He was the founder of North American Road Ltd., which grew to be one of the largest mining, heavy construction, industrial, piling and pipeline firms in Canada.

[1] In 1953, Gouin sold his store[1] and he and his brother Bob purchased a small bulldozer which he used to clear the forest so farmers could plant crops.

[3] They soon won bids for projects in Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon, including the famous Alaska Highway.

[3] In the 1960s, they expanded from road-building to industrial work including clearing the site for the Gardiner Dam and Lake Diefenbaker in Southern Saskatchewan and then began providing services for Suncor's Oil Sands development in the Fort McMurray area.

[4] At the time, North American Road Ltd had invested heavily in the mining industry incurring high levels of debt when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau implemented the National Energy Program which put a heavy tax burden on energy companies who then pulled back on their capital investments making it difficult for North American Road Ltd to meet its debt obligations.