MONTREAL, Feb. 23, 2022 /CNW/ - SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC), a
fully integrated professional services and project management
company with offices around the world, announces it has established
a strategic collaboration with MBC Group, an engineering services
firm with a leading presence in Western
Canada for property damage appraisal, structural & civil
forensics and environmental consulting, to address the immediate
need to fortify/retrofit existing physical assets against climate
risk. Under the collaboration, the two companies will jointly
identify opportunities and provide solutions to bolster the
resiliency of buildings and infrastructure against, and recovery in
the aftermath of, the increasingly pronounced effects of climate
change and extreme weather events.
"This collaboration is perfectly aligned with and further
enhances SNC-Lavalin's ability to offer integrated, end-to-end
solutions to create sustainable, resilient infrastructure to meet
the demands climate change is placing on our society," said
Ian L. Edwards, President and CEO,
SNC-Lavalin. "We've seen extreme weather events increasing in
frequency and severity- particularly in Western Canada. Immediate action is therefore
required to ensure infrastructure- both existing and disaster
recovery rebuilds- is fortified to withstand the stresses of a
changing climate that are with us already. These efforts must also
be accompanied by a decarbonization of the built environment, to
avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change on our
communities in the long term."
SNC-Lavalin will provide engineering and project management
services combined with MBC's expertise in property damage
appraisal, environmental consulting, and risk management to serve
clients in the insurance market. The two companies will use their
collective resources, capabilities and experience in emergency
preparedness and response during disasters to provide immediate
solutions to repair damaged infrastructure & buildings on a
mass scale after extreme weather events.
"Working together, we can leverage the respective strengths of
our organizations to connect more communities across Canada with climate recovery and resiliency
solutions," commented Dale Clarke,
CEO, Engineering Services Canada, SNC-Lavalin. "MBC has a deep
presence in Western Canada, and
strong relationships working with the insurance industry to address
climate risk through both preventative adaptations of new and
existing buildings, as well as re-builds following severe
climate-related events. SNC-Lavalin continues to expand our role in
supporting our clients and communities to reduce their climate
change risk, as well as recover from the impacts of a changing
climate that are being felt like never before. MBC is ideal to
complement our robust Engineering Services business in this
area."
The collaboration is timely as it comes as multiple stakeholders
from property owners, insurers, and businesses, to the public
sector, are looking for ways to de-risk, or engage in recovery
rebuilds of their property portfolios as a result of climate change
induced damage. According to the Government of Canada, 2021 was one of the most active years
for extreme weather events in the country. Wildfires and floods in
British Columbia, the worst
drought in the Prairies in recent memory along with a fierce
clipper winter storm of extreme winds and snow, and a hailstorm in
Calgary that was most significant
in Canadian history, were just some of the major events experienced
across the country. Altogether, extreme weather events in 2021
caused multi-billion dollar damages and insured losses. With
Canada's climate warming two times
faster than the global average, these events are likely to continue
in the short-to-medium term, amid efforts to reach Net Zero
emissions.
"This strategic collaboration with SNC-Lavalin will provide
clients with leading insights built on a firm foundation in
engineering and project delivery to projects of diversified scale
to help our insurance clients make better decisions for damaged
infrastructure, proactively manage risks, and achieve strategic
business outcomes," said Ross Huartt, President and CEO of MBC.
"Together, we'll offer strategic and tactical action plans tailored
to address complex challenges unique to each community and
environment, as well as deliver transformative solutions that
create enduring value."
About SNC-Lavalin
Founded in 1911,
SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project
management company with offices around the world dedicated to
engineering a better future for our planet and its people. We
create sustainable solutions that connect people, technology and
data to design, deliver and operate the most complex projects. We
deploy global capabilities locally to our clients and deliver
unique end-to-end services across the whole life cycle of an asset
including consulting, advisory & environmental services,
intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering,
procurement, project & construction management, operations
& maintenance, decommissioning and capital – and delivered to
clients in key strategic sectors such as Engineering Services,
Nuclear, Operations & Maintenance and Capital. News and
information are available at snclavalin.com or
follow us on LinkedIn and
Twitter.
About MBC Group
MBC Group's mission is to be
a single source for a wide array of services, where clients receive
a comprehensive, collaborative, and creative project approach to
their projects. Already located in more than fifteen cities from
coast to coast, MBC's strength lies in the multidisciplinary team
comprised of leading experts in structural engineering and design,
property damage appraisal, cost consulting, environmental
consulting, and forensic laboratory analysis and research. Each
member of the team brings not only a unique background of
experience to their methodology and project approach, but a passion
for going above and beyond to provide clients with the solutions
they need.
SOURCE SNC-Lavalin