Built to Give

In 1992, Bill Knight was selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door and attending NAIT in the evenings, living in a small two-bedroom apartment with his wife and young son. But he knew he wanted to build something of his own and help his family flourish. By the end of 1999, he had founded B&B Demolition. When he sold that company, 17 years later, it was the largest interior demolition business in Western Canada. Not bad for someone who admits he “knew nothing about business” when he founded his first company. Today, he’s still an entrepreneur. The Mosaic Family of Companies is one of Canada’s fastest & growing home improvement franchising companies and this Organization is a family affair. “I was very fortunate to have the opportunity, from eight years old, to watch what it takes to own and run a business,” says Steven Knight, Bill’s son and business partner. Together with Bill’s wife, Grace Knight, Mosaic has flourished, serving homeowners across Canada through their 54 franchises.

Mosaic is a home-service franchise incubator. Working with homeowners across the country to improve their homes and get their time back, their brands and franchisees assist with everything from cleaning, to painting, to fencing and holiday decorating. The ethos of the company was built around uplifting the community and helping others, right from the beginning. The Knights have long run a Charity Day program through Mosaic, which donates 5 per cent of all sales across all of the company’s franchises on the last Thursday of each month to a charity nominated by staff and franchisees. “It’s important that companies get involved, but I also believe it’s really important that people within the company get involved,” Bill says. This kind of buy-in from staff and franchisees is central to their giving, involving the whole company in the philanthropic spirit that the Knight family values. As the program grew, the Knights realized they needed help to manage the growing volume. That’s where Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF) came in.

ECF helped the Knights establish the Mosaic Home Service Community Fund. It serves as the company’s charitable arm, directing those Charity Day funds to the organizations that need them. It’s a model that they hope will inspire other businesses. “When philanthropy is woven into a company’s culture, it strengthens teams and deepens community impact,” says Matt Mandrusiak, ECF’s Manager, Philanthropy.

“We handle the structure and administration behind the scenes, making it easy for businesses to involve their staff in giving — and to build an endowment that will support their community for years to come.”

ECF helps Mosaic steward these funds, directing grants to 11 different charities each year. The fund has contributed to local, national and international charities, supporting housing, health care and arts organizations, to name a few. “Philanthropy and charitable giving is cornerstone to not just our business but our family. It’s something that we’ve always firmly believed in,” says Steven. “The community gives you the resources that you need to be successful. It’s important to us that we repay that whenever we can.”

While they started small — the first Charity Day cheque was only $228 — the company’s growth has led to even bigger grants, now in the thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands. To date, they have given close to a quarter of a million dollars through the Charity Day program. Continuing their commitment to giving back, the Knights also started the Knight Family Fund through ECF. Through both the endowed and non-endowed funds, the Knight family fosters a philanthropic spirit amongst their staff and the broader community — serving the place they live now and for the future.

“The goal with the endowed fund,” explains Bill, “is to take a percentage of what we raise and make sure it continues to grow forever. That’s really the legacy piece of Mosaic and the legacy of the Knight family that we just love to see continue to grow.” Bill notes that setting up the endowment was easier than he had assumed. “It was simple, it was cost effective and it’s something we speak about today with pride,” Steven adds.

“It’s really not as hard as you think it might be. And the only thing that I would do differently is start earlier.”

This story comes from the Spring 2026 edition of Thrive Magazine.

Read the full issue