Friday, October 30, 2026
Canada’s consulting engineering industry celebrated its leading lights tonight at a memorable 2026 ACEC National Awards Gala. As well as honouring projects that will have a lasting positive impact, ACEC presented not one, but two Beaubien Awards for outstanding lifetime contributions to consulting engineering.
Recognized as the industry’s top honours, the ACEC National Awards demonstrate why Canada’s consulting engineering sector is a global leader. Besides handing out 16 Awards of Excellence, ACEC presented four firms with Special Awards for technical innovation, environmental stewardship, and improvement of Canadians’ social, economic, or cultural quality of life. Winners were selected by an independent jury of distinguished experts from varied backgrounds.
The ACEC Project of the Year went to CIMA+ for SCADA and human-machine interface upgrades in Ottawa’s drinking water system. This project modernized the critical technology used to operate Ottawa’s drinking water treatment and distribution network, significantly improving how the city monitors, controls, and optimizes water delivery. The CIMA+ team designed the new high-performance system architecture, migrating a legacy system with large, stationary consoles that had to be updated separately at each of 40 sites to a centralized system operated with lightweight terminals, enhancing cybersecurity, efficiency, and reliability. What’s more, the system was deployed without service disruption. This project stood out to the jury for its “technical excellence, innovation, and impact, highlighting the essential role of engineering in safeguarding public health and building resilient, reliable, and sustainable infrastructure.”
“The ACEC National Awards showcase not just the technical excellence of Canada’s world-leading consulting engineering industry, but its enormous impact on society,” said ACEC president and CEO John Gamble. “The projects that won tonight are vital to their communities, helping people live better lives, powering economic growth, and shaping the future through innovation.”
The other Special Award winners were:
Klohn Crippen Berger and AtkinsRéalis – Site C Clean Energy Project (Prosperity Award)
BBA Consultants – Mangrove Lithium Refining Facility (Catalyst Award)
Binnie – Silver Skagit Road Flood Recovery (Breton Environmental Stewardship Award)
BBA Consultants – Saa/Se Energy Project (Engineering a Better Canada Award)
ACEC also gave out individual awards: the 2026 Beaubien Award for lifetime achievement was presented to two winners, Alex Brisson, P.Eng., MBA, ASC, President and CEO of Norda Stelo, and Darryl Matson, P. Eng., P.E., Senior Vice President and Senior Project Director with COWI; the Allen D. Williams Scholarship Award was given to environmental engineer Jessica LeNoble, P. Eng., MASc., with Kerr Wood Leidal in B.C.
Securing the Future: AI-Driven Safety Transformation at BCIT
Hedgehog Technologies
UTILE Student Accommodation in Rimouski
gbi
Modern Infrastructure Asset Management for Parks Canada
Associated Engineering
Reuse and Upgrade of Joliette Municipal Court and Administrative Offices
dIREKTION 360 Inc.
Sanofi B99 Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Plant
Dillon Consulting Limited, GHD
Valley Line Southeast LRT
AECOM Canada ULC | DIALOG | Hatch Ltd. | ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd. | Mott MacDonald Ltd. | SMA Consulting Inc. | Thurber Engineering Ltd.
Clyde River Harbour Development
CBCL Limited
BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing
Fast + Epp
Hull Causeway Widening Project
Parsons Inc.
Alexandra Bridge Replacement Project
Arup Canada Inc. | ASI | Cambian Indigenous Professional Services | Cima Canada Inc. | Dillon Consulting Ltd. | ERA Knight Architects Ltd. | Ray Gosselin Architect Ltd. | Thurber Engineering Ltd. | Provencher Roy
Constance Lake First Nation Main Pumping Station and Lagoons Upgrades
Dillon Consulting Limited
Featured image: ACEC Project of the Year. (L to R) Adam Plumstead and Jodie Hannen of CIMA+, Bryson Hayes, Technical Lead & Vice-President of Architects & Engineers Claims at Victor Canada, ACEC Jury Chair Jennifer Drake, and ACEC Board Chair Nancy Inglis (ACEC)
