Borromée Verreault’s grandfather, Jean-Louis Verreault, set sail for a career as a navigator when he acquired a 30-feet sailing barge in 1909. The same year, Irénée, one of Jean-Louis’s sons, also got his feet wet initiating himself in navigation and then served the family business for 30 years.

It was in 1956 that Borromée, Irénée’s oldest son, founded Verreault Navigation inc., a company specialized in dredging. Quickly, Verreault left an enviable mark on the industry and the largest ports of eastern Canada and even the Great Lakes were bearing the Verreault signature.

With the establishment of the shipyard in 1964, Borromée Verreault added some strings to the company’s bow, from then on offering shipbuilding and ship repair besides dredging.

In 1975, the Québec government issued a call for tenders for the construction of a dry dock. Among all the proposals, the town of Les Méchins was the selected bidder. The dry dock was completed in 1982 at a cost of $6 million, a facility that greatly benefited Borromé’s business.

Struck by disease, Borromée Verreault passed away on November 24, 1982, shortly after the opening of the dry dock. Following her spouse’s death, Anita Dumaresq, familiarized with supervising everyday operations, ensured the management of the business and the transfer from father to daughters. The latter took over the helm in 1987 and Denise, the youngest, obtained sole ownership in 1989.

Verreault Navigation is currently working on an expansion project of the dry dock that would result in a North American centre of excellence. Therefore, the company could be considered one of the largest in the ship repair field on the Atlantic Seaboard. These new facilities will lead to an improvement of services and will open access to an untapped market in Canada: the repair and maintenance of large vessels.