Balraj Mann

Since 2007, the KPUAA and KPU have been recognizing exceptional individuals like Balraj Mann, recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award.

This year’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University Distinguished Alumni Award recipient learned the value of flexibility and resilience at a young age. At 15, Balraj Mann, the youngest of seven siblings, immigrated with his family to B.C. from a small village in Punjab, India. Adapting to a foreign country can be difficult for anyone, but the recession of the early 1980s complicated matters, making finding work a challenge. However, Mann used the housing market crash as an opportunity to purchase his first home. He fixed it up himself, which piqued an interest in construction that led him to enroll in the diploma in civil engineering technology program at KPU, close to where he was living in Surrey. When he graduated in 1986, the construction industry in B.C. was still in a downturn so he moved to Toronto where there were more opportunities. “It was booming at that time and I got a job in construction consulting that week,” Mann explains, later moving back to B.C. and rising through the ranks of a multinational company where he had the opportunity to work on several major projects such as the Millennium Line construction.

Mann credits his experience at KPU with helping him build the confidence to keep moving forward, even when times were tough. “For me, the value at KPU was the personal connection, the small class sizes and the professors that interacted with the students,” he says. “I was a very timid and a shy person with limited resources. I think that KPU gave me that confidence to graduate and move on to get a job.” Mann eventually bought a partnership in an engineering and testing firm in B.C., and later began acquiring companies. He purchased the buildings they were based in, combining his passion for real estate, construction and business in general. Each time he came up against a challenge – including the recession of 2008 – he diversified his portfolio. Today, as founder and chairman of BM Group of Companies, Mann oversees a diverse range of structural restoration, waterproofing, construction management, material supply and real estaterelated businesses. BM Group has expanded operations to other parts of Canada, the U.S. and South Asia, with more than 500 employees worldwide.

In the process, Mann has left an indelible mark on the region during his 30-year career as the BM Group has worked on just about every landmark in the Lower Mainland, including Canada Place, Simon Fraser University and Vancouver International Airport. But it’s his philanthropic efforts of which he is most proud. BM Group supports causes such as BC Children’s Hospital, the Ride to Conquer Cancer and Make a Wish Foundation, while Mann serves on the boards of many community organizations, including the Surrey Board of Trade, the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation and the KPU Foundation, among others. “A part of our corporate philosophy is giving back to the community,” he says. “I’m lucky to live in Canada, especially as an immigrant. Canada gives you the greatest opportunities and we are fortunate to be living in this part of the world.” A proud KPU alumnus, Mann credits his education with helping launch his career. He continues to help students access the same opportunities he had, serving as vice-chair of the KPU Foundation. “I think KPU is a great local organization. There are certain things KPU does that’s way beyond what the other larger institutions do,” he says. “So we try to give as much as we can, and I certainly recommend to anybody who is thinking of their career and education to consider KPU. It’s one of the best.”

Of being recognized for his contributions with the prestigious KPU Distinguished Alumni Award, Mann says he hopes to inspire others – especially young immigrants – to look for opportunities, even in difficult times.

“I want others to see that there’s always an opportunity and that it will work out in the end,” he says. “In my career and in my life in Canada, I’ve been through three recessions. Every time we bounce back, we become stronger. So even after the end of this whole COVID-19 era, we will become stronger.”