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Culture leader · Ottawa · ON · Media

Ross Video

Family and employee owned, building the live-production gear the world broadcasts on

Founded in 1974 by a former CBC engineer, Ross Video has grown for more than three decades straight while staying private, family-led and partly owned by its own people. Its Ottawa and Iroquois teams design and build the switchers, graphics and robotics behind live sport and news in more than 120 countries, and it funds its growth from its own earnings.

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01 · Culture

How they work

Our viewRoss Video treats its people as partners: an employee share ownership plan has been open to all staff since 2010, and the CEO frames it as asking everyone to act like an owner. Its written code tells staff to do the right thing in a customer crisis without waiting for sign-off. Mediacorp has named it one of the National Capital Region's Top Employers, citing hybrid work, a structured global leaves program and generous parental top-ups.

Recognition

In their words

“Ross employees are as passionate about Ross Video as I am.”
— CEO David Ross (2010) source ↗
“give every employee a chance to benefit from the success of the company – and for employees to care and act like owners.”
— CEO David Ross (2019) source ↗
“If there's no one to authorize the required action in times of company or customer crisis – do what you know in your heart is right.”
— Ross Video code of ethics source ↗
“Our hybrid work model gives employees room to balance their professional and personal lives, while maintaining strong connections with their teams and our culture.”
— Cathy McCallion, Stakeholder & Community Relations Director source ↗

In practice

  • Employee ownershipAn Employee Stock Ownership Plan created in 2010 moved Ross from family-only to family-and-employee ownership and is open to employees worldwide. (2010) source ↗
  • Global Leaves Benefit ProgramStructured time away for new parenthood, personal illness, family care, eldercare and personal recharge. (2026) source ↗
  • Parental leave top-upMothers, fathers and adoptive parents can receive top-up to 70% of salary for 26 weeks. (2024) source ↗
  • Tuition supportCovers up to 100% of tuition per year, plus subsidies for professional accreditation for new grads. (2024) source ↗
  • Hybrid workHybrid model with flexible hours and telecommuting options. (2026) source ↗
  • Mental health and wellnessUp to $2,000 a year for mental health practitioners and a $400 wellness spending account, plus paid volunteer time off. (2024) source ↗
  • Campus partnershipsCo-ops, internships and research collaborations with Carleton, uOttawa, Algonquin College and Collège La Cité. (2025) source ↗

02 · Capabilities

What they do best

Our viewRoss builds end-to-end live production systems: production switchers, real-time graphics, robotic cameras, routing and newsroom software used for events from the Super Bowl to local news. Its Ultrix platform folds traditionally separate broadcast systems into one software-defined box, and steady tuck-in acquisitions keep widening the toolkit into sports graphics, audio and immersive AV.

~1,330 worldwideEmployees2026 source ↗
680 / 275Employees in Ottawa / Iroquois2025 source ↗
120+Countries served2026 source ↗
17Global offices2026 source ↗
$1B by 2030; 2,000+ staffRevenue target2024 source ↗

Software-defined live production

Ultrix consolidates routing and processing into a single platform; a C$122.5M Ontario expansion announced in 2026 targets its next, AI-enabled generation. source ↗

Growth by acquisition

Sixteen acquisitions since 2009, most recently ioversal (Vertex immersive AV platform), LAMA and EagleEye in 2025. source ↗

Uninterrupted growth

33 consecutive years of sales growth averaging 17% a year, with a stated target of $1 billion in revenue by 2030. source ↗

03 · Capital

Who backs them, and what they back

Family-owned

Our viewRoss has financed decades of growth from reinvested earnings, with CEO David Ross as majority owner and employees as shareholders through the ESOP. It shelved a planned 2025 IPO in late 2024 to pursue growth capital privately, and in 2026 committed C$122.5M to Ontario manufacturing and R&D with up to $6M from the Invest Ontario Fund. It deploys capital steadily through acquisitions.

Public programs

  • Invest Ontario FundUp to $6M toward a $122.5M expansion (125 new jobs) · 2026-05 source ↗

Capital they deploy

  • Acquisition of ioversalGerman maker of the Vertex immersive-experience platform, extending Ross into experiential AV. · 2025-10 source ↗
  • Acquisitions of LAMA and EagleEyeLive audio mixing and aerial camera systems, among 16 acquisitions since 2009. · 2025 source ↗
  • Ontario manufacturing and R&D expansionC$122.5M investment in Ottawa and Iroquois to advance Ultrix and domestic manufacturing. · 2026-05 source ↗
What we could not confirm (3)
  • Whether a private equity investment was completed after the 2024 decision to pause the IPO
  • Current number of employee shareholders in the ESOP
  • Wikipedia's ~1,500 employee figure (company page says ~1,330)

Checked 2026-10-05

Why it matters in Ottawa

Live production technology - production switchers, routing, graphics, camera robotics; 1,330 employees and 17 offices.

Often described as an Ottawa company, and it does sponsor the media lab at Hub350 in Kanata North, but its stated head office is Iroquois, Ontario (about an hour southeast of Ottawa), not Ottawa. Worth getting right if you are mapping headquarters.

Employees: 1,330

Source: Ross Video - Company overview

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