Community engagement

Two men look at blueprint drawings during a public meeting

Serving the community is a privilege. That’s why we’re committed to developing mutually beneficial working relationships with communities where our projects are located and keeping them informed every step of the way.

Your feedback is crucial for our project's success

Smiling woman stands at the door of a barber shop — *Terez Kollega, manager of Como Village Barbers in Coquitlam, was one of hundreds of people we engaged with in 2018-19 to support our FortisBC Gas Line Upgrades project.*

Delivering a project successfully requires ongoing and meaningful engagement with stakeholders, Indigenous groups, customers and the local community. This engagement is an opportunity to talk with those who live and work in the neighbourhoods where our projects take place, as well as local experts, whose feedback can help shape a project. Conversations with municipalities, neighbourhood groups and local residents can influence such things as the project route, traffic management and environmental considerations.

In 2020, we announced a new potential site for our planned Squamish compressor station in response to feedback we received from the community on the Eagle Mountain – Woodfibre Gas Pipeline project. The new site was approved by the Environmental Assessment Office in late 2021 and Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) in early 2022, as part of a parallel and collaborative review process.
In 2021, we started construction on our Pattullo Gas Line Replacement (Pattullo) project in Burnaby after selecting a route based on ongoing engagement with the community, including the City of Burnaby.
In 2022, we helped establish a new wildlife admissions centre for the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC in Burnaby to improve public access to the centre during construction for the Pattullo project.

Engaging the community early and often

Project engagement activities typically include publicly announcing our project and getting feedback from stakeholders, Indigenous groups, customers and the community as part of the regulatory and planning process.

During project planning, and once construction is underway, we make sure we update the community about our activities early, and often. This includes:

holding information sessions, pop-up booths and coffee chats
sending out direct mail notifications and regular project update emails
media, advertising and social media to reach the wider community
maintaining a dedicated project website, phone line and email

Communicating with the public in a variety of ways, and creating opportunities for the community to engage with us and ask questions helps us identify and mitigate potential issues at an early stage. We also work closely with businesses to address their unique concerns. That includes making sure communities know their favourite shops and services are open for business during construction.

Our projects provide us with opportunities to support local organizations, businesses and events, and in the process build a better community for everyone. We provide support for, and attend, community gatherings such as local festivals and markets, business networking opportunities and annual community events such as the Great Salmon Send-Off in Burnaby.

Learn more about how we work closely with the community every step of the way to deliver a major project.