In July 2012, The Archdiocese of Vancouver commissioned Ausenco Canada Inc. to undertake a professional engineering study of its school and church buildings to determine their capacity to protect occupants during a significant earthquake. The June 2013 Seismic Risk Assessment and Retrofit Considerations Summary Report showed buildings ranging from needing little to no work, to those requiring extensive structural upgrades.
View the Seismic Risk Assessment Report
All Parishes were asked to demonstrate by November 30, 2015, that they have begun planning for Infrastructure Renewal, with a particular focus on further improving safety for school children.
To help facilitate Infrastructure Renewal Planning at Parishes, two Campus Master Planning (CMP) Programs have been developed:
- CMP: Parish Needs Assessment (PNA)
- CMP: Feasibility Study (Feasibility)
The completion of either program by November 30, 2015 fulfilled the Parish requirement to demonstrate Infrastructure Renewal Planning.
As an additional Archdiocesan Infrastructure Renewal Program initiative, the Archdiocese has been working with the Department of Civil Engineering‘s Earthquake Engineering Research Facility (EERF) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) to introduce relatively inexpensive, cutting-edge Earthquake Early Warning Systems (EEWS) and Strong Motion Instrumentation (SMI) recording technology into schools and churches.