Ernest John Smith

Ernest John Smith, architect (born 17 December 1919 in Winnipeg, MB; died 22 October 2004 at The Pas, MB). Ernest J. Smith studied architecture at the University of Manitoba, where he received the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1947, Smith, Dennis H. Carter and Walter L. Katelnikoff founded the architecture firm Smith Carter Katelnikoff. The company went through a number of name and partner changes (e.g., James E. Searle, John C. Parkin), but eventually became known simply as Smith Carter Partners and later Smith Carter Architects and Engineers. From 1947 until his retirement in 1985, Smith served as managing partner of the firm.

The firm's work included major projects, public and private, in Manitoba, the Prairies, and later abroad. Many of the projects Smith directed changed the urban character of Winnipeg; these included Winnipeg Square and the underground concourse at Portage and Main, the Woodsworth Building on Broadway (1973), the Great West Life Assurance Company (1983), and the Air Canada building (1985). The firm also designed the Place d’Accueil in Montréal for Expo 67, as well as the Canadian Chancery in Warsaw and the Canadian Embassy Building in Moscow. In 2014, Smith Carter merged with a number of other architecture firms to form Architecture49.

Smith served in a number of positions, including president of the Manitoba Association of Architects (1956–1961); chairman of the National Joint Committee on Construction Materials (1963–65); dean of the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (1972–75); and chancellor of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (1979).