In the Air - HRAI Industry News

When Ashley talks about Coastal Heat Pumps, there’s a warmth in her voice. Her parents Don and Joanne Gulevich started the company roughly twenty years ago in Comox, building it on integrity, hard work, and a belief in ‘efficient’ technology few people were talking about at the time. In fact, Don’s early fleet began with a custom-made trailer being towed by a company smart car, unheard of at the time. The forward-thinking business later moved to Victoria, where it has grown steadily into a recognized name across southern Vancouver Island. 

Her father remains a guiding influence, but Ashley now leads the company alongside co-owner, Jordan Caton, Operations manager Grant, Customer Service Manager Lindsey, and dozens of others. Together, they’ve turned a small family operation into a team of about 35 staff with more than a dozen service vehicles on the road. “When I started 11 years ago,” Jordan recalled, “it was just me, one other technician, and Don.” 

From the beginning, our focus has been residential heat pumps. “It was a heat pump business then,” Jordan said, “and it always has been.” In an industry where many HVAC companies divide their focus among heating, cooling, and gas, Coastal has remained a specialist. “We’re marketing ourselves as the experts,” Grant explained. “We’ve been doing it for 20 years.” 

This specialization proved invaluable during the turbulent years of the pandemic and beyond, when interest in heat pumps exploded. “What we saw in Victoria,” Jordan said, “was COVID, the heat dome, the big government rebates, and that really blew the whole industry out. There was a point where somebody called us to book an install, and we literally couldn’t fit them into the schedule for 11 to 12 months.” 

The sudden rush brought growing pains for the industry as a whole. “It was the Wild West,” Jordan said. “Anybody could get their hands on a heat pump, install it, and take a quick course to offer rebates.” That lack of regulation allowed underqualified contractors to enter the market, sometimes leaving behind poor installations that eroded public confidence. 

Grant and Jordan shared one striking example: a large care facility where another company had installed dozens of mini-split systems without proper care. “After auditing the building, we had to tell them, that the electrical work did not appear to be up to code” Jordan said. “The quality of workmanship was disheartening, with evidence to suggest that they didn't have a clear understanding of what they were doing. We later found out the job was completed by an electrical contractor. They came in with a good price, but the job was not completed with integrity” 

Jordan and operations manager Grant both came up through the trades, something they say defines the company’s DNA. “Everybody here speaks the same language,” says Grant. “From ownership to the comfort advisers who visit homes, they’re all tradespeople. They’ve installed systems, they’ve fixed them, so when they talk to a customer, it’s coming from experience, not a script.” 

Victoria’s mild climate makes it one of the best markets in Canada for heat pumps. “Often we can install a heat pump rated for cold climate, and it’ll keep people comfortable year-round,” Jordan said. We also benefit from modern inverter-driven systems, which have made enormous technological strides. “They ramp up and down depending on ambient temperatures,” Grant explained. “They’re leaps and bounds more efficient and much quieter than what was available when Coastal was in its infancy.” 

After twenty years, as Coastal expands into the commercial business, the company’s focus remains the same as when Don, Joanne and ‘the kids’ first started it: quality work, done by skilled people who care about doing it right. “Today, we’re proud of being specialists,” Jordan said. Ashley adds “we’ve all worked hard for our reputation” and they plan to keep it!