Monday, October 27, 2025
CIMA+ has earned national recognition for its work on the Mill Creek Flood Protection Project in Kelowna, taking home an Award of Excellence at the 2025 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards. The honour highlights the firm’s innovative and sustainable approach to designing infrastructure that protects communities from the growing impacts of climate change.
The national award follows international acclaim for the same project, which recently won the top prize in the Small to Medium Project category at the 2025 Global Infrastructure Awards hosted by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers.
Developed in collaboration with the City of Kelowna, the Mill Creek Flood Protection Project was designed to reduce the risk of flooding caused by increasingly severe weather events and urban development. The project involved upgrading a diversion structure to redirect excess water from Mill Creek to Mission Creek, along with the construction of a dam and dike to bolster flood protection.
Beyond its flood mitigation benefits, the project restored upstream fish passage and improved in-stream habitats, supporting fish and wildlife populations while strengthening ecosystem health.
By lowering flood risk across a 3.4 km² urban area, the upgrades protect more than 1,650 properties and safeguard critical infrastructure including roads, utilities and emergency access routes. The initiative also supported the local economy by involving over 10 local and Indigenous-owned businesses during planning and construction.
“This recognition speaks to the technical excellence and environmental stewardship that guided every stage of this project,” said Ali Malekian, Senior Project Manager at CIMA+. “It demonstrates how infrastructure solutions can go beyond protection to also restore ecosystems and enhance community health and safety.”
For Ali Taleb, Senior Infrastructure Director at CIMA+, the recognition reflects a shared achievement. “From the expertise of our teams to the trust of the City of Kelowna and local partners, this award is a shared success that demonstrates what can be accomplished when people work together to design resilient infrastructure.”
The Mill Creek Flood Protection Project stands as a model for how infrastructure can balance climate resilience with environmental restoration and community benefit. As extreme weather events become more frequent across Canada, projects like this highlight the growing importance of integrating sustainability, innovation and collaboration into water management systems.
