2023 Tereo Awards
On Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 Asset Management professionals from across Canada came together at the annual CNAM conference at the Fredericton Convention Centre, Fredericton, NB to celebrate excellence in Asset Management. The Student Symposium Awards, the Tereos, the Visionary and Volunteer Awards were presented.
Tereo Awards
1st Place - Lake Huron and Elgin Area Primary Water Supply Systems (Regional Water) and Dillon Consulting Limited
The 1st place Tereo Award was presented to Lake Huron and Elgin Area Primary Water Supply Systems (Regional Water) and Dillon Consulting Limited for the 2022 updates to the water utilities’ asset management plans at the Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) annual conference. “Advancing asset management practices by integrating climate change in the risk assessment as well as adding digital technology assets as a separate category of assets were exciting additions in this update,” stated Darla Campbell Project Manager with Dillon Consulting Limited.
In the process of updating its Asset Management Plans, the Lake Huron and Elgin Area Primary Water Supply Systems started with establishing an Asset Management Policy. This policy set the stage for an update to the Levels of Service (LOS) Framework and risk mitigation strategy that aligns with the policy and with ISO 55000 as a best practice. Director, Regional Water, Andrew Henry highlighted the value to operationalizing asset management. “Ongoing updates to the Asset Management Plans further integrate asset management and asset planning processes into the Regional Water’s day-to-day business processes.” A state of the infrastructure report for the utility’s $680 million CDN assets was presented in June 2022 and will be updated on an annual basis, measuring performance against the target LOS. Alignment of the key drivers for investment with the policy and LOS demonstrates robust application of asset management and supports service delivery for the 15 municipalities today (combined population of 500,000), and the Oneida First Nation community in the near future. Senior Manager, Capital Programs, Billy Haklander, acknowledged the team’s efforts, “It was a team effort, our staff working with Dillon Consulting and the Ontario Clean Water Agency, in developing our fourth-generation asset management plans.”
2nd Place - City of Regina
The 2nd place Tereo Award was presented to the City of Regina’s Asset Management team for creating Regina’s first State of Infrastructure Report (Report) at the Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) annual conference. The Report looked at all City-owned assets and the replacement value, remaining life, condition and amount of investment needed.
Karen Gasmo Director, Sustainable Infrastructure acknowledged “The State of Infrastructure Report was the first time we pulled together a report on all the assets for the entire organization. This project came together through a holistic approach with multiple divisions collaborating on the collection of data and analysis of information. The process increased knowledge and awareness across the organization. The Report is a vital decision-making tool to ensure we deliver services effectively and sustainably into the future.”
The City is committed to advancing a best practice approach to asset management so residents can continue to rely on the necessary and desired services that make Regina an attractive place to live, work, visit and invest in.
CNAM Visionary Award - Christiaan Lombard
The Visionary Award recognizing an individual who has made an integral contribution and long-term dedication in advancing the asset management industry in Canada was presented to Chris Lombard, Asset Management Leader for the Americas Water business at AECOM.
For over two decades, Chris Lombard has been working closely with Canadian municipalities to help them optimize their asset management strategies, collaborating with colleagues around the globe to bring the latest asset management practices to Canada. Chris’s passion for asset management extends far beyond his workplace. He has mentored dozens of young professionals, cultivating the next generation of asset management experts. Most recently he designed and delivered a course in asset management to more than a hundred professionals from around the world. Chris is known for his progressive approach to asset management by leveraging the latest tools and technology, being among the first to include natural assets and consider the impact of climate change. He is frequently sought after by American utilities for his expertise and valuable insights.
Volunteer of the Year Award - Mike Benson
This year’s Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Mike Benson. Mike has been a leader in asset management (AM) in Canada since 2015. He grew up in Fredericton, NB and completed his B.Sc.E and M.Sc.E degrees in civil engineering from the University of New Brunswick (UNB). His masters’ degree focused on sustainable performance of public infrastructure projects. Upon graduation, Mike joined R.V. Anderson Associated Limited as an Asset Management Engineer where he quickly became an Associate.
Mike is involved in both the Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) to advance AM practices. He was a 2016 CNAM student research symposium winner, joined and later chaired CNAM’s New Professionals Network (NPN).
Recently, Mike began his PhD specializing in infrastructure asset management and co-founded DCA Consulting Inc. where he continues to deliver AM projects across Atlantic Canada. He was a 2023 CNAM National Conference planning committee member as conference co-chair, leading the development and execution of the technical program.
Student Symposium Awards
Congratulations to Thiago Muzzi this year’s recipient of The Student Research Symposium Award. Thiago abstract titled “Investigating Impacts of Spring Thaw on Ontario’s Low-Volume Roads for Improved Asset Management” was judged, based on novelty, practicality, need, and overall presentation quality. His research demonstrated a deep understanding of the complexities and challenges in the asset management field and presented creative ideas with the potential to impact the industry.
Previous Tereo Award Winners
2022 TEREO Award Winners!
After not having awards in 2020 due to the pandemic, and then a fully virtual return in 2021, the 2022 Annual CNAM Tereo Awards were back live at the gala in London, Ontario with the ability for a virtual audience to watch at home. Though some award winners were not able to join us in person to accept their award, we were connected as an industry to celebrate the achievements of our friends and colleagues.
Congratulations to all our 2022 winners!
Keep up the great work as an industry, and get ready to submit for awards in 2023!
TEREO Innovator Award:
First Place: Atlantic First Nations Water Authority Inc. – John Lam
Second Place: City of Calgary – Lorin McConnell
Third Place: City of Yellowknife – Lachlan MacLean
Visionary Award:
Barry Davis
Student Research Symposium:
Tyler Somers – University of New Brunswick
2019 Tereo Awards
On Wednesday, May 8th, 2019 Asset Management professionals from across Canada came together at the annual CNAM conference at the Delta Grand Okanagan, Kelowna, BC to celebrate excellence in Asset Management. The Student Symposium Awards, the Tereos, the Ambassador and Pioneer Awards were handed out.
Pioneer Award Wally Wells, Asset Management BC
Wally Wells, executive director of Asset Management British Columbia (AM BC) and one of the original pioneers of infrastructure asset management in Canada, was chosen by his peers as the recipient of the CNAM Pioneer Award for 2019. Mr. Wells accepted the award at the annual Tereo Awards Banquet held at the Delta Hotels Marriott Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna, BC as part of the 13th National CNAM conference from May 6-9, 2019.
Wally Wells is a professional civil engineer with over fifty years of experience in both local and provincial governments and the consulting industry who has made significant contributions to the infrastructure and asset management sector and provided consistent leadership in building the asset management profession in Canada. Wally was a member of the team that lead the first major assessment of the ‘infrastructure industry” across the country which resulted in the National Framework for Asset Management – which was effectively, the beginning of the industry in Canada. Mr. Wells joins the ranks of previous CNAM Pioneer Award recipients Konrad Sui, Gerry Davis and Mark Knight.
Wally continues to lead the way on national and BC asset management efforts as a speaker, facilitator and thought leader on many association boards, FCM committees and industry groups including Asset Management Canada – a national alliance and coordinating body of asset management communities of practice across Canada.
Ambassador Award Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), Municipal Asset Management Program
The Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP) is a $50 million capacity-building fund entrusted to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) by Infrastructure Canada (INFC) to enable the adoption and improvement of asset management practices across Canada’s municipal sector. Over the past few years FCM’s MAMP has significantly moved the yard stick forward across the country by building awareness about asset management, providing technical assistance to build capacity in asset management, providing grants for municipalities to build capacity in asset management and by mobilizing asset management knowledge and fostering pan-Canadian collaborations.
Actions and Achievements
2017-2018 was MAMP’s first year of implementation. MAMP has been highly successful this year, meeting all its objectives and establishing a strong network across the country that will enable continued success in the coming years. The program’s portfolio of municipal grant projects and partner-led programming is reaching MAMP’s target audience – small and medium-sized communities in every province and territory across Canada – and enabling them to improve their asset management practices. Most critically, MAMP has successfully fostered a strong and collaborative network of partners and stakeholders that is central to the program’s success.
Tereo Awards
1st Place – City of Selkirk
Selkirk has taken a thoughtful and detailed approach to managing the city’s assets, in a proactive way, and in a matter of a few short years has literally rewritten the book on capital asset management and how to integrate climate change into everyday planning.
Selkirk council initiated the move to improved asset management and the city’s Capital Asset Management Program team, known as CAMPers, was born. Their first step was developing an asset registry database that identified the city’s core assets. Since then the city has been recognized numerous times for its leading role in both asset management and climate change, including CAO Duane Nicol being asked to represent Manitoba on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities technical advisory working group and being a recipient of FCM’s Climate and Asset Management Network grant funding. His most recent role is on the Municipal Climate Services Collaborative technical working group.
Nicol said the city set a goal to become a leader in asset management and climate change and he’s proud with the substantial progress made.
2nd Place – City of Vaughan
The City of Vaughan is one of Canada’s fastest growing municipalities with a population of about 335,000. “Our City is building a sustainable, connected and modern asset management system by putting fiscal management and environmental sustainability at the centre and by ensuring the City’s resilience is driving all our infrastructure decisions”, says Vince Musacchio, Director of Infrastructure Planning and Corporate Asset Management.
The City’s Corporate Asset Management’s role is primarily to provide an internal support service coordinating Asset Management (AM) practices and improvements across the city by leading corporate-wide strategies and initiatives that improve AM processes, technologies, skills and data. The City’s Corporate Asset Management department has focused on developing a robust approach to infrastructure risk management in line with operational and maintenance strategies, implementation of effective mobile condition techniques, streamlining of pipeline defect assessments and data, development of an efficient long-term parks renewal plan and Council approval of five corporate policies to ensure the that Vaughan’s $4B of infrastructure is managed in accordance with the City’s strategic priorities with fidelity to the public’s trust.
3rd Place – The City of Waterloo
The City of Waterloo has received a Tereo award from the Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) for excellence in asset management. The city was recognized for a new and complimentary cross-asset management tool that is helping the city be more efficient when identifying assets requiring renewal activities by optimizing timing while maintaining a high level of service with minimal disruptions to the community.
The new cross-asset tool helps by integrating asset performance information across various assets that are relative to one another (such as roads and the underground infrastructure) providing an opportunity to optimize the timing and rehabilitation methods. The tool integrates asset performance information for roads, sanitary sewer, water distribution and the storm sewer collection networks and enables prioritization based on spatial proximity and renewal requirements. “Our residents want to know that whenever we spend our limited infrastructure dollars that we’re doing it wisely,” said Councillor Jeff Henry, chair of the city’s finance and strategic planning committee. “While underground infrastructure is out of sight, it is top of mind whenever we dig up our roadways. Waterloo’s new cross-asset tool allows us to optimize the replacing roads and underground infrastructure, saving money and limiting disruptions to the community.”
Student Symposium Awards
1st Place Naeem Farooqi, University of Toronto
2nd Place Rania Toufeili, University of Windsor
3rd Place Madeh Piryonesi, University of Toronto
2018 Tereo Awards
Tereo Asset Management Award:
Recognizing excellence in developing and implementing asset management approaches and significant improvements in business performance through the use of asset management tools and techniques or approaches.
1st : City of Calgary- Alberta
In 2016 and 2017, the City of Calgary completed the implementation of its enterprise-wide asset management program. This program has been responsible for the identification of cost deferrals in the order of magnitude of tens of millions of dollars, the identification of infrastructure risk, the foundation for Calgary’s 100 Resilient Cities program and the improvement of front-line customer service levels. This program is the foundation for infrastructure investment plans and strategies as part of Calgary’s 2019-22 business planning and budgeting program: “One Calgary”.
2nd: Region of Halton- Ontario
Within one year, Halton Region’s Public Works Department has developed a transparent and coordinated Asset Management Program. In 2017, the core asset management processes were used to develop the entire $1.9B 2018-2027 state of good repair capital budget to maintain services to customers. “This Asset Management Program has provided staff with a transparent approach to developing our state of good repair capital budget with a line of sight to customer outcomes” said Commissioner of Public Works Jim Harnum. “Halton’s forecasted water/wastewater rate of 5.2% from 2017 has been reduced to 3.8%, largely driven by adjustments to the capital financing based on the Asset Management Program.”
Asset Management Ambassador Award:
Honours efforts that reflect a commitment above and beyond the accepted expectation of the asset management industry in Canada. It recognizes actions that have become a valuable asset to the asset management industry and acknowledges those whose actions have become models for peer recognition.
City of Burlington- Ontario
The City of Burlington’s Asset Management Plan was developed internally and outlines a 60-year needs analysis for all asset types, such as roads, bridges, parks, facilities and vehicles. Burlington is one of Canada’s best and most livable cities, a place where people, nature and business thrive.
“The internally developed Asset Management Plan goes beyond addressing our core infrastructure assets. It exceeds current provincial guidelines set out in the Building Together Guide and is integrated into our organization’s Capital Budget process. By doing so, the plan guides investments in our existing infrastructure and prepares the city for future infrastructure growth and service delivery needs.” Allan Magi, Executive Director of Capital Works
“The city is focused on making informed decisions to support city services that are sustainable and affordable to the public. The Asset Management Plan and Long-Term Financing Plan ensures the city is investing in our existing infrastructure to continue to deliver the high-quality services that residents expect and enhance the quality of life in the city.” Joan Ford, Director of Finance.
Asset Management Pioneer Award:
Honours individuals who have played an integral role in advancing the asset management industry in Canada and celebrates their long-term commitment and unwavering dedication to the industry.
Dr. Mark Knight, Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies (CATT), University of Waterloo.
An Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, as well as the Executive Director of the Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies (CATT) at the University of Waterloo. Over 25 years of experience in the buried infrastructure asset management and has been addressing the critical issues facing underground infrastructure installation, assessment, repair and renewal, including management, by providing research, education and technology transfer courses. Professor Knight is the co-developer of many decision-support tools that have been implemented in the industry including but not limited to BoreAid, PPI- BoreAid, PPI-PACE, CIPP CALC and a Financially Sustainable Water Infrastructure Asset Management Tool using System Dynamics. A number of his contributions are:
- Pioneered in conducting regular asset management workshops and training sessions since 2004 through CATT and in collaboration with Ontario Good Road Association (OGRA) since 2013.
- Helped in creation of CNAM in 2007, and partnered in several asset management research developments and initiatives in Canada, USA, UK and Australia.
- Supervised more than 20 graduate students whose research were in the area of buried infrastructure asset management and rehabilitation of water and wastewater infrastructure systems.
- Development and implementation of a novel strategic asset management tool in partnership with several municipalities and water utilities in Southern Ontario.
2017 Tereo Awards
1st City of Waterloo
2nd Asset Management BC
3rd Town of Oakville
2017 Pioneer Award Co-Recipients
- Konrad Sui, City of Edmonton
- Gerry Davis, City of Hamilton
Congratulations to the previous winners of the Asset Management Awards! The quality of presentations at the Annual Conference continue to excel and we call upon the presenters to submit to these great projects and efforts for consideration for the Asset Management Awards. Submission dates are February 1st to March 31st of each year and are also announced through the CNAM website.