Peter Brereton and his brother Dave are both from Toronto, but Montreal is where they were born professionally.

During a family gathering over the
1983 Holiday season, they discuss their entrepreneurial project. Having a lot in common, both brothers share a passion for computers and technology. With a degree in programming in hand, they decide to found Tecsys, an IT company.

We decided to team up and try something!

Peter works in sales in Toronto, while his brother Dave, also a sales representative
at the time, is based in Montreal where he bought a house. This made it easier for Peter to move to the city.

“My brother is nine years older than me. He had a mortgage to pay while, for my part, the only thing I owned was a Chevy Nova.”

Peter then moves to Montreal to start a company with Dave. He is no stranger to this region, having spent many winter vacations in Quebec with his parents during his childhood.

“I always felt at home in Quebec!”

The two entrepreneurs are eager to meet the multiple challenges awaiting them.

“In 1984, we shared a space in the back of a computer hardware store. In 1985, we worked in Dave’s basement in Pierrefonds until 1987, the year we rented our first offices.”

From Toronto to Montreal

Tecsys’ team is known as the saviours of the supplier market, as it enables small – and sometimes struggling – companies to structure themselves with regards to logistics, to get better organized and become more efficient.

One such company is a modest Toronto-based retailer and importer of sunglasses. This company is trying unsuccessfully to get Walmart to become one of its clients.

Thanks to the IT solutions offered by Tecsys, this organisation improves its supply chain and Walmart gives them a chance to distribute their products in one of its stores. The experience is a great success!

The following year, Walmart allows them to distribute their products in several stores. In the third year, they become Walmart’s main sunglasses supplier in North America.

“So, this small company from Toronto went from $8 million in revenue to $100 million in three years.”

Peter observes that when a company collapses, it is often the logistics that go awry, like shipments not being made on time and multinationals charging suppliers for the delays. A downward spiral follows, which sometimes leads to bankruptcy.

Sometimes we are called the saviours of Walmart’s suppliers market. These companies would be disorganized if not for our systems. We help them to manage and plan.

In 2022, Tecsys’ reputation precedes it. The Montreal-based company does business with many multinationals around the world. The platform is available in several languages including English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Arabic.

The Tecsys team hires many graduates from Montreal universities, including Concordia, UQAM and Hautes Études Commerciales.

These universities train great talents in the field of computer science and technology.

Multiculturalism and therefore multilingualism make the talent pool even more diverse and rich.

Peter Brereton makes it a point of honour to defend this mission: the well-being of his employees and collaborators. Over the years, he and his team have created a respectful and benevolent work environment.

“If you want to attract talent, you can use recruiting agencies, your website, Zoominfo, all those tools, but at the end of the day, you have to create an environment where people want to work.”

The research and development (R&D) team at Tecsys sits at about 180 people, 36% of which are women. “That’s not very common in our field !” One of Tecsys’ earliest female employees started back in 1984, and she’s still with the company today.

Swearing is not tolerated within the organisational culture of the company.
The idea is to maintain a harmonious climate that fosters individual and collective respect.

Peter graduated from high school in Toronto and took intensive programming training
at CDI (Control Data Institute) College. He received a government loan. After graduation, he worked in sales for a year and a half before starting his own company.

As for many start-ups, Peter wore several hats from the inception of Tecsys until he assumed leadership in 1995, when he succeeded his brother Dave.

Peter and Dave served as Presidents of Tecsys from 2001 until 2006. That year, Dave became President of Youth Unlimited, first in Canada and then around the world.

Dave remains a member of the Tecsys Board of Directors. His strengths are complementary to Peter’s.

I’ve always been better with the technology side of things, while Dave was good at managing the cash flow. We’ve always enjoyed problem solving.