2023 CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEERING AWARDS INFORMATION & ENTRY RULES
ENQUIRIES:
Peter Saunders, Editor
Canadian Consulting Engineer
111 Gordon Baker Road, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1
Tel. (416) 510-5119, E-mail psaunders@ccemag.com
GENERAL INFORMATION
The Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards are given to projects that demonstrate a high quality of engineering, imagination and innovation. Celebrating our 55th year, the awards are the most prestigious mark of recognition for consulting engineering firms in Canada.
The awards are a joint program of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada (ACEC-Canada) and Canadian Consulting Engineer.
This prestigious honour provides an unequalled opportunity to gain recognition for your firm and your employees. This year’s list of winners will be publicized nationwide and the projects will be showcased in the September/October issue of Canadian Consulting Engineer and by ACEC-Canada on its website and the #20DaysofExcellence social media campaign.
The awards will be presented by ACEC-Canada at a celebration in the fall. Twenty Awards of Excellence will be designated by the jury. Of these projects, up to five may also earn additional recognition with a Special Award. These Special Awards are:
- Engineering A Better Canada Award – Presented to the project that best showcases how engineering enhances the social, economic or cultural life of Canadians.
- Breton Environmental Award – Presented to the project that best demonstrates outstanding environmental achievement.
- Outreach Award – Presented to the project that best demonstrates donation of a firm’s time and/or services for the benefit of a community or group.
- Ambassador Award – Presented to the project constructed or executed outside Canada that best showcases Canadian engineering expertise.
- Schreyer Award – The highest honour, presented to the best technical entry.
The award winners are selected by a jury of eminent Canadian engineers and others allied to the industry who are not directly employed in the consulting engineering sector.
Judging of the submissions will take place in mid-June and firms will be notified soon afterwards as to whether or not they have won an award.
To encourage candid deliberations during the judging process, the jurors reserve the right to withhold explanations of their decisions for any selected project.
ENTRY RULES
ELIGIBILITY
Entries must conform to the following requirements.
- An entry must be submitted by an owner or employee of a firm in good standing with ACEC-Canada and must feature work performed, led or supervised by at least one person who is licensed to practise professional engineering within a Canadian jurisdiction. The office submitting the entry on behalf of the firm must be a member in good standing with the provincial or territorial association representing consulting engineering firms that is affiliated with and recognized by ACEC-Canada.
- Joint entries are permitted as long as one of the entering firms is an ACEC-Canada member. For logistical reasons, only one firm should submit the entry and serve as the point of contact throughout the awards process.
- Projects entered must have been completed in the period from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022. In the case of ongoing projects, only the phase(s) already completed by the cut-off date may be entered for consideration.
- Entered projects must not have been submitted previously in this program.
- Submission of entries must be approved by (a) the owner of the project and (b) the entering firm’s client (if not the same as the project owner).
- Projects for which the entering firm acted as a sub-consultant are eligible. However, the entering firm must indicate clearly the scope of work in the project for which it was responsible.
- There is no limitation or restriction on project size or location.
- Entries may be submitted in English or French.
JUDGING & CATEGORIES
The categories listed below are for organizing and guiding the judging process only. The jury will select the top 20 scoring projects for recognition, irrelevant of the categories. The jurors also reserve the right to move a project into a different category from the one in which it was entered if they deem it appropriate.
The Special Awards are chosen independently of the categories into which projects are entered.
Technical:
A. Buildings
Structural, electrical, mechanical, communications, seismic engineering, environmental management, personal security, geotechnical and other services in construction, retrofit, rehabilitation or preservation of buildings and complexes, whether commercial, institutional or residential.
B. Transportation
Bridges, roads, airports and airport terminals, transit lines and stations, ports, etc.
C. Water Resources
Dams, water and wastewater treatment plants, flood and erosion control, preservation of water quality or habitat, stormwater management, management of extreme weather events, etc., including studies in these sectors.
D. Environmental Remediation
Contaminated site clean-ups, solid-hazardous waste handling and treatment, environmental assessment studies, other special environmental remediation projects.
E. Natural Resources, Mining, Industry & Energy
All facilities and services in these sectors, e.g. plant buildings, process engineering, etc., including successful mitigation of adverse social or environmental impact.
F. Special Projects
Any projects that do not fit into a category above; e.g. software, non-design engineering and mega-projects of a comprehensive scope.
Entries in categories A to F above will be judged on evidence of a high quality of engineering, with due regard for innovation and the appropriate complexity of the solution. Success in overcoming extraordinary circumstances will be considered, as well as social, economic and environmental benefits to the client or to society in general. Meeting and/or exceeding the client’s budget and schedule may also be taken into account.
Other:
G. Project Management
Projects that demonstrate consulting engineers’ skills in managing and co-ordinating services on a client’s project.
H. International
Engineering projects or other initiatives outside Canada that have brought social/economic/environmental benefits to the other country and/or that have furthered the transfer of Canadian technology and business.
I. Community Outreach and/or In-house Initiatives
A firm’s non-commercial contributions and services to a community, such as alleviating suffering, promoting social awareness, providing education, work, etc. A firm’s in-house management programs for improving efficiency, profitability, staff training, etc.
MATERIAL TO BE SUBMITTED
Please read carefully
STAGE 1 – TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2023
(i) Notice of Intention to Enter
(ii) Entry Fee (non-refundable): $425.00 + HST.
Payment should be made online or by cheque payable to Canadian Consulting Engineer.
HST #86717-2652-RT0001.
STAGE 2 – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023
(iii) Official Entry Form & Project Outline — Online Form
Once the form is submitted, you will receive an e-mail confirmation receipt.
(iv) Entry Consent Forms – Electronic Files
These forms must be completed by the entering firm, the owner and the client.
(v) Project Entry PDF— Electronic File
This material includes all written and visual information about your project.
(vii) High-resolution Images of Project and Video Links
If your project is selected for an award, these images and videos will be used for publishing and promotional purposes. They will also be used by ACEC-Canada to produce a video to present your project as part of the awards celebration, during the #20DaysofExellence social media campaign and to showcase consulting engineering to the government and to the public via its website. Please submit 15 or more high-quality photos that best showcase your project; and if you can provide any high-quality video footage via file-sharing service (e.g. Dropbox), please submit the link(s). The more content submitted, the more visually interesting the promotional material becomes.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM & PROJECT OUTLINE
This form requires you to submit various types of information. We suggest you prepare the text beforehand, then copy and paste it into the form.
A. PROJECT INFORMATION:
Details of the project, including project name (maximum 75 characters, including spaces), exact location, year completed, entering firm(s), role of entering firm(s), contact names, etc.
B. PROJECT OUTLINE:
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE FORM. Jurors will refer initially to this information to evaluate the relative merits of your project. It has two parts, (1) 75-word Summary and (2) Project Highlights, as set out below.
NOTE – A CLEAR AND ACCESSIBLE WRITING STYLE IS REQUIRED
One of the objectives of the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards is to showcase the importance of consulting engineering to the broader public. Your submission will be used to publicize and promote the consulting engineering sector. Consequently, a clear, consistent and accessible writing style is extremely important in all aspects of your submission.
(1) 75-word Summary:
The summary of the project will be used as a script for a video ACEC-Canada will produce to present your project as part of the awards celebration. It is also used by ACEC-Canada to showcase consulting engineering to the government and to the public via its website. Please use plain language and avoid technical jargon where possible. The general public should be able to read the summary and understand what the project was and its impact.
The summary should include:
- The firm name(s).
- The project name.
- The client’s name and objective.
- Your role in the project.
- How and why your solution was innovative and/or well-suited to the project.
- The project’s social, economic and/or environmental benefits to the client and/or society.
The project summary should be written in the third person; please avoid saying ‘we’ and instead use the team or firm name(s). It should be written in the past tense.
The following project summary, from the 2021 Schreyer Award winning project, is an excellent reference:
Glacier National Park, located 650 km east of Vancouver, is home to a unique transportation corridor containing the Trans-Canada Highway, Canadian Pacific Railway, and a concentrated cluster of high-frequency avalanche paths. Parks Canada Agency engaged McElhanney to improve the corridor’s safety and reliability by implementing industry-leading avalanche mitigation solutions. These solutions, integrated with the complex existing avalanche control program, reduced the avalanche risk to roadway users and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and helps keep Canadians moving year-round.
(2) Project Highlights:
This section describes your project in some detail for the jurors to review.
Depending on your project’s category, you must complete different sections of the form:
- Entries in Technical Categories A – F complete Questions 1 to 5.
- Entries in Category G complete Questions 6 to 10.
- Entries in Category H complete Questions 11 to 15.
- Entries in Category I complete Questions 16 to 18.
The information in each section should describe different aspects of the project. Focus on the points that make your project outstanding. Explain the technical terms you use. Please keep within the maximum word count.
TECHNICAL CATEGORIES A – F
Questions 1 to 5 to be completed ONLY for entries in the following categories:
A. Buildings, B. Transportation, C. Water Resources, D. Environmental Remediation, E. Natural Resources, Mining, Industry & Energy, F. Special Projects.
Q.1 Innovation (40%) – max. 400 words
Briefly introduce your project: What was done and why? Then explain how the project demonstrates the innovative application of engineering principles or techniques. How is it distinguishable from similar projects of its type?
Q.2 Complexity (20%) – max. 250 words
Explain any extraordinary problems and conditions that were overcome.
Q.3 Social and/or Economic Benefits (15%) – max. 250 words
Explain the social and economic benefits to society provided by your project. Be specific and provide qualitative and quantitative information.
Q.4 Environmental Benefits (15%) – max. 250 words
Explain how your project addresses environmental/sustainability issues.
Q.5 Meeting Client’s Needs (10%) – max. 250 words
Explain the client’s main project goals and how you met them.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
CATEGORY G – PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Questions 6 to 10 to be completed ONLY by entrants in Category G.
Q.6 Complexity (40%) – max. 400 words.
Briefly introduce your project: What was done and why? Then explain the complex nature of your work. Describe how your project management practices and/or innovations overcame extraordinary problems and conditions.
Q.7 Meeting Client’s Needs (25%) – max. 250 words
Explain the client’s main project goals and how you met them.
Q.8 Environmental Benefits (15%) – max. 250 words
Explain how your project addresses environmental/sustainability issues.
Q.9 Innovation (10%) – max. 250 words
Explain how your project demonstrates innovative engineering practices or techniques.
Q.10 Social and/or Economic Benefits (10%) – max. 250 words
Explain the social and economic benefits to society provided by your project. Be specific and provide qualitative and quantitative information.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
CATEGORY H – INTERNATIONAL
Questions 11 to 15 to be completed ONLY by entrants in Category H.
Q.11 Social and/or Economic Benefits (30%) – max. 400 words
Briefly introduce your project: What was done and why? Then explain the social and economic benefits it provided to the other country. Be specific and provide qualitative and quantitative information.
Q.12 Technology Transfer (30%) – max. 250 words
Explain how the project transferred new and useful Canadian technology and know-how to the other country.
Q.13 Environmental Benefits (15%) – max. 250 words
Explain how your project addresses environmental/sustainability issues.
Q.14 Complexity (15%) – max. 250 words
Explain the complex nature of your project and any extraordinary problems and conditions that were overcome.
Q.15 Meeting Owner’s Needs (10%) – max. 250 words
Explain the client’s main project goals and how you met them.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
CATEGORY I – COMMUNITY OUTREACH & IN-HOUSE INITIATIVES
Questions 16 to 18 to be completed ONLY by entrants in Category I.
Q.16 Briefly explain the nature of the project – max. 400 words
Describe your project: What does it involve and what are its goals?
Q.17 Effort and Complexity (50%) – max. 400 words
Explain what the project involved in terms of staff effort, commitment and challenges.
Q.18 Social, Economic and Other Benefits (50%) – max. 400 words
Explain what social, economic, environmental, etc. benefits the project actually provided to (a) the community and/or (b) your company. How does the project illustrate the consulting engineering sector’s contribution to society?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Confirmation Receipt:
Once you have submitted your online Official Entry Form/Project Summary, you will receive an e-mail Confirmation Receipt.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING PROJECT ENTRY PDF
Use the same text as you posted online in the Official Entry Form & Project Outline or expand upon it. Include details, photographs, drawings, etc. related to the project. Maximum 10 pages + forms (minimum 10 pt. font).
Name your file using a short combination of the Entering Firm and the Project Name. For example, Smith Engineering’s entry of Blue Street Bridge could be filed under the name “SmithBlueStreetBridge”. Do not use special characters (- / : * ? “ < > |) in the filename.
By submitting your PDF file and high-resolution images, you consent to their use by ACEC-Canada and Canadian Consulting Engineer in publications and for promotional purposes.
