CIQS sets record in the Rockies
By Adam Freill
Construction Financing Leadership Skills DevelopmentMembers of the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors meet up in Calgary to exchange knowledge, create opportunity, and inspire innovation.
A fireside chat with Huw Williams (left), president of IMPACT Public Affairs, and Greg McLean, MP Calgary Centre (Alberta). (Photo courtesy of CIQS)
More than 160 delegates descended on Calgary, Canada’s gateway to the Rockies, in late June as the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) hosted the largest gathering in the 64-year history of its annual industry congress. Delegates poured in from across Canada, and as far away as Nigeria and the Bahamas, to network, learn, and live up to the event’s theme: “Exchange knowledge, create opportunity, inspire innovation.”
“The pandemic taught us that meeting virtually offers a unique opportunity for geography to no longer be a hindrance for people to attend meetings and educational events,” stated Sheila Lennon, chief executive officer at CIQS. “To be competitive, however, it is imperative that businesses maintain a balance between virtual learning and in-person events such as the CIQS Congress.”
The congress kicked off with a welcome reception allowing members and guests the chance to meet up with old friends and forge new ones. An invite-only Young Quantity Surveyor (YQS) reception brought delegates under 40 together, including six members under 40 whose delegate fees were covered under the David Lai YQS Congress Bursary Program. Bursary benefactors like Hanscomb and Foresight Atlantic help make that bursary program possible.
“Attending conferences gives delegates a more interactive and immersive experience by striking upside discussions with other delegates or speakers that creates a different level of learning,” added Lennon. “In-person networking events can also build strong soft skills, such as communication and relationship building, that can lead to strategic relationships and long-lasting friendships.”
Keynote presentations during the event included a fireside chat on government affairs between Huw Williams, president of IMPACT Public Affairs in Ottawa, and Greg McLean, MP Calgary Centre (Alberta), as well as an interactive presentation on collaborative behavioural assessment and relational contracting by Mitch Clark, managing consultant at BTTC Canada, and Georgina Murphy, managing consultant at BTTC in Manchester, England.
The eight speaker sessions presented played on the event’s theme, discussing such topics as construction cost escalation and parametric modeling, clean energy, adjudication expectations, dispute resolution opportunities in Canada, insurance as part of the quantity surveyor’s value proposition, decarbonization opportunities for buildings, inflation mechanisms, and a special fictional project used to illustrate a win for the industry.
The CIQS expressed gratitude to the sponsors of CIQS Congress 2023, including, Altus Group, EllisDon, Turner & Townsend, Hanscomb, Foresight Atlantic, Conecon Consultants, Ankura, Rider Levett Bucknall, Border Ladner Gervais, A.W. Hooker, MediaEdge, Better Projects, and Sonnet Insurance.
CIQS was founded in 1959 and is the voice for Canada’s construction economists. It is a self-regulatory, professional body and the gatekeeper of the ethics and standards of construction and infrastructure economics in Canada. It currently represents over 2,000 national and industry professionals and works on their behalf to promote the profession to the construction industry, its allied professions and government officials.
