Refrigeration and ice plant specialist becomes IR Pros’ first Canadian operating company, opening a cross-border chapter built on shared values.
Canada — July 10th, 2026 — Industrial Refrigeration Pros (IR Pros), a national industrial refrigeration platform, today announced the acquisition of Prairie HVAC/R, a refrigeration, ice plant, and mechanical solutions specialist headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The deal is IR Pros’ first acquisition outside the United States and establishes the platform’s first Canadian operating company — a milestone that takes IR Pros international and plants the flag for a long-term partnership across the border.
For more than 20 years, Prairie HVAC/R has earned a reputation across Manitoba and the surrounding region for ice plant innovation, industrial refrigeration, and full-service mechanical work. From its manufacturing facility in Grande Pointe, the company builds its own ENVIROFREEZE® low-charge packaged ammonia chillers and RINK LINK® remote ice-plant controls — technology trusted on championship ice, including the Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship. Its work spans arenas and curling clubs, industrial refrigeration in ammonia, Freon, and CO2, commercial HVAC, controls and automation, alternative energy, and an in-house electrical division staffed by Red Seal electricians.
The acquisition gives IR Pros a Canadian footprint, a refrigeration manufacturing capability, and deep cold-climate expertise, while giving Prairie HVAC/R’s customers access to the engineering, controls, and compliance resources of a national platform. For both companies, the deal is less a first meeting than the formal start of a partnership years in the making: two organizations that have long shared the same values — honesty, quality, and a people-first way of doing the work — now under one roof.
“Canada has been on our radar for a long time, and Prairie HVAC/R was always the company we admired most. This is more than our first acquisition north of the border — it’s the start of a cross-border partnership we intend to build on for years. Albert and his team do exceptional work, and they do it the way we do: the right way.”
— Curtis Czemeres, CEO, IR Pros
ABOUT IR PROS
IR Pros is a national industrial refrigeration platform serving cold storage, food and beverage, and industrial customers. Through its operating companies, IR Pros designs, builds, and services industrial refrigeration systems, constructs cold storage facilities, and delivers the insulation and insulated metal panel systems that complete the cold envelope. IR Pros companies have served more than 1,450 facilities, supported by a shared engineering, compliance, and controls capability — including RefrigAgent, the AI compliance platform that converts P&IDs into IIAR 6 mechanical integrity plans. Learn more at irpros.com.
ABOUT PRAIRIE HVAC/R
Prairie HVAC/R is a rapidly growing, locally owned refrigeration and mechanical company headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With over 20 years of experience, Prairie designs, builds, installs, and services artificial ice plants, industrial refrigeration, commercial HVAC, controls and automation, alternative energy, and electrical systems for customers across Manitoba and surrounding Canadian regions. The company manufactures its own ENVIROFREEZE® low-charge packaged chillers and RINK LINK® DDC remote controls and is COR Certified for workplace safety. Learn more at prairiehvac.com.
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