City of Nanaimo Selected as Winner of National Public Works Week Award

Canadian Public Works Association Recognizes Nanaimo Under Most Creative Entry

JOINT NEWS RELEASE - Distributed December 21, 2021 10:30 AM

The Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA) has once again announced the City of Nanaimo as a winner of the CPWA 2021 National Public Works Week (NPWW) Awards Contest. Nanaimo’s 2021 NPWW celebration competed with other Canadian municipalities for Most Creative Entry. Nanaimo also received CPWA’s NPWW award in 2018.

The 2021 NPWW award was presented by the Acting Executive Director of the Public Works Association of British Columbia, Pat Miller, during the December 20, 2021 Nanaimo City Council Meeting. Accepting the award for Nanaimo was Mayor Leonard Krog along with Bill Sims, General Manager, Engineering and Public Works.

“Our public works department is the pulse of the city. Without these women and men, our city wouldn’t be able to provide important services to our citizens,” said Mayor Krog. “The education that our public works department provides to our future leaders of tomorrow, I hope will inspire many to consider exciting careers within this portfolio.”

National Public Works Week annually recognizes the tens of thousands of men and women in North America who provide and maintain the infrastructure and services collectively known as public works. In May of each year, municipalities throughout the U.S. and Canada celebrate NPWW with open houses, project and facility tours, parades, education, media events, school visits, and career events. Municipalities also use the week to recognize their staff – the women and men who play such an important role in their community’s quality of life.

“Public Works is responsible for the delivery of important services to our cities and towns, but doesn’t always get recognized,” said Miller. “National Public Works Week is a great opportunity for public works staff to take students and residents ‘behind the scenes’ and show how central these services and personnel are to our communities.”

Similar to other communities, NPWW celebrations in Nanaimo looked a lot different this year due to the BC Government's COVID-19 Public Health Orders. As a result, City staff were challenged to reimagine their community outreach and public education and awareness efforts. Many events and activities that would have typically occurred in person were held virtually.

Staff developed an educational video for students in grades 4 and 5 that provided insights into the daily operations and activities of public works staff and worked with the school district to ensure linkages to the students’ curriculum.

Fleet operations, sanitation, water supply, water distribution, drainage, roads, traffic, administration and sewers were linked to themes of individual and social responsibility, simple machines, levels of government and environmental protection. A word scramble based on the water cycle, a crossword puzzle based on key concepts presented in the video, and a t-shirt art contest submission template accompanied the video distributed to district schools. The image from the winning art submission will be transferred onto t-shirts to be worn by staff at Nanaimo’s 2022 Public Works Day.

The video ‘Nanaimo Public Works Week May 2021’ is available on the City of Nanaimo’s YouTube channel.

“CPWA is honoured to recognize the City of Nanaimo’s efforts to celebrate National Public Works Week,” said Miller. “Awareness about the essential role public works plays in our communities starts with education and Nanaimo’s excellent video and engagement with local schools will ensure a level of appreciation extending well beyond this one week.”

About CPWA: The Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA), or Association Canadienne des Travaux Publics, was founded in 1986 to enhance the services of the American Public Works Association (APWA) to the Canadian public works community and to improve the quality of public works products and services to Canadian citizens. APWA’s members in Canada, plan, build, operate, maintain and sustain the public works and infrastructure that improve our quality of community life.

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