosis and social recruitment — Three compounding factors: declining birth rate, COVID border closures, Baby Boomer retirements. Shannon says Matrix filled 75-80 percent of client requirements last year despite severe shortages. The 14-person Calgary office runs continuous job-fair circuit and LinkedIn/Indeed campaigns.53:2020th anniversary reflections and M&A plans — Shannon reflects on 20 years, the 2014 Alberta bust, a $1.6M customer non-payment during COVID, and the emotional weight of nearly losing everything. He is now debt-free, cash-flow positive, and hunting for merger or acquisition targets in the staffing space. He plans to give equity to VP Mike Lago and BD lead Claudia Navarro.1:02:40Gratitude practice, family legacy, and community giving — Shannon shares his morning gratitude and prayer ritual, tribute to his late father, and his involvement with the Calgary Flames Foundation poker fundraiser and Kids Cancer Foundation. Host closes with warm remarks.
// THE INTRO
Shannon Warren, founder and CEO of Matrix Labour Leasing Ltd. (Calgary), joins host Daniel Arsenault for a wide-ranging 71-minute conversation that is equal parts founder biography and operational tutorial. Shannon grew up in Rexton, NB, left for Vancouver with a one-way ticket at 20, learned framing and concrete work for $8/hour, then launched Warren's Contracting — which went bankrupt in year three after he over-reached into self-performed contract work without sufficient capital. His father opened Matrix under his own name so Shannon could keep operating during bankruptcy protection. That pivot — staying strictly in labour staffing and payrolling — has held for 20 years: zero debt, record revenue in 2022, 500 percent organic growth since the 2019 People 2.0 back-office partnership, and a $43/hour shipbuilding contract now active in Halifax. The conversation covers how construction labour leasing works (hourly, hourly-to-perm, permanent placement), why wage parity is non-negotiable on a shared job site, how payrolling offloads WCB/employer-of-record liability, the mechanics of 30-60-75 day payment terms, the three-factor labour shortage (declining birth rate, COVID border closures, Baby Boomer retirements), First Nation JV alignment at LNG Canada, and Shannon's M&A ambitions for 2023. The episode closes on a personal note: gratitude practice, his late father's legacy, and giving equity to his two key employees.
// THE LESSONS
See all 12 lessons ▸Stay strictly within your proven service lane after bankruptcy — don't vertically integrate until your capital and team can carry it.
“I just wanted to make sure I stuck with what I knew and obviously didn't want to fail again.”
A back-office partnership (payrolling platform) can unlock 500% organic growth by enabling new verticals and cross-border compliance without building internal infrastructure.
“Since we've formed that relationship with People 2.0 we grew almost 500 percent organically back since 2019.”
Wage parity — paying leased staff the same rate as the client's direct hires — prevents on-site crew infighting and protects project productivity.
“Make no mistake they're talking about their wages before coffee break.”
Send paycheck stubs on Thursday so any errors can be resolved before Friday EFT payment — a simple operational habit that protects worker trust.
“If there is an issue we're able to fix it Thursday afternoon and still have their full payment on Friday.”
Labour leasing offloads WCB claims, wrongful dismissal risk, and employer health tax liability from the GC onto the staffing firm — freeing the client to focus on delivery.
“We're becoming the employer of record when we're doing that — any WCB, wrongful dismissals, any claims, we're taking them right off their hands.”
Payrolling with 30-60-75 day payment terms solves cash-flow gaps that keep smaller contractors from taking on large-project work.
“We're able to offer that 30 to 60 to maximum 75 day payment terms which is really helpful for our clients.”
During an industry downturn, protecting your name by paying all workers and local suppliers — even if it means absorbing losses — preserves the relationships needed to rebuild.
“What I was able to do is make sure that all the employees and also my local suppliers were paid — so therefore keep my name intact.”
The three compounding factors driving the construction labour shortage are declining birth rate, COVID-era border closures reducing immigration, and mass Baby Boomer retirements — the combination persists even through an economic slowdown.
“You got less population coming in, less immigration, Baby Boomers retiring — take that combination of three, you're gonna have a major problem no matter what.”
First Nation JV partnerships and inclusionary spend commitments open doors to large industrial contracts that are closed to firms without that alignment.
“Because of the First Nation alignment with the inclusionary spends we end up getting a pretty big opportunity with one of the biggest insurance companies in Canada.”
For skilled trades at an Atlantic Canada shipyard, the wage gap versus Alberta has closed — $43/hour in Halifax versus $45-50/hour in Alberta oil and gas — making repatriation of western-based workers commercially viable.
“For so many years the wage differential is insane going from Alberta to the east coast — and now we're starting to see that gap close very quickly.”
Give long-tenure employees who carried the company through near-failure a small ownership stake — it aligns incentives for an eventual exit and honours the relationship.
“I'm going to make them both small owners of Matrix — without them I wouldn't have been able to get here.”
Maintaining full accreditation (ISNetworld, Comply Works, Avita) is expensive and operationally intensive but acts as a decisive qualification barrier that keeps compliant firms competitive on large industrial jobs.
“We gotta process information every week every month internally making sure that we're compliant — having all these accreditations speak to our credibility.”
// CLIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Story · 3:47
“my aunt when she would when we were kids me and my cousin Leon”
Story · 6:24
“there was an opportunity there where I had a few buddies that were framing houses out of Surrey BC”
Story · 9:10
“he said would you be uh interested in the the Carpenters that you found would you want to invoice us”
Emotional · 11:02
“it wasn't just the eight thousand dollars it was more so that even when he gave me the money”
Emotional · 12:14
“having someone believe in you is uh there's no amount of money that you can replace that”
Hot take · 13:18
“a lot of people in the trades are thinking about starting their own business”
Story · 15:20
“so I took on a big job at the uh at the hospital in Vancouver there's a lot of architectural form work”
Hot take · 17:32
“I know a lot of entrepreneurs talk about it and they said it kind of felt good listening to that”
Emotional · 23:51
“when I worked in the industry I was never paid overtime I didn't I was never offered benefits”
Framework · 24:48
“I know what it is living paycheck to paycheck and how important that is to employees”
Hot take · 31:06
“a lot of companies weren't paying their people over time”
Hot take · 37:33
“for many many years the wage differential is insane going from Alberta to to the east coast”
Framework · 38:38
“if someone on site who wasn't hired through Labor Staffing or Matrix and working for company XYZ”
Framework · 52:03
“you're seeing less people having kids so that's that's number one issue”
Emotional · 58:39
“going into covet and I had a customer didn't pay us for uh 1.6 million dollars”
Emotional · 1:02:39
“because of that I'm gonna I'm gonna make them both a small uh owners of The Matrix”
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// FEATURED BUSINESSES
Matrix HR
Canadian-owned staffing and workforce-solutions agency that recruits and places skilled trades and ind…
Pomerleau Inc.
One of Canada's largest general contractors, delivering building, civil, and infrastructure projects c…
Irving Shipbuilding Inc.
Canada's largest naval shipbuilder and the prime contractor for combatant vessels under the federal Na…
// FACT-CHECKED ✓ web-verified, with sources
✓ VERIFIED
Halifax shipbuilding contract pays $43/hour — closing the gap with Alberta's $45-50/hour industrial rates.
The January 2023 Unifor Local 1 collective agreement at Irving Shipbuilding set base wages retroactive to July 2022 at approximately $43/hour, rising to $47/hour by July 2024. The $43/hour figure is confirmed for the period of the podcast recording (March 2023). The Alberta comparison ($45-50/hour f…
SOURCE ▸// COMPANIES & ORGS ✓ verified
Matrix HR (formerly Matrix Labour Leasing Ltd.)Shannon WarrenPeople2.0Irving Shipbuilding Inc. ▸Pomerleau Inc. ▸CFB Esquimalt A/B Jetty Recapitalization ProjectLNG Canada (Phase 1, Kitimat, BC)Southeast Calgary Ring Road (Stoney Trail SE)OpenCircleComplyWorks (a Veriforce product)
// PROJECTS NAMED
CFB Esquimalt A/B Jetty Recapitalization ProjectLNG Canada (Phase 1, Kitimat, BC)Southeast Calgary Ring Road (Stoney Trail SE)Calgary LRT LinesHalifax Transportation and Skilled Trades Career Fair
SOURCE: podscope · public episode data · UPM0JrjSg9w