{"id":79039,"date":"2026-09-29T19:09:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T19:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2026\/09\/29\/canadas-top-engineering-firms-fend-off-concerns-over-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T19:09:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T19:09:34","slug":"canadas-top-engineering-firms-fend-off-concerns-over-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2026\/09\/29\/canadas-top-engineering-firms-fend-off-concerns-over-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s top engineering firms fend off concerns over AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<br \/><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The role of drones and robots in oil pipelines\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ImnggP4cwQI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p> Canada\u2019s largest publicly traded engineering firms are seeking to downplay concerns that artificial intelligence might disrupt their business models, arguing AI will boost demand for their services. <\/p>\n<p> Fears about AI\u2019s impacts have weighed on valuations, with shares of WSP Global Inc. , AtkinsRealis Group Inc. and Stantec Inc. \u2014 all of which have large Unites States operations \u2014 respectively down 32 per cent, 13 per cent and 34 per cent over the past 12 months as of Monday. <\/p>\n<p> Some investors have stepped back as revenue compression worries crept in. The concern is that AI-driven productivity may reduce billable hours for completing tasks and lead clients to push for lower pricing. <\/p>\n<p> Incoming Stantec chief executive Susan Reisbord said Tuesday at the Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York that AI is a productivity tool like others it\u2019s had for a long time. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cWe can\u2019t pull back a bridge or a road,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have a big responsibility to be able to use it in the work that we provide by having the belts and suspenders to make sure that it\u2019s a safe use.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> \u201cSo could the commercial model change a little bit? Yes,\u201d she said, explaining that using AI tools has a cost too. \u201cI don\u2019t see the price going down by any stretch of the imagination of the total project price.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> AtkinsRealis chief executive Ian Edwards pinpointed the shortage of engineers. \u201cSo what AI is going to do is enable more capacity in the industry to deliver more desperate needs for power and infrastructure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\" Ian Edwards, president and chief executive of AtkinsRealis, centre, and Susan Reisbord, incoming president and chief executive officer of Stantec, right, speak during the Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-license-id=\"4158829\" data-portal-copyright=\"Tiffany Hagler-Geard\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0930-mg-conference-2.png\" title=\" Ian Edwards, president and chief executive of AtkinsRealis, centre, and Susan Reisbord, incoming president and chief executive officer of Stantec, right, speak during the Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.\" \/><\/p>\n<p> On the upside, engineering firms are also exposed to AI through the data centre buildout . <\/p>\n<p> Stantec expects benefits for its infrastructure and nature-based solutions divisions, which can make projects \u201cmore acceptable\u201d to communities when there\u2019s some pushback, Reisbord said. <\/p>\n<p> AtkinsRealis foresees a big boost for its nuclear business. It filed in June a notice of intent with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to get certification of its Enhanced Candu 6 nuclear reactor, and has already spoken with U.S. utilities and hyperscalers. <\/p>\n<p> Energy demand \u201cis going to outstrip supply,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cIt is a challenge, and we\u2019ve got to find ways to build human capacity, to make ourselves more efficient, to use AI, to reduce the amount of people and make it more efficient.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> WSP, which acquired TRC Companies Inc. earlier this year, said during an investor presentation Monday that the U.S. is entering an electric infrastructure \u201csupercycle,\u201d supporting growth opportunities. <\/p>\n<ul class=\"related_links\">\n<li>Here\u2019s how Saskatchewan&#8217;s new data centre plan stacks up against others in Canada<\/li>\n<li>These Canadian companies with U.S. contracts are a buy for this analyst on &#8216;any significant weakness&#8217;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> New technologies let its engineers navigate the more complex projects ahead and model options, the firm said. At the same time, demand for digital capabilities is increasing in bids. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cI look at the size of digital services that we need now to offer compared to where it was just five years ago,\u201d WSP chief executive Alexandre L\u2019Heureux said in the presentation. \u201cI see a huge gap, or a big difference.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> Bloomberg.com <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Canada looks set to reverse exodus of capital\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mWAOW5Hd7lk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/>Canada\u2019s top engineering firms fend off concerns over AI<\/a><br \/>\n<br \/>2026-09-29 19:09:34<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canada\u2019s largest publicly traded engineering firms are seeking to downplay concerns that artificial intelligence might disrupt their business models, arguing AI will boost demand for their services. Fears about AI\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/79040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}