Awards 2005
2005 notable awards received by the City of Vancouver
- Construction manager for National Works Yard wins award
- Two City programs receive Canada Post Literacy Awards
- City Manager named to Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada
- Stanley Park Cob House Acclaimed
- Park Board employee receives prestigious arboriculture award
- Dave Rudberg receives President's Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC
- City receives Green Seal award
- City's website recognized with international award for e-content
- Park Board website wins Award of Merit
- Vancouver Agreement receives APEX Partnership Award
- Vietnamese community recognizes Vancouver with Appreciation Award
- Vancouver Agreement Wins United Nations Award
- Kingsway and Knight Housing Area Plan receives Award of Excellence
- Vancouver Park Board receives landscaping honours
Construction manager for National Works Yard wins award
The Omnicron Group, construction manager for the City of Vancouver's National Works Yard, was awarded a Silver Award in the $10 to $40 million category by the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.
Omicron provided integrated design and construction services for the development of the $23 million facility.
Opened in 2004, the new yard reaches high standards in sustainability by incorporating two buildings that have achieved a gold rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system. LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
The buildings and the site are models of energy efficiency, water conservation, and material selection. Among the innovative features on site are a ground-source heat pump and radiant panel system that heat and cool two of the buildings. This and other features will help reduce energy use by up to 55 per cent over traditional buildings.
[top]
Two City programs receive Canada Post Literacy Awards
Two City of Vancouver Hastings Institute programs received 2005 Canada Post Literacy Awards. The award recipients were selected from 223 nominations across Canada and were recognized in the following categories:
- Community Leadership: Vancouver's Municipal Workplace Language Program
This program was designed to meet the needs of the diverse 9,000 municipal employee population by focusing on outcomes that develop and nurture each learner's personal voice. Learners strengthen their literacy skills and raise their self-esteem, and many have also reported that their new skills help them to function better at home. - Business Leadership: The Hastings Institute's Generation Y Project with Brookfield LePage Johnson Controls - Workplace Solutions Inc.
This project combines literacy and diversity initiatives in an employee-driven program to help troubled youth, by offering them a 35-hour paid work and literacy week that includes on-the-job experience and classroom sessions. Through Generation Y, young people on the fringe improve their literacy skills, develop confidence and gain an opportunity to find a meaningful place in society.
[top]
City Manager named to Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada
For the third consecutive year, the City of Vancouver's chief administrator, Judy Rogers, has been ranked in the top 100 of Canada's most powerful women by the Toronto-based Women's Executive Network.
Ms. Rogers, who serves as City Manager for Canada's third largest municipality, was recognized in the Public Sector Leaders category. She has held the role of City Manager since 1999 and is the first woman to be appointed to the position in Vancouver.
Learn more about the Women's Executive Network awards 
Stanley Park Cob House Acclaimed
Stanley Park's Cob House was presented with an Award of Excellence for Innovation by the Vancouver Regional Contractor's Association on November 2, 2005. Park Board Facility Development Project Manager John Maxey and the Stanley Park Ecology Society's Executive Director Patricia Thomson were on hand for the ceremony.
The Cob House is an example of earthen architecture, constructed by hand of reclaimed and recycled natural materials. Over 200 community volunteers invested 2,500 hours mixing wet clay, sand and straw to shape the whimsical structure.
The foundation was constructed from three tonnes of granite reclaimed from a church that burned down at 10th Avenue and Quebec Street. The house also features sculpted windows, floor and wood materials, and a living green roof. It opened in September 2004 and is located near the the miniature train plaza.
Learn more about the Cob House
Read a news release about the Cob House opening
[top]
Park Board employee receives prestigious arboriculture award
Congratulations are in order for Park Board Urban Forestry Technician Bill Stephen who was awarded the "2005 Educator of the Year Award" by the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Bill received this recognition for training scores of young scientists eager to be ISA certified arborists.
[top]
Dave Rudberg receives President's Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC
Dave Rudberg, General manager of Olympic Operations (and formerly General Manager of Engineering Servcies) is the recipient of a 2005 President's Award by The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC (APEGBC). The annual awards recognize nine remarkable professional engineers and professional geoscientists for their exemplary contributions.
Rudberg was singled out for his foresight, executive ability and leadership at the City of Vancouver during a period of remarkable growth and construction.
City receives Green Seal award
The City of Vancouver received an EcoSoft Green Seal award for purchasing towel and tissue paper products which contain 100% recovered paper fibre. The award is from Wausau Paper through local supplier Janitors Warehouse.
The Green Seal certification process requires manufacturers to include "recycled and post-consumer waste content, deinking and bleaching processes free of chlorine and other harmful chemicals, and environmentally preferable packaging."
Green Seal is an independent, non-profit organization that works to create a healthier and cleaner environment, which supports the City's environmental commitment.
Learn more about the City's sustainability initiatives
[top]
City's website recognized with international award for e-content
The City of Vancouver's website -- vancouver.ca -- has been named as a winner in the best e-government category by the World Summit Awards (WSA), a global contest for selecting and promoting the world's best electronic/online content and applications.
Affiliated with the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, the WSA brings together 168 countries competing in eight categories: e-government, e-learning, e-business, e-culture, e-science, e-health, e-inclusion and e-entertainment. The WSA looks for projects that effectively and creatively deliver high-quality content that educates and engages its audience. Five winners were selected in each category.
Vancouver.ca was deemed as an excellent example of a government website that helps inform, educate and engage citizens by providing enriched, value-added content. Examples of content the judges reviewed included the Woodward's website, Community Web Pages, Road Ahead, and GVTV.
Learn more about the World Summit Awards
[top]
Park Board website wins Award of Merit
The Vancouver Park Board's public website -- vancouverparks.ca -- has won a national Award of Merit from the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS).
The Park Board's Corporate Services Web Design Team was honoured in the 'electronic and interactive' category for strategic development and relevance to their overall communications objectives.
The CPRS Awards of Excellence program showcases Canada's best public relations programs and projects, and offers peer recognition. This year, 100 entries were received overall in all categories.
The Canadian Public Relations Society is a national association which seeks to regulate and advance the professional stature of public relations through a standard of proficiency and code of ethics, and professional development for its members. The society is a federation of 17 societies with more than 1,600 members across Canada from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland.
Learn more about the Canadian Public Relations Society
[top]
Vancouver Agreement receives APEX Partnership Award
The Vancouver Agreement's management team has received a Partnership Award from APEX, a national association for federal public service executives.
The award recognizes the contribution made by the Vancouver Agreement management team for to improving the social, economic and physical well-being of Vancouver's downtown eastside.
The Vancouver Agreement was formed in March 2000 in order for the federal, provincial and city governments to better work together and coordinate resources to implement a comprehensive strategy promoting and supporting sustainable economic, social and community development in the city.
Learn more about the Vancouver Agreement
[top]
Vietnamese community recognizes Vancouver with Appreciation Award
On May 24, 2005 the Vietnamese Cultural Day Committee presented an Appreciation Award to the City of Vancouver. The award marks the 30th anniversary of the Vietnamese arrival in Vancouver, and recognizes Vancouver's support to the Vietnamese community over that time including initiatives such as the multilingual phone line service, which allows callers to leave a message and receive a call back in Vietnamese with information about City services. Vancouver is now home to more 20,000 immigrants of Vietnamese origin.
Watch a video clip of the Council presentation
[top]
Vancouver Agreement Wins United Nations Award
The Vancouver Agreement, an urban development initiative of the governments of Canada, British Columbia, and Vancouver has been named as a recipient of a United Nations Public Service Award.
The Vancouver Agreement was one of eight winners around the world and was awarded the top prize in the category for "Improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service". The Vancouver Agreement was cited for its innovative partnerships between government agencies, and with community groups and business.
The award ceremony will take place at the United Nations on June 23 to celebrate Public Service Day.
The Vancouver Agreement was formed in March 2000 in order for the federal, provincial and city governments to better work together and coordinate resources to implement a comprehensive strategy promoting and supporting sustainable economic, social and community development in the city.
In 2003, Vancouver's Neighbourhood Integrated Service Team program received a United Nations Award for Innovation in Public Service.
Learn more about the Vancouver Agreement
Learn more about the UN Public Service Awards
[top]
Kingsway and Knight Housing Area Plan receives Award of Excellence
The City of Vancouver won an "Award of Excellence - Honourable Mention" from the Planning Institute of British Columbia for the Kingsway and Knight Neighbourhood Centre Housing Area Plan.
The Housing Area Plan for Kingsway and Knight was approved unanimously by Vancouver City Council in July 2004. Over the next 20 years, the Housing Area Plan may result in approximately 800 more dwellings and 2,400 residents enjoying the Kingsway and Knight neighbourhood.
The PIBC awards recognize the efforts of members of the profession as they shape the communities, land and waters of British Columbia and the Yukon. In 2005, the awards were presented in conjunction with the PIBC Annual Conference, April 19-22, in Victoria.
Learn more about this award 
(34 kb)
Learn more about the PIBC Awards
Vancouver Park Board receives landscaping honours
The Vancouver Park Board was recognized along with van der Zalm + associates inc. and contractor New Line Skateparks, for a Regional Honour award by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects . This award recognizes the effort to creatively enhance downtown Vancouver through the reclamation of an under-utilized site with the creation of the Vancouver Skate Plaza (at Quebec and Union Streets, under the Georgia/Dunsmuir viaducts). The Park Board also received a CSLA Regional Merit award with PWL Partnership Landscape Architects Inc. for Phase II of the Harbour Green Park (at Cordova and Bute).
The Park Board also received a Pacific Northwest Palm and Exotic Plant Society Landscaping Award for its landscaping efforts at English Bay. The award recognizes outstanding horticultural achievement in cultivation of hardy palms and other exotic plants.
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
[top]