Another successful year celebrating Public Works Day

National Public Works Week commemorated in Nanaimo

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed May 30, 2025 10:00 AM

Summary

In celebration of National Public Works Week and this year’s theme of “People, Presence, Purpose,” the City of Nanaimo’s Public Works department hosted its eighth year of Public Works Day events on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Over 420 enthusiastic grade four and five students from eight schools along with home learners attended the event to learn more about the important services that keep the city running. The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) also joined the day’s activities, reflecting the ongoing partnership in areas such as water and wastewater management, public transit and waste reduction.

Throughout the day, students rotated through a variety of hands-on, educational stations designed to showcase the essential roles Public Works plays in everyday life. These included:

Wastewater
Roads
Traffic
RDN public transit
Canadian Union of Public Employees
RDN WaterSmart
Fortis Gas
Occupational Health & Safety
Sanitation
Zero waste
Water distribution
Emergency preparedness
Parks
Water supply & treatment
Stores
Fleet
Engineering

In addition, public tours were offered in the afternoon. Each station highlighted how Public Works contributes to the health, safety and overall quality of life in Nanaimo.

The City of Nanaimo would like to thank the following community organizations who generously sponsored Public Works Day: Nanaimo Clippers, Nanaimo Buccaneers, Nanaimo NightOwls, VI Raiders, Caged Athletics, Knappett Industries, David Stalker Excavating, Hazelwood Construction, Herold Engineering, Koers & Associates Engineering, WSP, Roto Rooter, Regional District of Nanaimo, Save On Foods, Country Grocer, ISL Engineering, Copcan Civil/Norland, Hub City Paving, Applied Science Technicians and Techologists of BC, Urban Systems, Cascara Consulting, Velocity Truck Centres, Capex Projects, Newcastle Engineering, Groess Environmental, McElhanney, Shaw Electrical Services, Fortis BC, Camargue Properties, CUPE 401 and The Wave 102.3.

Link to Strategic Plan: Taking responsibility to be an excellent municipal government by providing educational opportunities for Nanaimo's youth.

Key Points

On May 21, 423 students from eight schools visited 16 interactive booths at the City of Nanaimo's Public Works yard in celebration of this year's Public Works Day theme, "People, Presence, Purpose".
The City of Nanaimo would like to thank the following community organizations who hosted booths at Public Works Day: Fortis BC, Regional District of Nanaimo WaterSmart, Regional District of Nanaimo Public Transit and CUPE 401.

Quotes

"Public Works Day is our chance to open the doors and show the heart of how a city runs. Through the theme of ‘People, Presence, Purpose,’ we celebrate the dedicated teams and strong partnerships—like those with the RDN—that help keep Nanaimo safe, connected and thriving. Seeing over 420 students engage with the services that support their everyday lives is a powerful reminder of why we do this work."

John Elliot

Director, Public Works

City of Nanaimo

Quick Facts

National Public Works Week is an initiative to bring awareness to the essential role Public Works plays in the quality of life for a community. It also recognizes the workers who serve in these roles and promotes it as a viable career choice.
Giving school-aged children the opportunity to experience the various functions the department performs and the reason for doing things like recycle or conserve water provides a foundation for them to become engaged citizens and stewards for sustainability.

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Contact:

For media enquiries, please contact:

Communications

City of Nanaimo

250-754-4251

Media.Requests@nanaimo.ca

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