Profile from the past: Robertson Rent-All

It’s been more than a dozen years since Robertson Rent-All in Ottawa hit the cover of this magazine, as 2012 ‘Canadian Rental Operator of the Year.’

The same attention to customer needs and smart decision-making that earned the Robertsons that award has continued to serve them well. This year in 2025, the firm is celebrating 33 years in business, with two dynamic brothers at the helm and their proud founding parents Don and Netta cheering them on to even better years ahead.

“Mom and Dad continue to provide us with support and encouragement, but they’re now able to enjoy time away from the business after years of hard work building it,” says Cameron Robertson, who owns the business with his brother DJ. “The oldest of our kids is only 11 so they’re not involved yet, but we’ll see what the future brings.” 

Robertson Rent-All opened in 1992 in a small strip mall in Orleans, the eastern section of Ottawa.  There were three moves in that area afterwards to larger facilities, but around 2011, DJ and Cameron were hearing almost daily from customers who wanted an outlet in the west end of the city. “We would sometimes get calls multiple times a day from people asking if we had a location in Kanata or Barrhaven,” says Cameron. “It became pretty obvious it was time for expansion.”

But finding the right west end location didn’t come quickly. It was 2013 when the Robertsons decided to partner with another family to buy two office buildings and the adjoining piece of land. “The buildings were priced right,” says DJ. “We carved out a 2,000-square-foot area at the back of the larger building and listed both for lease. A year later we found someone to lease the entire larger building so we moved into the smaller one. We actually downsized to about 1,500 square feet because of the layout of the building and a desire to lease as much of it as possible. Months after moving in, the rest of the building was leased and we began designing and constructing our own building on the same property. That location was finished in 2016.”

But expansion was far from over. In 2022, Robertson Rent-All opened a third location in Findlay Creek to the south, where Ottawa was expanding. They found a building to lease and shortly afterwards, jumped on the chance to acquire the assets of another rental business in the Ottawa area – a fantastic development at a time when equipment was very hard to get. Then, less than a year ago in April 2024, Cameron and DJ seized another opportunity. They entered into a lease in a small newly-renovated building downtown Ottawa beside a landscape depot.“We offer a convenient way for contractors and homeowners to pick up small tools and supplies without having to leave the downtown core,” says Cameron. “By taking our time and waiting for the right opportunities, we managed to accomplish all our expansion with very minimal debt.”

Market landscape

One way in which Robertson Rent-All is unique is its ability to serve the total range of customers, from some of the largest contractors in the city to small contractors and homeowners. 

The showroom of Robertson Rent-All’s Kanata location.

“Since our start in 1992 up until around 2015, our main focus was on homeowners and small-to-medium-sized landscapers and contractors,” Cameron explains. “Our bread and butter became the landscapers renting compaction and excavation equipment. But as time went on, we were able to start providing the equipment that larger contractors require and at larger volumes. We noticed quickly that the contractors provide year-round revenue, so we started to add more general construction equipment such as booms, scissor lifts, telehandlers, forklifts, generators and fencing.” At the same time over the years, they also built up a team of sales reps with plenty of experience in the construction world.

With four busy locations, outstanding management is crucial to maintaining a proper level of service for all customers, large and small. In fact, Cameron explains that “we’ve always kept our management team a bit heavier than most companies probably would. Not only do we have branch managers at each location, we have a regional branch manager and an operations manager who have both been with our company for over 10 years. We also have a regional manager of training and personnel who assists the branch managers with recruitment, retention and training. We have approximately 50 to 60 employees, depending on the time of year, so with the help of our very strong leadership team, we are able to put in the necessary training and ensure our core company values are being demonstrated consistently across all locations.”

Growing successfully

Looking back, Cameron and DJ attribute their parents’ early success to the fact that customers were dealing directly with the owners. 

Robertson Rent-All first opened in 1992 in a small strip mall in Orleans, in the eastern section of Ottawa. Today, the company has four locations across Ottawa. Photos: Robertson Rent-All

“That gave us a huge advantage and allowed us to build a strong reputation in the community,” says DJ. “I think people really like the fact they are still supporting a family business. As we have grown, we have put huge effort into ensuring our customer service is basically the same as it was back then. Although our customers don’t see me or Cameron or our parents in the stores day to day, I think they can see the effort we put into our people and I think that still makes us unique. Our main competitors are all national rental companies, so we still have that unique family-owned advantage in the Ottawa market. We’re able to make quick decisions for customers and we can provide more flexibility making their experience much more positive.”
Like their parents, DJ and Cameron understand that they must be ready to adapt to economic circumstances that can always change very quickly. For example, in early 2023 they put in an order for two new trucks to replace two aging ones, with delivery expected in 12 months or longer. The market for used trucks at the time of the order was hot, but by the time the new trucks arrived in spring 2024, it was hard to give them away. They’ll make sure to account for any and all potential scenarios in future. 

They also caution other rental operators to be very careful with software decisions. 

“In 2023, we came across a program we felt could improve our operations,” says DJ. “We had several online demonstrations and watched every demo video with our team and we were satisfied it would work well. We made the decision to sign a five-year contract and began implementation, but we’ve eventually realized over the past year, it’s never going to do what we need it to. It’s been a frustrating process.”

Other current challenges, similar to the majority of other rental outlets, are finding skilled mechanics and the rising costs of equipment.

Brothers in business

Robertson Rent-All’s Orleans location.

Of course, these brothers obviously get along well and both work hard. Cameron and DJ are co-CEOs, with different strengths in overseeing the entire business and ensuring they maintain high standards across all their locations. DJ is more involved with financial management, actively developing annual budgets, financial forecasts and performance metrics. He also handles the website and digital marketing. Cameron focuses on leadership and team development, mentoring managers and implementing plans to drive business growth, profitability and market expansion. He also works closely with equipment suppliers and financial partners.

Of making decisions together, Cameron says “I think it really comes down to trust and respecting one another. We both share the same vision for the company’s future and have the same goals. When we don’t see eye to eye on something, we typically go back and forth until we come to agreement. Our parents have always pushed us to be good communicators and not let anything build up.”

Don and Netta’s legacy

Besides stressing good communicators and a thousand other valuable things, Don and Netta taught their sons to treat customers, employees and suppliers with the utmost care. 

“I cannot remember a time I saw Dad lose his temper with a customer,” Cameron shares. “He always said ‘an upset customer will tell 10 people about a bad experience and a happy customer might tell one person about a good experience.’ It was always pretty simple. Just make sure everyone leaves happy. The best form of advertising is word of mouth.”

Beyond that, Cameron and DJ were always reminded to be patient and wait for the right opportunity to come. 

“They would also always say ‘trust your gut,’” says Cameron. “There is obviously so much we’ve learned from them and we appreciate every bit of their hard work to build such as successful family business that DJ and I are proud to continue to grow. We have some exciting future plans to open more locations and add some new product lines to the fleet. We have built our leadership team around these plans and I can’t wait to see them take on these new and exciting challenges.”