Was it less than six months ago when industry was concerned about limited infrastructure investment in Saskatchewan?  When consulting engineering companies had laid off staff and were uneasy about how to maintain core staffing into the future?

How things have changed!  ACEC-SK worked with SaskBuilds to report the consulting engineering industry’s readiness to absorb new business.  Government heard us as demonstrated by the large flurry of engineering projects from the provincial government.

When we reported our capacity, we did not anticipate the Community Benefits challenges facing some sectors.  Members need to consider strategies that lead to employing additional Saskatchewan employees, or to partnering with other Saskatchewan companies to deliver projects.  The good news is that many government stakeholders are responding with a partnership approach when unanticipated consequences of recently implemented processes are identified.  To that end, if you see where newly introduced processes are creating impediments to efficiencies, please share this with ACEC-SK, and we will do our best to reach out to the appropriate stakeholder to communicate the implications to not only industry, but to government.

These are new challenges, but they are also new opportunities, and we have confidence our members can adapt and respond to these new opportunities.  We know the time constraints add another layer of complexity to industry’s response, but we encourage everyone to view these new challenges as ones that allow our industry to demonstrate what it can accomplish.  These challenges are far superior to the ones faced by many member firms six months ago when companies were responding to continued economic contraction, laying off employees and struggling to secure long-term project opportunities.  I know everyone is pushing hard to respond to a myriad of pursuits right now, but I would encourage everyone to remember what this industry was facing at the beginning of 2020 and embrace the challenges of today!

July 20, 2020