Geotechnical Engineering – Succeeding Despite Slowdowns and Squelching Soil

This was a challenging yet rewarding year for the Geotechnical group. Despite project slowdowns and an unusually rainy spring and summer that impacted construction sites, the team persevered and delivered outstanding results.

Leaders of our Geotechnical team are extremely proud of how the team came together, stayed positive, and turned challenges into one of their strongest years on record—a true reflection of the talent and dedication within the group.

Expanding our Civil Engineering Presence

WATT Civil Engineering is proud to reflect on a year marked by expanding our team, dynamic growth, and successful project delivery. The commitment to quality and client satisfaction has taken the Civil team to new heights, and some of the standout moments include:

• Launch and growth of our Edmonton office, strengthening our ability to serve all of Alberta and neighbouring provinces and territories. Under the leadership of Regional Lead Ryan Kirstiuk, the office has enhanced our local presence and responsiveness to client needs.
• Delivering a diverse portfolio of projects across Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, including commercial developments, multifamily and single-family residential communities, and institutional and educational facilities. Our Civil team also further strengthened our leadership and technical expertise through the addition of senior professionals Scott Blonksi and Marc Biggelaar.
• Serving as a key team member for a pursuit on Alberta Infrastructure’s Public-Private Partnership (P3) for new schools in Alberta this year. Our team’s involvement emphasized our passion for innovative delivery models and collaborative partnership, allowing us to address the province’s infrastructure priorities with forward-thinking solutions and industry-leading expertise.
• Playing a central role in the renewal of Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park, which is near completion. As the lead Civil Consultant, our team was instrumental in restoring and enhancing one of Edmonton’s signature green spaces.
• WATT also continued to work on award-winning community developments in the City of Calgary including Currie (redevelopment of a former military base), Taza (a major development within the Tsuut’ina Nation and the University District.

Geomatics Engineering – Expanding New Developments

Our Geomatics team members continued to expand our many offerings and push the boundaries of what we can accomplish through traditional survey methods, as well as laser scanning LiDAR and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle drones. A major project highlight of the year included:

• Wildflower: A New Standard for Community Living in Airdrie – Wildflower developed by Minto Communities Canada, is a vibrant, master-planned community on Airdrie’s upper west side. Designed to offer resort-style amenities and a mix of single-family, duplex, townhome, and condo options, Wildflower is quickly becoming one of the region’s most sought-after neighbourhoods. As the legal surveying provider for Wildflower, WATT Consulting Group’s Geomatics division is proud to support Minto Communities Canada in bringing this vision to life. Our team is responsible for:
  • Legal Surveys: Establishing precise property boundaries and subdivision plans for each phase of Wildflower, ensuring compliance with Alberta Land Titles Office requirements and supporting the registration of new lots.
  • House Stakeouts: Accurately staking out new home locations, providing builders with the exact placement needed for construction, and ensuring each home is sited according to approved plans and municipal regulations.
  • Lot Grade Surveys: Conducting detailed lot grading surveys to verify that each property meets drainage and elevation requirements, supporting both homeowner safety and long-term community sustainability.

Moving All Kinds of Transportation Forward

From redesigning corridors and planning transportation networks for new communities, to advancing how we walk, roll and bus around, our transportation team members undertook projects spanning from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as well as some outside of Canada. Highlights include:

• Adding a location and enhanced team presence in Ottawa, ON to support our growing list of projects in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, while our Southern Alberta Transportation Regional Lead Brendan Stevenson also travelled to Kuwait to support a project.
• Growth of our Vancouver office, bringing onboard Regional Lead Andres Baez for the Metro Vancouver and BC interior regions. Andres has been a critical part of our transportation team, bringing over 20 years’ experience and innovation in multi-modal transportation planning traffic engineering, and road safety projects.
• Advancing the Charged and Ready: EV-Ready Residential Building Experiences in BC project, that explored best practices for integrating electric vehicle infrastructure into residential developments that you can also read more about through this recent LinkedIn feature.
• Completing Transit Plans in Lloydminster, AB, Brandon, MB, and Vernon, BC, with eight other major transit master plans plus other transit electrification, infrastructure design, and feasibility studies underway.
• Being recognized by the Canadian Urban Transit System (CUTA) — along with the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District and BC Transit—winning the CUTA Corporate Award for excellence in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for help planning and implementing new transit in the Tofino region of west coast Vancouver Island.
• Continuing our established presence in Active Transportation (AT) planning. Over the past five years, the team has completed nine Active Transportation Network Plans (ATNPs), with a strong focus on small and mid-sized communities such as Esquimalt, View Royal, Oak Bay, Salt Spring Island, Cumberland, and Telkwa. In 2025, key milestones included:
  • Completion of the Kaslo ATNP, our first AT project for a small community in the West Kootenays.
  • Completion of the South Kootenay Green Link AT Plan, one of the first regional plans of its kind, providing detailed recommendations for 47 kilometres of infrastructure connecting multiple West Kootenay communities.
  • Delivery of our first AT plan in Alberta—the Okotoks Active Transportation Implementation Plan—a federally funded project that establishes a 10-year roadmap for expanding active transportation infrastructure across the community.
  • Award of the Tsawwassen First Nation ATNP, marking our first active transportation plan developed in partnership with a First Nations community and supporting safe, accessible, and inclusive mobility while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Award of the District of Lantzville AT plan, currently underway in collaboration with our partners at Lanarc.
• Leading the District of Saanich Off-Street Parking Bylaw Updates project. This work focuses on modernizing parking and loading regulations through best-practice review, technical analysis, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring alignment with the District’s Official Community Plan (2024) and Council Strategic Plan (2023–2027).
• The Transportation team continued to support the City of Langford on several complex and challenging transportation initiatives, including the Transportation Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan, Parking Bylaw Modernization, and the Downtown On-Street Parking Strategy. All three projects are anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.

Thank you!

As we look back on 2025, we are grateful for our clients’ trust and the tireless dedication of our remarkable team. Looking ahead to 2026, we remain committed to setting new standards of excellence across our regional offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria and Ottawa and the many communities across Canada and beyond that we have the pleasure of working with. Thank you for being part of our journey.