Four decades of consulting across Canada, and six years of reinventing how consulting gets done.
Qatalyst began in 1985 as FWCO, a Vancouver consulting firm. Our first project evaluated a cultural tourism pilot for Vancouver and Victoria, and in the years that followed we took on federal–provincial program evaluations across BC, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan.
Over 35 years the firm grew into one of Western Canada’s established evaluation and economic development practices. We incorporated as FWCO Management Consultants Ltd. in 2005, and later aligned with Goss Gilroy Inc. to work as part of a national firm.
By 2020 the firm had completed more than 700 projects for governments, Indigenous organizations and non-profits, including multi-year evaluations of programs worth more than a billion dollars and economic development strategies for communities across the West and the North.
Along the way, we learned where traditional consulting falls short: too much time spent on overhead, and too little on the work that changes outcomes for clients. In 2020, we decided to do something about it.
At the onset of the pandemic, we took a step back to redefine what we do and how we do it. We were frustrated that our services, and those of the consulting industry, were not having enough impact. On May 1, 2020, FWCO Management Consultants became Qatalyst Research Group: a catalyst for positive change.
The new name came with three commitments:
Becoming Qatalyst meant becoming part consulting firm, part technology firm. Here is what we have built since.
7 → 13 core team members in our first year
We relaunched as Qatalyst at the start of the pandemic, built around a focused core team and a network of associates who join projects when their expertise is needed. In our first year, the core team nearly doubled.
400+ associates in our network
Consultants, researchers and specialists from across Canada joined us, so we can put the right expertise on every project. By the end of 2021 we were already working with associates in 8 provinces, 2 territories and 5 countries.
8+ software solutions built for clients
Alongside our consulting work, we build software that clients use every day, including the BC Tourism & Hospitality Employment Tracker for go2HR (updated every month since 2021), a smoking cessation platform for Pharmacists Manitoba, a restaurant benchmarking app for the Chefs’ Table Society of BC, an impact visualization for the Arctic Inspiration Prize, and an insights portal for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
10+ AI tools built for research and clients
We adopted generative AI early in 2023 and moved quickly. Within a year, AI was analysing interviews, coding surveys and reviewing literature in Qatalink, and today we build it into the software we develop for clients. We have shared what we learned along the way, from our series of articles on AI in consulting to a talk at the Canadian Evaluation Society’s BC conference.
50% of proposal development automated with AI
Our AI proposal generator drafts proposals from our past work and team profiles, freeing our consultants for the work that matters to clients. In 2025 alone we completed 40 projects, conducted more than 650 interviews, gathered over 4,000 survey responses and worked with over 30 First Nations communities, all set out in our first Impact Report.
50+ KnowledgeFlow™ deployments in the UK public sector
Our partnership with Leading AI brings KnowledgeFlow™, a secure, private AI platform proven in the UK, to Canadian economic development offices, hosted in Canada, alongside a new AI for Economic Development practice.
Before building our own platform, we reviewed more than 100 digital platforms. None fit a firm built around a network of associates, so we built Qatalink. We have added to it every year since, for the associates who work with us and the clients we serve.
Tell us about your investments, programs or activities, or send us a request for proposal (RFP). We will let you know how our services can work for you and provide you with a quote.
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