PHM’s engineering recruiters and headhunters work across Canada and the USA. Our engineering recruiters place civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental and consulting engineers — for design, EPCM, owners, contractors and industrial employers. Exclusive, search-led mandates on a fee-on-hire basis.
A structural engineer designing a building and one that performs load calculations for a bridge may share a designation, but have little else in common. Firms that recruit engineering candidates as a single category end up with shortlists that look right on paper and fail to deliver the work.
The cost of that mistake is rarely the salary. It is the project the person could not carry, and the senior engineer who covered for them until they left too.
Engineering recruiters & headhunters across twenty-two disciplines, who understand the difference — and who assess against the scope of the role rather than the words on a resume.
Genuine depth across the engineering disciplines — we understand the work behind the title, not just what they're called. A sample of who we recruit:
Levels from intermediate engineers and EITs through senior and principal engineers, discipline and project leadership, and engineering executives.
Retained-level rigour, on an exclusive basis, for a fee paid on the hire — no upfront retainer and the delivery risk on us. We also work standard contingency where a role suits it. How we engage →
Because we don’t run volume, an exclusive engineering mandate gets our full bandwidth — and we’re driven to deliver in less time than industry norms.
The split is not cosmetic. Each discipline has its own codes, client base and route to seniority — which changes who is available, where they sit today, and what it takes to move them. We recruit each on its own merits.
Transportation, land development, municipal, water and wastewater — from project engineers to practice leads.
Buildings and structures, from design engineers through to principals and practice leadership.
Building services, HVAC and MEP, plus product and industrial mechanical engineering.
Building electrical, controls and instrumentation, and industrial power distribution.
Contaminated sites, permitting and approvals, hydrogeology and environmental compliance.
Multidiscipline consultancies and design practices — technical delivery through to principal and ownership tracks.
We place engineers into Toronto, Ottawa, London, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria — and across the United States. Much engineering work happens away from head offices, so we recruit into regional operations, project sites and remote-first teams as readily as into downtown towers.
Being based in southwestern Ontario matters more than it sounds. It is where a large share of Canada’s consulting engineering, manufacturing and infrastructure work is delivered, and a quarter-century in that market is why our strongest networks are there — then extended nationally through the people they lead to.
Market pages for the three we are asked about most: engineering recruiters in Ontario, Toronto and Vancouver.
A specialist engineering recruitment agency finds and assesses engineers who are not applying to job postings. Ours maps the market for a defined role, approaches people directly, verifies technical depth against a scorecard, and presents a qualified shortlist — rather than forwarding applications. We work across Canada and the USA.
Civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental and consulting engineering — plus power and grid engineering and the process and industrial side. Levels run from intermediate engineers and EITs through project and discipline leads to Chief Engineer, Director and VP of Engineering.
All three get used for us, though they mean different things. A staffing agency fills volume roles at speed. We run exclusive, search-led mandates — fewer roles, more depth on each. “Engineering headhunters” is the older word, and the closest of the three to the work.
Across Canada and the USA. We are headquartered in London, Ontario, and recruit into Toronto, Ottawa, London, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria — as well as the regional and remote sites where much engineering work actually happens.
Exclusive contingency. Nothing is invoiced until someone is hired, which puts the delivery risk on us rather than on the company that already has the problem.
A generalist matches keywords. A specialist knows why a bridge engineer is not interchangeable with a buildings engineer, what a P.Eng. actually requires, and which firms grow people worth approaching. That difference shows up in the shortlist, not the pitch.
Usually not. The strongest engineers are employed, performing and not reading postings. They are reached by direct approach — which is what a search-led engineering recruitment firm is for, and why job postings alone keep returning the same available few.
Yes. Engineering managers, discipline leads, chief engineers, engineering directors and VPs of Engineering run through our executive search practice, with the same recruiters and the same market knowledge behind them.
An advisory conversation about the engineering hire ahead of you — and where the right person is likely to come from. Not a commitment.