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by Peter Saunders

More than buildings

You could be forgiven for assuming, from time to time at least, that this is a magazine about buildings. Yes, it certainly is, but only partially so. It is also about all sorts of other projects undertaken by Canada’s consulting engineering firms, including those focused on transportation, water, energy, environmental remediation and mining, just to name a few examples.

I bring this point up because in the annual Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards, the ranks of winning projects could sometimes be said to be dominated by buildings. Each year, we and ACEC-Canada, the program's co-sponsors, announce and hand out 20 Awards of Excellence, as chosen by our esteemed panel of expert judges. In 2020, by way of example, seven of these awards went to projects in the Buildings category. And in 2021, nine of the winners—i.e. nearly half—did so.

This year, as you will notice in the pages that follow, the trend has reversed direction and there are ‘only’ five winners in the Buildings category, allowing for greater variety among the other types of projects to win awards. In this sense, the list of winners in 2022 is perhaps better representative in reflecting Canada’s various, ongoing needs for major infrastructure projects.

Also, as you will see in our Showcase of Entries (which will soon be updated at ccemag.com), this year’s program attracted 12 eligible entries in Buildings, 15 in Transportation, six in Water Resources, three in Environmental Remediation, five

“The spread among categories was highly welcome.”

in Natural Resources, Mining, Industry and Energy, three in Special Projects, three (all of which won!) in Project Management, one in International and one in Community Outreach.

Overall, that meant fewer entries than we received in 2020 or 2021, possibly as an ‘echo’ of the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but the spread among categories was highly welcome. Further, the quality of this year’s entries was so high, our jury singled out five winners for Special Awards, compared to three in 2020 and four in 2021.

Geographically, too, there was a bit of a change. Most of this year’s winning projects were based in Western Canada, a handful in Ontario, one in Quebec and none in the territories or the Atlantic Provinces. We hope to see more submissions from parts north and east next year.

Our judges once again deliberated over Zoom, rather than in person, to make their final decisions, but ACEC-Canada was able to return to the tradition of a live awards ceremony in Ottawa. (We’ve tried to ensure this issue reaches you as soon as possible thereafter.)

One thing that hasn’t changed is an emphasis on key social themes, from Indigenous community support to the transfer of specialized skills, from carbon reduction to electrification, from quality of life to enhanced diversity and inclusion. In thise sense, we can all remain proud of Canada’s consulting engineering community and its efforts to build a brighter future.

Peter Saunders • psaunders@ccemag.com SCAN CODE TO VISIT CCE’S WEBSITE: Find the latest engineer-related news, stories, blogs and analysis from across Canada.

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