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Message from the President

Craig Lake, President of the Canadian Geotechnical Society

Dear CGS members,

As these bright, warm days of summer arrive, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have renewed your membership for 2026. The CGS is a member-driven learned society that values its members and relies on them tremendously to help us deliver lectures, workshops, short courses and conferences. As CGS President I am continually amazed at the willingness of our volunteers to give their time and energy to our society and help us provide benefits to our members. Even though the Executive Committee of the CGS, through the Board of Directors of the CGS leads the initiatives of the CGS, it truly is a ”grass roots” society which relies on member volunteers to develop ideas for these initiatives and activities. The work of the various CGS Divisions, Committees and Local Sections are the true embodiment of what the CGS represents. It is very heartwarming to see the energy and enthusiasm within these groups.

As this magazine reaches publication, there will be an increase in CGS activities in Québec City. The 79th Annual CGS Conference will be held from September 12-16 at the Québec City Convention Centre, conveniently located in the heart of the city, on Parliament Hill and near Old Québec.  Over 400 years old, Québec City is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a fortified city rich in culture and history, and home to the provincial Parliament. The R.M. Hardy Keynote will be given by Serge Leroueil on the topic “Compacted and Uncompacted Soils: Often Used, Not Always Understood”. The CGS Colloquium will be given by Kshama Roy on the topic “Advancing Infrastructure Resilience through Soil-Structure Interaction in Natural Hazard Environments”. Jean Côte will be giving a keynote titled “Towards Improved Assessment of Internal Erosion in Embankment Dams and Natural Soils”. Also on the program is a full slate of short courses, workshops, and technical presentations. Full details on the conference can be found at https://geoquebec2026.ca/. Beyond the technical experience offered by this conference, it is a great chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I want to thank Julie Therrien and her local organizing committee for their tireless work on this conference. I have witnessed firsthand how much work they have done and how proud they will be to show you their wonderful city. I hope to see you there.

Another exciting initiative on June 1-3 in Edmonton at the University of Alberta was GeoHazards 9 (https://www.geohazards9.ca/). The meeting in Edmonton represents the third time the conference has been hosted in Alberta. This year’s conference was being led by co-chairs Corey Froese and Renato Macciotta and shared technical insights on Geohazards, Climate and Communities. Many thanks to the Northern Alberta and Territories Section (NATS) of the CGS, the Local Organizing Committee of GeoHazards 9 and the GeoHazards Committee of the CGS for working together to make this conference a success and continuing this wonderful Canadian tradition.

Our upcoming CCLT speaker, in partnership with the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique, is Dr. Andy Take of Queen’s University. We have a great program of CCLT speakers planned over the next few years, and my thanks for the efforts of our VP Technical, Jean Hutchinson, our National Office staff Lisa and Emily, our Local Sections, and of course the corporate sponsors and Suzanne Powell, President of the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique for providing funding. The Cross Canada Lecture Tour is our Society’s marquee lecture series – drawing speakers from across Canada and internationally. This lecture tour has some wonderfully Canadian characteristics – local hospitality, great cities, and good people in our local sections. Having hosted various CCLT speakers over the years, I can attest to the special experience for the lecturer as they visit many of our local sections. In fact, we just welcomed Dr. Jie Han today in Halifax as part of the spring CCLT. We are currently planning for our next slate of speakers in 2027.

For a listing of many of these CGS events, please explore our website at www.cgs.ca. You can also stay updated on CGS activities through our CGS E-News, Canadian Geotechnique Magazine, and our LinkedIn and Instagram pages. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime at president@cgs.ca with any questions. See you in Québec City!

 

Craig Lake





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