Another good year for our industry
June 1, 2005
By Allen Williams, P. Eng.
As July approaches comes the end of my term as ACEC Chairman. At our Summit and Annual Meeting in Jasper, Alberta I will hand over the reins to Norm Huggins as your new Chairman. Here is my final repo...
As July approaches comes the end of my term as ACEC Chairman. At our Summit and Annual Meeting in Jasper, Alberta I will hand over the reins to Norm Huggins as your new Chairman. Here is my final report on the past year’s activities at ACEC.
2004-2005 has been another good cycle for both the consulting engineering industry in Canada and for our national association. Our member firms across the country again report being very busy in the past 12 month period; for the second year in a row Canada ranks third in the world engineering services export market; and the federal government has kept its promise to invest additional funds in municipal infrastructure and has put in place the necessary mechanisms to do so.
For the association itself, the past year has been marked by a series of new and innovative initiatives that have added value to the regular ongoing work of the association. On the image front, 2004 saw the creation and launch of two new ACEC publications, Engineering Perspectives and Concept, aimed directly at the industry’s key target audiences: decision makers and opinion leaders. The establishment last year of Engineers for a Safer Canada, which brings together the four national engineering organizations to promote investments in infrastructure, will also help to advance the profile of consulting engineers in this country.
As for ACEC’s top priority, Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), much has been achieved in the past year. Not only did ACEC and all Member Organizations finally adopt a common QBS position statement, but also an integrated promotion strategy has been developed and is being implemented. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each member of the ACEC QBS Task Force, which is chaired by Mr. John Gamble, P.Eng., President of Consulting Engineers of Ontario (CEO), for their hard work and commitment to this cause.
Finally, the financial performance of the association has been excellent. ACEC obtained an operating surplus by focussing efforts on priorities, controlling expenses and generating some new revenues. The accumulated surpluses have made it possible for ACEC to reach its target reserve level. Overall, 2004/2005 has been very successful for ACEC, and we expect much of the same in the coming year.
ALLEN WILLIAMS, P. ENG.
CHAIR, ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERS OF CANADA
