ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT
Water Street is a company committed to sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The company culture encourages our engineers to develop innovative and sustainable solutions that consider climate change.
1% INITIATIVE
One of our most impactful social and environmental initiatives is our annual donation program, where we contribute 1% of company revenue to environmental and social causes through registered charities.
Our commitment is based on revenue, not profit. This is a critical distinction that ensures that our support for our community and environment is part of our business model and is consistent and directly tied to our growth. Our clients contribute to these causes every time they work with our company.
This financial commitment, which is in addition to staff volunteer activities, directly supports high-impact charities dedicated to conservation, climate action, community resilience, and other vital areas.
Through our 1% Initiative, we provide thousands of dollars in annual support to registered charities each year. Organizations were selected to balance local and global initiatives, ensuring that our contributions deliver meaningful benefits at multiple scales.
Some of the charities include:
- Central Okanagan Food Bank
- Downtown Eastside Neighborhood House
- BC Association of Pregnancy Outreach
- First Book Canada
- Downtown Eastside Women’s Shelter
- Squamish Helping Hands
- Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology
- Squamish Search and Rescue
- Urban Native Youth Association
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION
Water Street does not own or lease any company vehicles and encourages staff to bike, walk, or take transit to work. Rather than allocating space for parking, we provide secure bike storage and shower facilities to support active commuting.
Our Gastown office is ideally located for sustainable transportation—just five minutes from two SkyTrain lines, the SeaBus, and the West Coast Express. We also maintain active Evo and Modo accounts so staff can drive to site directly from the office when needed.
Our GoByBike team tracks staff commutes and logs greenhouse gas savings—on a typical day, our team’s bike commuting avoids around 12 kg of emissions compared to motorized travel. When practical, staff also walk or cycle to local field visits and meetings, reinforcing our commitment to low-impact mobility.
LIVING WAGE COMMITMENT
Water Street Engineering is proud to be a Certified Living Wage Employer in British Columbia, reflecting our commitment to fair compensation, equity, and long‑term community wellbeing. This certification, administered through the Living Wage for Families BC program, means every member of our team, including direct staff and regular contracted service providers, is paid at or above the provincially calculated living wage. This helps ensure they can meet the real costs of living in our region.
For our clients, this commitment translates into a more stable, engaged, and resilient project team. By investing in people, we strengthen the quality, continuity, and accountability of the engineering services we deliver. Our living‑wage certification is one of the ways Water Street Engineering demonstrates leadership, social responsibility, and alignment with the values of public‑sector and community‑focused infrastructure projects.
VOLUNTEER WORK
Water Street provides paid leave for employees volunteering in the community. We encourage and organize volunteer activities that align with our company vision.
Our staff actively engage in hands-on environmental stewardship. For example, our team participates in volunteer events such as habitat restoration with the DNV and the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation.
Recently, our staff assisted the DNV with invasive plant removal in Windridge Park. This included removing Himalayan blackberry, English ivy, English holly, burdock, and laurel bushes. This opportunity allowed us to give back to the community, prioritize biodiversity, improve local parks for public enjoyment, and team building.
Another volunteer event our staff participated in was assisting the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation with spawner surveying, contributing to the preservation of local ecosystems through direct involvement in monitoring and protecting critical salmon populations. This initiative not only supports biodiversity but also fosters a culture of environmental responsibility among our employees.
OTHER DIRECT ACTIONS
Some other direct actions undertaken by Water Street that are related to sustainability and social responsibility include:
- We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We recognize that all people bring different qualities, abilities, skills, knowledge, experiences, perspectives and attitudes to work, and that valuing and making the most of these differences can improve the workplace for individuals and enhance our overall performance.
- We have a ‘paper-free’ storage system for our files. We minimize paper use with digital delivery of our documents and use digital signature software (Notarius) to sign and seal technical deliverables.
- We provide paid parental leave benefits and health benefits for our employees.
- We employ coop students throughout the year, providing opportunities to students for learning and an entry point to civil engineering. Currently, Water Street employs one co-op student.
