Envision Canada is excited to celebrate the completion of Halifax’s new Marine Container Examination Facility. This project earned an Envision Verified Award for sustainable infrastructure achievements in 2023. The facility received its grand opening on July 16, at an event attended by the MP for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety, along with senior officials from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Halifax Port Authority and the Africville community. The building is owned and operated by the Halifax Port Authority, and is used by the CBSA.

While at the time of the award, the facility was referred to as the Fairview Cove MCEF, the facility has now been renamed to honor the contributions of the historic black community of Africville in Nova Scotia. Community members and descendants chose the name Africville Seasides Marine Container Examination Facility at the Port of Halifax to honour the historic Africville Seasides hockey team.

CBSA News Release 
Port of Halifax News Release

The backgrounder CBSA provided on the Africville Seasides Marine Container Examination Facility noted the following:

The Marine Container Examination Facility is an Envision-Verified infrastructure project, scoring 26% above industry standards under the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure rating system. The building has many sustainable features including:

* A solar photovoltaic system
* A rainwater harvesting system
* Development of a Construction Sustainability Checklist that all contractors were required to submit as part of their tender submission
* Development of a Contractor Tracking Tool for earthworks, materials, energy use, and water use, motion-activated LED fixtures
* In-floor radiant heating
* Building generator for backup power
* Security fence rear compound for holding all containers marked for examination
* EV charging stations

View the Envision Award Announcement / Project Profile from August 2023

British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Guichon Creek Restoration project has earned an Envision Platinum award for sustainable infrastructure from ISI. The project was prompted due to the formation of a sinkhole caused by a failing culvert on campus adjacent to one of the buildings on BCIT’s south campus, in Burnaby, B.C. Urgent remediation works were recommended following a site visit that identified the sinkhole would likely grow, posing risks to infrastructure as well as life safety.

The BCIT Campus Plan was developed through extensive consultation and identified restoring Guichon Creek through daylighting projects, as a goal. When the Burnaby campus was developed, a section of Guichon Creek was culverted to flow underground from the south to north of campus.  The project leveraged this plan to develop a prompt strategy that would both address the current sinkhole and mitigate risks of future sinkholes.

This solution not only offered enhancements to campus with new green space, but also supported resilience strategies by removing the risk of future culvert failures and sizing the creek’s capacity to accommodate 100-year storm events. Other benefits of the project included installing a fish ladder to support fish migration efforts, contributing to the campus’s Living Labs program, and demonstrate BCIT’s focus on sustainable solutions.

“Although born from an emergency response, this project became an important step in the larger revitalization of Guichon Creek. The Creek is more than a piece of infrastructure to BCIT; it’s a valuable habitat for a host of native plants and animals, and a wonderful amenity for students and employees, as well as the neighboring community. Work in and around the Creek is always done with care and thoughtful stewardship and the Envision framework was a perfect partner in the process.”
— Joe Cosh, BCIT Director of Facilities Improvements 

Clément Boisselier, a Senior Advisor for Sustainability and Environment for Aecon Group, will lead an Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) Training from June 12–13, 2025!

The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) and the Climate Risk Institute (CRI) are proud to announce the collaborative launch of the new AssetAdapt+ initiative!

AssetAdapt+ will utilize the PIEVC Protocol for assessing climate vulnerabilities and risk, along with the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework, to equip communities in delivering climate-resilient and sustainable infrastructure. This will enable them to procure and deliver capital infrastructure assets that incorporate climate adaptation measures and simultaneously achieve sustainability objectives. Over the next two years (2025/2026), local government staff will be empowered through capacity-building activities, including:

• Webinars to raise sustainability and climate resilience awareness among public asset owners.
• Comprehensive training. Diving into the fundamentals of the Envision sustainability framework and PIEVC resilience protocol, with an option to earn professional credentials.
• Development of a water/wastewater peer cohort. Collaborating with peers and mentors to develop scopes of work for procuring professional services that advance sustainability and climate resilience for upcoming water and wastewater infrastructure.
• Scaling up learning across communities and project types through a procurement workshop.

To learn more about the project, please visit https://envisioncanada.com/asset-adapt/ or contact us assetadapt@csce.ca.

This project is made possible with funding provided by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund (FCM’s GMF) under the Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation (LLCA) capacity building program, which is funded by the government of Canada. (The full list of grantees were announced at FCM’s Sustainable Communities Conference 2025 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, February 10–13).

“ISI is very pleased about the collaboration between the CSCE and the Climate Resilience Institute / PIEVC on the new AssetAdapt+ initiative. We are stronger when we work together for sustainability and resilience. Through this initiative, communities and projects will learn from peers and mentors, including the insights from two leading programs, Envision and the PIEVC Protocol, so that they are better equipped to evaluate and respond to climate related risks.”
— Anthony Kane, President & CEO of ISI, CSCE’s partner on the delivery of Envision in Canada

About the LLCA initiative

The Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation (LLCA) initiative is a $530 million program provided through FCM’s Green Municipal Fund that aims to accelerate local, equity-informed climate adaptation action by supporting knowledge development and project implementation across 1,400 municipalities.

LLCA is funded through the Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan and is a key component of the National Adaptation Strategy. LLCA is Canada’s second largest funding source helping municipalities adapt to the impacts of climate change.