About Us

History of Blinds by Vertican

Aime M. Lemire, an industrial engineer in Montreal had his first encounter with a vertical blind in the late 1970's. His chance meeting with a representative from Louverdrape U.S.A. led to one of Canada's first vertical blind factories. Aime talked his younger brother Andre into opening a factory in Medicine Hat Alberta in 1979. Working with Louverdrape USA, the Lemire brothers made their presence known in Canada as vertical blind suppliers.

As time went on, the window-covering industry began to change and the consumer movement from curtains to blinds had a dramatic effect on the Lemire brothers. "Verticals Canada", or Vertican ® became the trade name that the Lemire brothers incorporated into their business.

There was a tremendous expansion of the industry with the introduction of 1" aluminum mini blinds and pleated shades. Vertican Inc. took its place as a major supplier of hard window coverings in Eastern and Western Canada in the 1980's.

Aime M. Lemire passed away suddenly in 1990, and in 1992, Andre moved the eastern operations to Medicine Hat and renamed the company Blinds by Vertican. Andre's goal was to become a "one-stop shop" for independent retailers in the window-covering industry.

Today, the business is run by Andre's son Ryan, who continues in his father's footsteps by supplying the window covering industry with a wide variety of window coverings. Andre is still involved as the company CEO watching many of the dreams and ideas that he and his brother envisioned come to fruition. Blinds by Vertican continues to grow as one of Western Canada's major suppliers of hard window covering products and is a leader in new products and motorized applications.