ITE Canada District 2026 Annual Conference Wrap-Up
From May 31 to June 3, 2026, hundreds of transportation professionals from across Canada gathered in Victoria, BC for the ITE Canada District 2026 Annual Conference. Held at the Victoria Conference Centre on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples of the Songhees Nation and Xʷsepsəm Nation, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, the event brought the industry together around the theme Creating Connections Through Transportation.
Many ISLers were in attendance — leading workshops, delivering project presentations, helping guide bike tours, earning recognition for our projects, and connecting with professionals shaping the future of how Canadians move through their communities.
Starting the Conversation: Student Leadership Summit
On Sunday, Robin Brooks, E.I.T. and Khal Joyce, E.I.T. opened the week at the UVic ITE Canada 2026 Student Leadership Summit. Their session explored the intersection between sustainability and Indigenous values through a transportation lens. By bringing in personal stories and real-world examples, their session aimed to challenge the next generation of engineers to think critically about the future they want to help design.
On the Ground: Victoria Bike Tours
With a cycling mode share of approximately 14%, Victoria is among the most connected cycling cities in North America. On Monday and Wednesday, Brad Ormiston, P.L.Eng., AScT, MMCD CCA., Roy Symons, P.Eng. and Khal Joyce, E.I.T. supported the City of Victoria neighbourhood bike tour. ISL has been a long-time partner in building Victoria’s active transportation network — contributing detailed design and construction services across more than 10 of the City’s All Ages and Abilities (AAA) corridors, including the Vancouver Street and Richardson Street local street bikeways featured on the tour.
For those that couldn’t attend one of the bike tours, Dan Zeggelaar P.Eng., our Sustainable Transportation Lead in the Edmonton office had one of our ISL Brompton folding bikes hooked up to allow attendees to take a virtual ride along a few of our projects including Gorge Road, Government Street and Richardson Street in the City of Victoria, Esplanade in the City of North Vancouver, and Guildford Way in the City of Coquitlam.
Presentations and Workshops
ISL delivered multiple engaging sessions across Tuesday and Wednesday, covering some of the team’s most forward-thinking recent work.
On Tuesday, Ian McKinnon, P.Eng., MMCD CCA, Roy Symons, P.Eng. and Khal Joyce, E.I.T. led a thought leader workshop with Tim Hewitt from the City of Victoria, asking attendees to reimagine the complex Yates and Fort Street intersection — a site ISL had previously redesigned. The session pushed participants to think about all the users on the street, debate who they should prioritize, and if they need to innovate beyond current guidance.
Also on Tuesday, Scott MacDonald, Sustainable Transportation Planner, presented with Brent McMurtry from the District of Squamish on the Squamish Multi-Modal Transportation Plan which was recently completed by ISL. Rather than forecasting vehicle demand and building capacity to match, the plan determined how many people needed to shift away from driving and toward walking, cycling and transit to keep traffic manageable as the community grows. Predict and decide, not predict and provide.
On Wednesday, Roy Symons, P.Eng. joined the City of Burnaby team to present the Vancouver to SFU Cycling Connection — a 12 km all-ages-and-abilities (AAA) network built on Dutch-inspired design principles, introducing Burnaby’s first protected intersections and Dutch-style Bicycle Street markings. The project also features wide, protected bike lanes on steep grades to accommodate varying cycling speeds and improve downhill safety. Detailed design of the final Burnaby Mountain Parkway section is now underway.
Award Nomination: Guildford Way Complete Street
ISL, the City of Coquitlam and subconsultant DMD & Associates Electrical Consultants Ltd. received the Canadian nomination for the ITE Complete Street Transportation Achievement Award for the Guildford Way Complete Street project. The award winner will be announced at the upcoming ITE Annual Meeting in Detroit in July.
The Guildford Way corridor was designed to make it easier and safer for everybody using the corridor, and especially those who walk, roll, and cycle, allowing them to better connect to schools, parks, Lafarge Lake–Douglas SkyTrain Station, and City Hall. Led by ISL’s Roy Symons, P.Eng. and Carl Bruggeman P.L.Eng. as Project Manager and Scott MacDonald as Lead Functional Designer, the project introduced unique elements including raised protected bike lanes, grade separated from pedestrians, protected intersections, bicycle signals, protected turn phases, no-right-turn-on-red, directional tactile wayfinding, and island platform bus stops. Roy Symons, P.Eng. presented the project Tuesday alongside Maria Albitar P.Eng. from the City of Coquitlam.
Learn more about the project through this ISL sponsored video with local YouTuber Nic Laporte featuring ISL’s Scott MacDonald as they explore the design elements of the corridor firsthand to see how they achieved such significant safety improvements.
Award Win: ITE Northern Alberta Section Momentum Award
Another standout moment for ISL this week came at the ITE Canada Awards Luncheon, where the ITE Northern Alberta Section received the 2026 Excellence in Transportation — Section Momentum Award. ISL’s Jackie Prior, E.I.T., David Mason, M.Eng., P.Eng. and Olivia Duong, E.I.T. were on hand to accept.
The award recognizes the section that best improved and innovated in the past year. In 2025, the Northern Alberta Section was involved in: launching their first K-12 STEM outreach event, building a section sponsorship package, strengthening ties with the University of Alberta Student Chapter and rolling out monthly knowledge-sharing events and a member award program. This type of sustained, community-building work makes the profession stronger — and inspires other ITE Sections to be creative in engaging their members and fostering community. The section’s entry has also been submitted to the ITE international competition.
Congratulations to Jackie, David, Olivia and the entire Northern Alberta Section.
Wrapping Up a Successful ITE Conference
The transportation infrastructure we plan and design shapes both how people experience their communities every day, and how the industry continue to evolve. Each time we attend events like this, they provide learning and inspiration for future projects.
Read some important takeaways from ISLers who attended:
Found it interesting that Edmonton’s zero parking minimums reduced the city’s leverage to ask for other Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures.
Learned that Victoria has achieved vision zero in 2022 and 2025, highlighting that it is not an impossible dream in North America.
Was really impressed with the data out of Victoria where mode share has increased significantly but accidents involving all users (vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists) had shown a steady decline year over year
Left inspired by conversations about changing the industry from planning through to design, and the need to focus decisions making at all levels around the outcomes they contribute to.
Left inspired to include more GIS-based analysis into his work
Came away thinking that every school should consider hosting a School Streets week annually, as Burnaby’s pilot demonstrated how a simple temporary street closure can improve safety, reduce emissions, encourage walking and cycling, and create a fun, welcoming space for children and the broader school community
Enjoyed the greater focus on accessibility coming in the new BC Active Transportation Design Guide and appreciated the recognition that such guidance will continue to evolve.
Looked forward to updated guidance on the use of tactile surfaces, and the appreciation that we need to find those compromises – what works for someone, may hinder someone else.
Will apply more updated road safety audit ideas through the invitation-only session by ITE President on ITE Safety Roadmap and the interactive session for Lessons Learned on Road Safety Audits.
We look forward to the ITE Complete Street Transportation Achievement Award announcement in Detroit this July.
Thank you to all ISLers who were involved this year!
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