As British Columbia prepares for one of the largest waves of infrastructure development in its history, attention is increasingly turning to what lies beneath the surface.
In the first chapter of its six-part Beneath B.C. series, BC 1 Call highlights a challenge that often goes unnoticed: building the province’s future without damaging the vast network of underground infrastructure that has been installed over decades.
Every new road, housing development, transit project or utility expansion must fit around infrastructure that, in many cases, has been serving communities for generations. Some of those buried assets continue to operate as designed, while others are approaching the end of their expected lifespan. Yet regardless of their age, most must remain fully operational as construction continues above them.
According to BC 1 Call, modern construction is no longer just about creating new infrastructure. It also requires a thorough understanding of what already exists underground.
That task is not always straightforward. Information about buried infrastructure can vary widely, ranging from century-old paper drawings and handwritten field notes to highly accurate digital mapping and emerging digital twin technology. While mapping has improved significantly over the years, uncertainty has not disappeared, making underground construction as much about managing risk as building new assets.
Unexpected discoveries below ground remain common on construction sites. The industry’s goal, BC 1 Call notes, is not simply to avoid surprises, but to use every project to improve mapping, strengthen records and share lessons that help prevent future incidents.
The issue is becoming increasingly important as British Columbia moves ahead with a series of major infrastructure investments.
On July 2, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby announced the Canada–British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement, a wide-ranging plan designed to accelerate the development of energy and trade infrastructure across the province.
Among the projects expected to move forward are LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lisims LNG, Cedar LNG and Woodfibre LNG, the expansion of the Red Chris Mine, the North Coast Transmission Line, improvements to the Port of Vancouver–Roberts Bank trade corridor, the George Massey Tunnel replacement, and expansion projects at the ports of Prince Rupert and Stewart.
That same day, the federal government also announced plans for a new West Coast oil pipeline capable of transporting one million barrels per day. The proposed route would largely follow the existing Trans Mountain corridor through British Columbia and has already been referred to the Major Projects Office for review.
Earlier, on June 18, Carney and Eby unveiled a separate 10-year infrastructure partnership that will see more than $5 billion invested through the Build Communities Strong Fund.
The agreement includes up to $3.2 billion for housing-enabling infrastructure such as water systems, wastewater networks and local roads, along with an additional $2.5 billion in federal funding for public transit projects over the next decade. At the same time, the province continues to advance hundreds of public and private developments through its Major Projects Inventory.
With so many large-scale projects moving forward simultaneously, BC 1 Call says the key question is no longer whether construction will happen, but whether the industry’s understanding of the underground environment can keep pace.
Statistics Canada reported that by 2020 nearly one in five kilometres of Canada’s buried water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure was more than 50 years old. While many of those systems continue to function reliably, they were not originally designed to support today’s pace of development, new technologies or increasing expectations for resilience.
For BC 1 Call, the challenge extends beyond simply installing new infrastructure. Every project must connect seamlessly with systems built decades ago while ensuring those assets continue serving communities safely and reliably.
The organization believes every generation leaves its mark beneath the ground, and today’s construction decisions will shape the infrastructure inherited by future generations long after cranes and construction sites have disappeared.
The next installment of the Beneath B.C. series will examine how every construction project transforms not only the landscape people see, but also the increasingly complex world hidden beneath their feet.
