Community

Committed,
engaged,
local

At Gwaii, we are committed to being engaged and involved with our local community.

In 2025, we are focused on helping inspire the next generation to pursue careers in science & engineering. We believe that if you can see it, you can dream it – by helping expose young people to the field of engineering, we hope to inspire more under-represented communities to pursue STEM careers.

Gwaii is also committed to engaging with local First Nations communities, not only through engineering work but also supporting and educating young members on career and education possibilities and training Indigenous staff on our projects.

Read more about our recent community engagement below!

SCIENCE WORLD 'ON THE ROAD' TOUR

We partnered with Science World in both 2024 and 2025 to bring their popular ‘On the Road’ show to many different elementary schools on Vancouver Island.
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In 2024, they reached 1,226 students in School District 70 Pacific Rim – including Port Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet, Hot Springs Cove and Ahousaht (one of BC’s largest First Nations, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island).⁠
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In 2025, they reached 10 different elementary schools in Cowichan, including the Stz’uminus First Nation, Snuneymuxw First Nation, and Cowichan Tribes.

We are thrilled to help bring this incredible programming to these students and create some excitement around science!

JOB SHADOWING WITH SD61 and SD63

We have been working with local school districts for the last few years to facilitate Job Shadow Days with high school students. 

From site visits to learning Civil 3D, we want to help expose young students to Civil Engineering and the kinds of careers they can pursue in this field! 

At Gwaii, we are here to help build pathways for the next generation of civil engineers! Through these kinds of initiatives, we aim to inspire Indigenous youth and other underrepresented groups to see themselves in STEM careers.

Representation matters — and when young people see engineers who look like them, who share their values, and who care about their communities, it plants a powerful seed of possibility.

WORLD OCEAN DAY BEACH CLEAN

We partnered with Open Ocean Robotics and Pacific Seaweed Industry Association to host a Beach Clean event at Clover Point Park in June 2023.

The afternoon included educational talks on conservation & biology, kids activities and games, and a social networking event afterwards.

Thank you to the community for such a great turn out. Together we collected 3 large garbage bags of waste!

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Go eng girl at uvic

We had a great time at the UVic GO ENG GIRL event, offering girls & non-binary youths from grades 7-12 with hands-on activities and encouragement to those interested in exploring engineering as an academic path and career! ⁠

It was wonderful to see and engage with so many bright, young faces. ⁠We love to see more & more young women getting into Engineering. ⁠
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making a difference -

Indigenous Mentorship Program

We are excited to be kicking off our Indigenous Mentorship Program for Environmental Monitoring & Surveying here at Gwaii. Our vision is to provide a space for Indigenous people to explore different aspects of engineering to inform their future careers.

This mentorship program is aimed at Indigenous professionals seeking to gain work experience & new skills within our two program streams: Environmental Monitoring and Surveying. The program will help build resume experience and provide a jumping off point for people seeking jobs in the field of engineering. Mentees will be provided a comprehensive list of competencies that they can expect to achieve by the end of their time with Gwaii, with regular check-ins and feedback from mentors.

Environmental Monitoring: Mentees will learn how to monitor construction and provide informed feedback to contractors to minimize environmental impact. They will also learn the basics of contaminated sites investigation with a mix of field and office work.

Surveying: Mentees will learn to use survey equipment and conduct a site survey from the initial set-up to the final import of survey points into AutoCAD. They will spend most of their time in the field in a diversity of communities across BC.

Indigenous student interns Kyle & Zeb on site at Tsawout Nation

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY -

We are excited to announce we have received a GOLD CERTIFICATION from BC Green Business  for our efforts in reducing our environmental impact as part of our continued commitment to corporate sustainability.

As a BCGB member, we undergo annual evaluations to track our sustainability progress and make continuous improvements towards our green goals. Through the program, we work alongside over 160 like-minded businesses across British Columbia who are taking climate action for the planet, the people, and the community.

Specific action steps were taken over this past year to meet the criteria for this certification, including:

  • Establishing a Sustainable Purchasing Policy and Corporate Sustainability Strategy to guide company actions.
  • Conducting a waste, water, and sustainability audit to identify gaps and areas of improvement.
  • Hosting and participating in community beach clean-ups.
  • Committing to social sustainability via the 4-day work week.
  • Through the adoption of TRC action #92, embracing sustainability through a cultural lens within corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.

Our participation in the program was covered by the Indigenous Business Bursary – thank you to the several organizations that have contributed this year! ⁠

Learn more about how BC Green Business is helping businesses take climate action.

ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱ Education Fund Award

In June of 2021 we created the ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱ Education Fund Award with our partners AME Group, Diamond Schmitt, Number TEN Architectural group, RJC Engineers, AES Engineering, and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre.⁠

There are very few Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis professionals working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Many engineering and architecture firms work with Indigenous communities, but few have Indigenous people working within their organizations. We recognize this and want to help Indigenous people pursue careers in our industry.

The Fund supports Indigenous persons residing in BC and pursuing post-secondary studies. The fund provides both financial support with an annual $5,000 award and career mentorship for all applicants.

To honour the local Nations, the team worked with the SENĆOŦEN Language-Revitalization Group to name the fund. What emerged through conversation was this phrase:⁠ ḴEL,ḴELOŦEN ȻE S,ISTEW̱. The English translation is “a dream for what becomes of you”.⁠

Pictured here is the first ever recipient of the fund, Kennedy Rolston, with Kear Porttris of Quantum Murray (left) and Rob Walter from AME (right). ⁠
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