Indigenous Business
Vacu-Man has been cleaning furnaces, air ducts and dryer vents across Hamilton and the surrounding region since 1980. Over 45 years later we are still family owned and family run, and we are proud to be Indigenous co-owned.
Michelle Oldfield, our President, is a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. Michelle and her husband Adam Oldfield, our General Manager, lead the company together as partners in business and in life.
Indigenous employment, training and advancement is where we put our emphasis. It is not a side program. It is how this business is built.
Our Commitment to Reconciliation
We treat reconciliation as work, not a statement on a website. For us that means four things, and we hold ourselves to all four.
We hire into real jobs. Indigenous team members at Vacu-Man hold permanent, skilled trade positions with a wage, a truck and a career path. Not seasonal help. Not a placement quota.
We pay for the training. Vacu-Man covers CNADCA air systems certification and gas technician training for our crew. Those credentials belong to the person, not to us. If someone leaves Vacu-Man one day, they leave with a trade.
We promote from within. Every senior person on our field team started somewhere else in this company. Helper to lead. Lead to coordinator. That path is real here and we can point to the people who have walked it.
We are building an ownership structure that reflects who built this company. That work is underway and we will say more when it is finished rather than before.
We are not finished with any of this. We measure it by where our people end up, not by what we say about ourselves.
Over 45 Years, One Family
Vacu-Man was founded by Stephen Oldfield in 1980 on a simple standard: do it right or don’t do it at all. Stephen still works with the company today, guiding our crews in the field and handling commercial estimating and mechanical support.
The business passed to his son Adam, who runs it alongside Michelle. What began as one man with a truck is now a fleet, a trained and certified crew, and a founding membership in the Canadian National Air Duct Cleaning Association.
The standard has not changed.
Training, Certification and Advancement
Vacu-Man is a founding member of the Canadian National Air Duct Cleaning Association (CNADCA) and we have CNADCA certified technicians on staff. Certificate CA-00196.
Certification is not automatic and it is not free. The CNADCA course requires a pass mark of 80 percent. Vacu-Man funds that training, along with gas technician certification, for our field team. Technicians still working toward certification train alongside certified leads until they earn it.
That investment is deliberate. Paying for someone’s credentials is the difference between offering a job and building a career.
Read more about what our CNADCA membership means for your home
Our People
Charlene
Charlene Staats Carpenter is our Field Coordinator and a Lead Technician, and she is the longest serving member of our field team. Five years in, she runs crews, trains new technicians, coordinates the daily schedule across our full service area and drives our largest equipment.
Charlene is CNADCA certified at both Level 1 and Level 2.
She is also a proud Indigenous woman working in a trade that has never made it easy for women to get in the door. Charlene did not just get in. She leads, and the standards she sets go out into every home her crews work in.
Charlene and Matt are sister and brother. They have worked side by side here for years, and between them they have shaped how this company trains its people.
Matt
Matt Staats joined Vacu-Man as a part-time helper and worked his way up to Senior Technician, leading crews on dryer vent, furnace and air duct work to the company standard. He is CNADCA certified at both Level 1 and Level 2.
As a proud Indigenous man, Matt set the example for the technicians who came after him, and his approach to the work is still part of how we train. He is a steady presence on our crews and a resource for anyone learning the trade.
Dawson
Dawson Maracle started with Vacu-Man as a helper and grew into an HVAC Cleaning Lead, responsible for commercial and residential systems. He is completing his CNADCA certification now, funded by the company.
As an Indigenous man in a skilled trade, Dawson’s progression through this company is exactly what we mean when we talk about advancement rather than employment. He learned the work here, he leads crews here, and he is training the people coming up behind him.
For Builders, Property Managers and Commercial Clients
If your organisation has Indigenous procurement targets or a supplier diversity policy, we can help you meet them with a contractor that does the work to standard.
Vacu-Man holds $2 million in commercial general liability coverage, a current CVOR and CNADCA founding membership. We serve builders, property management firms and commercial facilities across Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Brantford.
Ownership and certification documentation is available on request.
Call 905.333.5454 to speak with our commercial team.
What Comes Next
We are continuing to work with community partners on training, hiring and advancement, and we intend to keep growing the number of Indigenous people building careers in this trade.
Indigenous businesses create jobs, keep skills and earnings in the community, and carry Indigenous values into industries that have not always made room for them. That is true here in Hamilton and it is true of Indigenous businesses in Brantford and across the region. We are proud to be one of them, and we are not done.
Talk to Us
Family owned since 1980. Indigenous co-owned. CNADCA founding member.
905.333.5454 or get a free estimate. If you are interested in building a career in this trade, we are hiring.