Located in Toronto, MJMA was founded in 1988 by John MacLennan, former Senior Partner at Sperry MacLennan, with Viktors Jaunkalns and David Miller, then Senior Associates at A.J. Diamond & Partners, as MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects. The firm started with the competition-winning award of the Grand River Recreation Complex in Kitchener Waterloo. This first project went on to win the 1988 Canadian Architect Grand Jury Prize Award, and its associated cash prize helped a fledgling three-person practice continue on a path of design excellence within the aquatic and community recreation project type. Andrew Filarski and Robert Allen joined the firm as original staff members in 1989 and 1990, respectively, with Ted Watson joining in 1996. The firm continued to innovate and lead in the advancement and definition of the community centre project type, growing a large portfolio of sport, recreation, community, and academic work within Ontario. In 2009, with the retirement of John MacLennan, Andrew, Robert, and Ted became partners. In 2018 and 2019, with the retirement of David Miller, partnership was extended to Timothy Belanger and Tarisha Dolyniuk, alongside Chris Burbidge and Jeanne Ng as principals, establishing the firm’s current leadership structure.