Our history

George A Welch received his CA designation in 1917 and founded the firm in 1918 operating from an office in the Elgin Chambers overlooking Confederation Square in Ottawa, Ontario.

In 1929 Mr. Welch was honoured with the designation Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) for his contributions to the profession and the community. The firm expanded in 1932 with the addition of new partners and became known as George A. Welch & Company.

By 1941 the firm was showing the benefits of good management of their growth. Revenues exceeded $48,000 and partners other than Mr. Welch were charged out at $4 per hour with staff rates varying between $1 and $2.75 per hour.

The 50’s were a time of expansion for the firm. Offices were opened in Belleville (1950), Cornwall (1951), Picton (1958) and Pembroke (1959).

The 60’s was a period of growth in terms of revenues and staff. In 1967, on the 50th anniversary as a C.A., George A Welch was made a life member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO). On the 50th anniversary of the firm an important partner in the Welch family was established with the merger of 2 Gatineau, PQ firms to form Lévesque Marchand, Boulanger & Cie.

The 70’s were an exciting period of growth for the firm but ended on a sad note with the passing of our founder George A. Welch in 1979 at the age of 90. In spite of his age he had continued to maintain an office and an active interest in the practice until shortly before his passing.

The 80’s and 90’s saw the Ottawa office moving locations a number of times as the firm continued to expand and grow. A new office was opened in Renfrew in 1995 which meant Welch was now able to provide coverage throughout the Ottawa Valley region.

With the new century came new challenges. This period can be characterized by the outside influences on the firm and the profession. Technology has become an integrated component of our client service model. Privacy is now part of our basic business language. External challenges to the industry in the past few years such as Enron and Worldcom have made the audit world a more scrutinized place. The firm has responded positively to these challenges by working hard to ensure our quality assurance programs and policies are leading examples of best practices for our profession, by ensuring our staff are trained at a high level of proficiency and efficiency, and by placing the protection of our client’s information at the top of our priorities.

As we celebrated our 90th year in 2008, the firm has changed the name from Welch & Company LLP to Welch LLP. While it may look a bit different, the historical tie to our founder, George A. Welch, has been maintained. We look forward to the challenges that we will face in the future.