Canada’s largest fleet of premium event containers, serving events across Canada & USA.
Ballance Design is an award-winning design and fabrication shop, building cost effective solutions for events and retail environments.
Explore
You name it, and we've probably built it. We help translate the creative vision of our clients and agency partners into real-life event exhibits.
From tight 10×10 island booths to sprawling 20×20+ anchor exhibits, we design and fabricate trade show displays that command attention on the floor. Custom millwork, illuminated graphics, integrated technology, or a container-format booth, our in-house team handles every detail from concept to installation. 45+ years of experience means we've seen every curveball, and we build accordingly.
We are Canada's leading event container vendor. We also design and fabricate custom container builds for retail and brand activation environments. Permanent outposts, seasonal pop-ups, festival footprints, modified and fitted out in our Oakville shop to exactly the brief. Built by the same team behind every other Ballance Design project. The container is one of our materials.
High-traffic retail environments demand builds that are beautiful, brand-true, and operationally bulletproof. We've delivered premium kiosks and outpost installations for some of the world's most design-conscious brands; Chanel, Hugo Boss, Nintendo, and Armani - proof that our craft holds up under the most demanding scrutiny, in the most competitive retail environments.
We create temporary activations inside existing brick-and-mortar spaces to permanent branded retail floors, and we build environments that make the brand the whole story. Fast to install, structurally sound, and visually unforgettable, and when the activation ends, we strike as cleanly as we built. The same rigour applies whether it's open for a weekend or a decade.
A PR launch lives and dies by the story it tells in photographs. We build the environments that generate those images, elevated outdoor dining structures, immersive indoor brand worlds, and everything in between. If it needs to look extraordinary and be ready on a hard deadline, this is what we do. Ask American Express and the WNBA.
Festival environments reward boldness. Builds need to stand out in a crowded field, hold up through days of heavy traffic and unpredictable weather, and still look great in every photo that ends up online. We've been building for festivals and outdoor events long enough to know exactly what works, and how to make a tight budget look like it wasn't.
Live sporting events operate on schedules that don't move, in environments that don't forgive. We build branded activation hubs, fan experience installations, and VIP environments for some of the biggest events in North American sport. From NHL All-Star Weekend to the FIFA World Cup, our builds show up on time, perform under pressure, and look the part in front of thousands.
Branded lounges work when all three things are in balance; architecture, hospitality, and marketing. We design and build indoor and outdoor lounge environments that feel considered rather than assembled, comfortable without losing their edge. A VIP footprint at a major festival, a smoke lounge at a multi-day event, we build spaces people actually want to spend time in.
Film and broadcast productions need builds that look camera-perfect and hold up under real production conditions, long days, shifting requirements, and schedules that don't move. We've fabricated sets and experiential marketing environments for major streaming productions and brand campaigns, with the precision and turnaround speed that production timelines demand. From XM activations to full film sets, when it has to be ready for day one, we're the call.
In-depth
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![San Pellegrino pop up]()
San Pellegrino
We partnered with San Pellegrino to create a one-of-a-kind surprise brand activation that turned an ordinary reveal into an unforgettable experience. The evening before launch, the entire container was wrapped like a giant gift, building anticipation before being unveiled the next morning as though it had washed ashore on the beach.
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![Unilever kiosk]()
Unilever
FIFA Fan Activation
Ballance Design partnered with Unilever to design, fabricate, and deliver a custom shipping container activation that brought the Dove Men+Care, AXE, and Degree brands to life during FIFA fan events in Toronto and Vancouver. -
![Humber soccer]()
Humber Polytechnic
For Humber Polytechnic's SoccerBots experience during FIFA in Toronto, Ballance Design transformed a shipping container into a secure, interactive activation that attracted visitors throughout the event while protecting valuable equipment after hours.
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![Bright yellow booth with black checkered floor at an outdoor event, advertising free samples with a sign that reads 'free sample aisle at notable event.' Behind it is a large mural with abstract, colorful patterns and a building with blue windows.]()
NO NAME
What began as an idea became a fully mobile brand activation designed to travel across Canada. Ballance Design managed the project from concept through design, fabrication, logistics, and deployment, creating an activation that delivered a consistent brand experience at every stop.
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![People attending a corporate event or conference in a dimly lit room with blue lighting, some are standing and others seated at a long table set with glasses and tableware, with a basketball hoop visible in the background and a large screen displaying the hashtag '#AMEXBIZEDGE'.]()
Amex - dinner with a view
To launch its new Platinum Card in Canada, American Express wanted an experience as exclusive as the card itself. The result was Dinner With A View, a pop-up dining event curated by Top Chef Canada winner René Rodriguez and hosted by model and influencer Coco Rocha, set in a group of clear geodesic domes at The Bentway, beneath Toronto's Gardiner Expressway.
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![Colorful exhibit booth with large red and blue circular structures, informational displays, and Ryde branding for wellness or energy promotion in a shopping mall.]()
Ryde Energy
Ballance Design created the Ryde Sound Shower: an interactive pop-up where guests step under an oversized bottle cap and are wrapped in a soundscape matched to each formula. Each zone is colour-coded to its product: red for Energize, yellow for Focus and blue for Relax. Guests choose their mood, step onto the platform and let the sound do the rest.
Trusted by
Air Canada
Subway
Vuse
NHL
NBA
Chanel
Hugo Boss
Giorgio Armani
Nintendo
American Express
WNBA
Raptors
Mitchell & Ness
Amazon
Investors Group
About us
Award-winning fabrication shop. Over 45 years. One promise.
We are a second-generation, Canadian-owned fabrication studio. Since 1979, we have translated agency briefs and brand visions into real-world experiences — from intimate 10×10 trade show booths to multi-container festival environments. We work with wood, metal, and plastics, mixing materials to match any brief, any budget, and any timeline.
"On budget. And on time. Every time." — Eric Ballance, President
Services
Trade Show Booths & Exhibits
Mall Kiosks & Outposts
Pop-up Shops
PR & Launch Events
Retail Environments
Festivals & Outdoors Events
Sports Activations
Lounges
Film Sets & Experiential Builds
Clients
Chanel
Boss
Nintendo
Armani
Amex
WNBA
Air Canada
Subway
Amazon
“As a first time customer, I am very impressed with the level of service and quick turn around times of Ballance Design. They are flexible, professional and put customer service and the quality of the end product as top priority.”
“We had a great experience working with Ballance Design. Their team was collaborative, responsive and a pleasure to work with. They demonstrated a strong commitment to quality and schedule and delivered an award-winning final product. We would not hesitate to work with them again on future projects”
— DS Studio