BDI History

Vision and Sustained Growth

Looking at the history and development of BDI Canada is like looking at the successful story of industrial development in Canada from the middle of the last century to the present day. In fact BDI Canada’s story mirrors our country’s coming of age on the world stage and we take pride in the role we have played in supporting our nation’s growth.

BDI Canada started as Kenscott Limited in Toronto, which was founded by three partners, Leitch Scott, Harry Kennedy and Bruce Neilson on February 11, 1950. This was an exciting time in Canada - Post-war industrialization was just getting into high gear and a rapidly expanding Canadian population saw huge growth in industries such as paper, forestry, mining, and transportation.

Under the leadership of Leitch Scott, the company developed a sterling reputation for service response and attracted all of the major brands (FAG, Timken, Dow Corning, Sealmaster), to seek distribution through one of the tightest run operations in the country.