Background and career
Michael James Holmes (born August 3, 1963) is a Canadian general contractor, businessman, investor, television host, and philanthropist.
Mike Holmes began learning construction from his father starting when he was six years old. By the time he was 19, Holmes had started his first contracting company with a crew of 13 employees. At 21, Holmes founded his own renovation company. He has run two companies during his 20-year contracting career. He has three children: Amanda, Sherry, and Mike Jr., who have all appeared and worked on his shows. In 2006, Holmes started The Holmes Foundation after seeing a renovation that was so poorly done that he felt it was necessary for him to tear the house down and start again rather than try to repair the damage. The purpose of The Holmes Foundation is to encourage young people to enter the building trades as well as to assist those who have been impoverished by bad renovations. Holmes works with SOS Children's Villages. In 2006, Mike Holmes was recognized in the House of Commons of Canada for his promotion of skilled trades and for his advocacy for improved building standards. He was acknowledged as an "extraordinary craftsperson" and "an accomplished master builder with a social conscience". Holmes is the author of two books: Home Renovation with Canada's Most Trusted Contractor, Holmes Inspection: Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy or Sell Your Home, as well as a weekly newspaper column. In May 2010, Reader's Digest's second annual survey named Holmes as the second most widely trusted person in Canada behind David Suzuki.
Mike Holmes' first starring series was Holmes on Homes, which premiered in 2003, on Corus Entertainment's HGTV Canada.
In June 2019, Bell Media announced a new development deal with Holmes, ending his relationship with HGTV Canada. His library of programming moved airing to Gusto, which was rebranded as CTV Life Channel, and two new series were announced, including Holmes 911, and the Holmes Family Rescue for CTV in 2020.
Broadcast on HGTV Canada, Holmes on Homes first started in 2001. Holmes on Homes was first conceived when Holmes approached the producers of the Just Ask Jon Eakes home improvement show on HGTV with the idea for a new kind of home improvement show. Although there were few submissions to the show initially, their number ballooned by the fourth season. As the show evolved, it generally focused on bad renovations and the results of bad contractors. In Canada, Holmes on Homes airs on HGTV Canada, BBC Canada, and Casa for the French version. It airs in the US on HGTV and DIY Network, in New Zealand on The Living Channel, in Australia on Lifestyle Home, in the United Kingdom on Discovery Shed (formerly Discovery Real Time), in Germany on DMAX, and in South Africa on the Home Channel.
Between the end of Holmes on Homes and the start of Holmes Inspection, Mike Holmes starred in a one-season series, Holmes in New Orleans, on the construction of a new home in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, to replace one destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.
