Consulting Engineers of Alberta hits quarter-century mark

Consulting Engineers of Alberta celebrated its 25th anniversary in October. Along with 17 of the organization’s past presidents, a host of government dignitaries were at the event. They included Edmonton’s mayor, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, five Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and over a dozen MLAs.
CEA was launched in 1978 at the offices of Associated Engineering in Edmonton and incorporated that year under the Alberta Societies Act. Associated’s Jack O’Brien, P.Eng. was president and Harold Morrison, P.Eng. of R.M. Hardy & Associates was treasurer.
Firms in the fledgling CEA already belonged to the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada, but they had decided they needed a more localized voice. In 1992, CEA hit another milestone: it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta to define their roles. CEA was made responsible for looking after consulting engineering firms’ business interests and APEGGA was to be in charge of licensing and registration issues. In the 1990s CEA went on to lobby for such benefits as government outsourcing and it also launched its annual awards. CEA now has 80 member firms and is led by executive director Wendy Cooper.