OUR HISTORY
John Collings and Robin Johnston collaborated professionally for 25 years on major transportation initiatives before forming their own company, Collings Johnston Inc., in 1999. John and Robin saw an opportunity for a niche management consulting company to provide ‘big picture’ leadership and facilitate strategic partnerships between owners, consultants, agencies, and contractors. Since its inception over 20 years ago, CJI has experienced continuous success and growth while staying true to its roots of high-quality, client-focused services for the development and delivery major infrastructure projects.
OUR FOUNDERS
John was deeply devoted to the practice of engineering, dedicating much of his career to developing Canadian engineering standards, contracts, and practices. He was trained and then began his career in South Africa, and worked throughout the world, most notably throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas. He was proud to be a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineering and recipient of the Association of Consulting Engineers of BC’s Meritorious Achievement Award.
In 2000, following a 30 year career with Delcan Corporation (now Parsons) where he was a corporate director along with a divisional and regional VP, he and Robin Johnston founded Collings Johnston Inc. John’s vision was to get out of the day-to-day of managing a large consulting firm, and focus on delivering complicated and interesting assignments directly for clients.
In 2015 John retired from Collings Johnston Inc, but his work ethic, entrepreneurial attitude and profoundly moral approach to business remain deeply intrenched in our firm’s culture.
John was an avid outdoorsman, with deep passion for climbing mountains, ski mountaineering, hiking, running, horseback riding and was a die-hard commuter biker. He was a dedicated member of the Anglican church. He was a lifelong scholar with a remarkable mind for history, world events and context for current affairs.
Co-founder of CJI in 1999 with John Collings, Robin has over 35 years of experience delivering major infrastructure projects, from Golden Ears Bridge to the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor.
Robin has been a thought leader in the province’s infrastructure industry. He led the early development of BC’s Design-Build concept application and the establishment of Canada’s approach to public-private partnership (P3) project delivery. Robin has served on a number of industry councils including the BC Construction Roundtable and the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships, demonstrating his ability to shape the industry as a whole.
Robin’s professional achievements include:
- leading the development and delivery of one of Canada’s first P3 highway projects, the Fredericton-Moncton Highway Project,;
- forging and sustaining broad cooperation between 12 private and public funding partners to successfully deliver the Roberts Bank Corridor Program;
- assembling the technical team to complete the $850 million Golden Ears Bridge; and
- mediating delicate agreements to move forward with the innovative Coast Meridian Overpass Project.
Robin is known for his warmth and his easy smile, and it is through his interpersonal skills that he effectively builds teams and helps clients identify their needs and priorities. In 2019, Robin transitioned to a CJI Senior Advisor, handing the leadership of the business to the firm’s current principals. Robin is one of our leading Project Advisors, providing guidance and support for our team on several of our major projects.
