A family business, building commercial space since 2014.
We're a Halifax-based, owner-operated contractor. Keith started the company. Jamie runs it today. The same crew shows up when you call — that's the whole point.
Built on a handshake, run on follow-through.
Leasehold Improvements opened its doors in 2014, but Keith McMaster brought over 25 years on Maritime job sites with him — enough to know exactly what he wanted this company to be, and what he didn’t.
He’d seen too many owners get stuck with bad quotes, tired crews, and blown deadlines. So he built something smaller and more careful: the person who walks your space on day one hands you the keys at the end. The price on your quote is the price on your invoice. And if you call asking “can you take a look this week?” — the answer is yes.
We wanted the kind of contractor we'd want to hire ourselves — the kind who shows up, finishes the job, and still picks up the phone two years later. — Keith McMaster, Founder
A decade on, the company is still small on purpose. Keith’s son Jamie took over the day-to-day a few years back — he’s been on sites since he was old enough to hold a tape measure, and his love for real estate is what keeps the work grounded in how buildings actually get used. Jacob Cosman, our senior project manager, came up through engineering and now runs the jobs with the precision that background implies.
We work out of Halifax and serve the Maritimes. Commercial fit-outs, office interiors, and rental buildings. A lot of the clients who hired us in our first few years still call when they need something — and that is the scoreboard we care about.
Three things we won't trade away for growth.
Local and owner-operated.
We're not a franchise, and we're not a GC who subcontracts the whole job and disappears. When you call, you reach someone whose name is on the door. When we're on site, we're actually on site.
Long-term relationships over one-time billings.
Roughly three-quarters of our work is repeat or referral. That's not an accident — it's the result of quoting honestly, delivering what we said we'd deliver, and still answering the phone the following year.
Multi-generational, family-run.
Keith built the company. Jamie runs it now. The craft and the relationships are handed down deliberately — not to one hero contractor, but to a team that'll still be here in ten years.
The people behind the projects.
Three names that'll show up on your project — and be reachable long after it's done.
Keith spent 25+ years on Maritime job sites before founding Leasehold Improvements in 2014 — with a simple goal: deliver renovations and maintenance that are seamless, reliable, and built around the client. A decade later, he's still the one who picks up the phone when a longtime client calls with something urgent.
Jamie's been on sites since he was a kid — building and fixing long before it was a job. A love for real estate grounds the way he runs the company: he sees every project through a landlord's and operator's lens, not just a contractor's. He's hands-on with estimates, client relationships, and the long game.
Engineer by training, project manager by calling. Jacob loves the moment a business's vision stops being a drawing and starts being a space — and he runs jobs with the precision an engineering background implies. If your project has a tight schedule or a complicated scope, he's probably the one holding it together.
We've had Leasehold do three fit-outs, two full renovations, and more small jobs than I can count. We just call them now. Keith, Jamie, Jacob — they pick up, they show up, and the work is done the way you'd want your own home done.
Let's talk about your space.
Coffee, a walkthrough, a fixed quote. We'll come to you.