Celebrating 90 Years of Levitt-Safety
Reflections on a rich company history and thoughts on future vision with Bruce and Heidi Levitt.
As Levitt-Safety celebrates an impressive 90 years of service, we reflect on a legacy built on innovation, resilience, and a steadfast commitment to the safety of Canadian workers.
In this conversation with siblings Bruce and Heidi Levitt, we explore the origins of the business, how the company adapted over the years to changes in safety practices, and the strategic investments being made to ensure its future growth while upholding its reputation as a trusted Canadian family-run enterprise.
Bruce Levitt
Victor Levitt
What inspired the founding of Levitt-Safety, and how has its mission evolved over the decades?
Necessity is the mother of invention. My father, Victor Levitt, graduated from school during the Great Depression. He came from an entrepreneurial family and saw an opportunity to start a small business from his parents' home, supplying first aid and safety products to local industries.
After World War II, he leveraged a strong partnership with Ansul to become the champion for dry chemical fire equipment in Canada, expanding the safety business to include fire protection.
In the late 1960s, we began to focus on electronic instrumentation for gas detection and industrial hygiene, adding another more technological leg to our offering. In the 1980s, we started our NLT business to provide lighter, brighter, and safer cap lamps to underground miners.
Since the 1990s, we have significantly expanded our after-sales service capabilities to provide a comprehensive life-cycle solution. What has never wavered over the past ninety years is our ongoing commitment to ensuring that Canadian workers can always return home safely.
What were some of the biggest challenges the company faced in its early years, and how did you overcome them?
When Levitt-Safety was founded, there was very little health and safety regulation, and many industries were more interested in treating injured workers than in preventing injuries, so first aid was a huge part of our business. It took time, effort, and eventually legislation to shift our focus to training, prevention, and eliminating hazards.
Our father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in 1975. Kudos to the remaining management team for continuing to build and grow the business in the absence of the visionary leader and to our mother for courageously insisting that the company remain in the family.
In 1990, the Global economy went into a tailspin, and Canada was hit very hard. Our sales declined by 25% at a time when we had moved into a new building and were launching a new computer system. We soldiered on and were more fortunate than our largest competitor, which ultimately sold at a bargain price and was incorporated into a large industrial products supplier.
This had immense repercussions for the safety distribution industry. Many people lost their jobs, and longstanding exclusive supplier relationships came to an end. We had to adjust by broadening our supplier base and ensuring that we provided the best overall value to customers who had many new options available to them. Instead of just selling the benefits of our products, we had to begin promoting ourselves.
What operational changes or investments are being made to support the company’s future growth?
The heart and soul of any successful business is its people. I’d like to highlight two areas we have focused on:
- First, we’ve provided leadership training to over 60 team members to help current and future leaders empower their teams for success.
- Second, we’ve invested more than 2,500 hours in solutions-based training to ensure we remain the recognized experts in our domain — with the goal of all our salespeople achieving SEE Gold Shield certification.
The other key area is our technology stack. We’ve upgraded our ERP, launched a new website with state-of-the-art e-commerce capabilities, and are rolling out new software to power our services business. These investments cost millions and require a tremendous amount of intellectual capital, but they provide the modern platforms we need to deliver the level of service our customers count on.
What makes Levitt-Safety unique as a Canadian-owned, family-run business?
What makes Levitt-Safety special is that we’ve remained family-owned and Canadian-operated for 90 years. Our decisions are made here in Canada by people who understand the needs of the industries and communities we serve.
Being family-run means we take a long-term view of the business. We invest in our people, facilities, and technology to make sure we’re stronger for the next generation than we were for the last. It also means relationships matter — with our customers, suppliers, and our team. Many of those connections go back decades, built on mutual trust and shared goals.
We’re proud to carry forward a legacy that started in my father’s home in 1935 and continues today with a team of dedicated, knowledgeable, and passionate people working to make Canada a safer place to live and work.
How have customer needs changed over the years, and how has Levitt-Safety adapted?
Over the past several years, customer expectations in the fire and safety sector have shifted dramatically:
- From Compliance to Prevention: Companies are no longer satisfied with simply meeting regulatory requirements. They now prioritize proactive prevention, aiming to protect workers from both obvious and hidden risks.
- Consultative Support Over Traditional Sales: Customers are less interested in transactional, outside sales. Instead, they seek distributors who can provide consultative selling, technical expertise, compliance guidance, and ongoing training.
- Emphasis on Education and Risk Management: There is a growing demand for support with regulatory changes, product certifications, risk assessments, and tailored safety solutions. Customers want partners who help them understand and mitigate risks before incidents occur.
What role have sales and marketing played in growing and evolving the business?
When I first started leading the sales effort in the mid-1990s, we had strong exclusive brands, high margins, and a high-touch person-to-person business. We sold directly to safety or fire personnel at a site, and the customer's purchasing departments placed orders with us. They did not shop us around like they do today.
As suppliers of products became increasingly focused on growing their market share, they began to open up to other distributors, and 90% of the big names in safety became available to all our competitors. It transitioned to a world where distributors were squeezed between the manufacturer and our customers’ sometimes competing demands.
Sales had to adapt. We went from relationship and knowledge-based selling to also delivering just-in-time, at highly competitive prices. We now had to sell to buying departments and prove our value so they wouldn’t take the specs we developed with safety and fire teams and send them to multiple competitors. That meant doubling down on pre- and post-sales support. With consumables, we had to compete on price; with technical products, we had to clearly communicate the value we brought to justify higher prices and more hands-on solutions.
When I started in marketing, my role was half buyer, half marketer. We didn’t have a website or social media — customer outreach relied on salespeople, tradeshows, vendor introductions, trade journal ads, and articles. Campaigns were mostly technical info and training for sales, plus samples and literature, with a lot of “wish and hope” for results.
Today, opportunity creation begins with a strong marketing department, using email, social media, digital advertising, and lead generation — all tied together with our CRM to track the journey from initial interest to closed deal. The real power now comes from marketing and sales working hand-in-hand, nurturing the customer long after the first sale.
How have the company’s values shaped its growth and reputation in the industry?
Levitt-Safety has always had a primary value that we are one big family, even now that we employ over 400 people nationwide. It's becoming increasingly time-consuming to write a birthday and Christmas card for each employee, and, of course, I no longer know everyone in the company on a personal basis. I feel like I used to. I have the confidence that our team feels they are part of our family, with their own areas being the closest to family members, whether they work as technicians in Fort McMurray serving the oil sands or in the warehouse in Moncton. There is a family member there for them.
Respect for People, Outstanding Customer Service, Continual Improvement, and Safety First —
are more than words on paper. They shape how we work, how we treat one another, and how we serve our customers. These basic values have established into 35 “Fundamentals” with each Fundamental in turn being focused on for a week by our team.
We have built a strong reputation as a leading safety company in Canada, thanks to our knowledgeable, passionate, and helpful team. We are committed to maintaining our position as an industry leader in Canada for as long as we can effectively serve our customers.
Closing Thoughts from Bruce and Heidi
What does this 90-year milestone mean to you personally, and what message do you have for employees and customers?
Heidi
Firstly, I am proud of the determination my father showed at the age of 16. Despite the challenges of Toronto recovering from the Great Depression, losing his father to appendicitis, and suffering a severe back injury from a fall, he had the courage to create his own future.
Secondly, the fact that Levitt-Safety has evolved, survived, and thrived in an ever-changing landscape in Canada, while remaining family-owned, private, and dedicated to making Canada a safer place to live and work. And finally, I am proud of what I have achieved as a female leader in business, as well as my contributions to the culture and success of our family business.
Bruce
When I became president in 1994, I set myself a goal to see the company through to its centenary, which seemed an awfully long way away. I’m now realising that is less than ten years from now, so while I remain as passionate today as the first day I worked at Levitt-Safety when I was nine years old, I am beginning to think about what needs to happen to assure a more orderly succession than what happened when my father died and later when I took the helm.
It has been an honour to work in an industry that is focused on workplace safety. Later this year we will be celebrating the 50th work anniversary for one of our team members who continues to be a wonderful contributor – I am humbled by that level of dedication. I have had the privilege to meet and work alongside so many wonderful people on our team, with our suppliers and the thousands of customers that I have met along the way. I hope that our team has been able to help you along your journey as you have helped me on mine. We look forward to continuing to serve you for many generations to come.
As we reflect on our 90-year journey, we are filled with a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation for all those who have been part of this remarkable story. Our employees' commitment and passion have been the backbone of our success, and every day, we are gratified to work with such a talented team. We appreciate our customers for continuing to trust the Levitt-Safety team and allowing us to be part of your business journey.
This milestone is not just a celebration of our accomplishments, but a recognition of the incredible individuals who have contributed their time, talents, and dedication to our shared vision. We are proud of our past and excited about the future and the new adventures that await us.