Michel: From a lakeside childhood in Quebec to building Canada’s water future

Michel is a Water Treatment Specialist based in Vancouver. He joined AtkinsRéalis last year after gaining six years of experience in the water sector, starting on his birthday, which also happens to be World Water Day. His travels through 35 countries, mostly personal journeys and short teaching or modelling contracts, gave him a firsthand view of global water challenges that now shape his work.

A connection to water that started early

Michel grew up in Saint‑Placide, a small rural town in Quebec. His backyard opened directly onto a lake, surrounded by cornfields, forests and a dairy farm across the street. He spent most of his childhood outdoors, exploring the shoreline, swimming, climbing trees.

“Looking back, it’s no surprise that I developed such a strong connection to nature, wildlife, and especially water.”

That connection led him to Université Laval for a water engineering degree, the only university in Quebec offering the programme, and then into a career that eventually brought him to AtkinsRéalis.

A role that never stands still

Michel’s day‑to‑day work moves between technical problem‑solving, project coordination and client engagement. On the technical side, he supports the design and assessment of water and wastewater systems - reviewing process flows, evaluating hydraulic capacity, preparing engineering deliverables and contributing to long‑term infrastructure planning studies.

He also plays a significant business development role, aligning the team’s expertise with client needs and supporting the growth of the water practice in Western Canada. It’s a role that reflects where Michel is in his career, bridging the technical and strategic.

His current projects include drinking water system upgrades, process design for industrial treatment, permitting support for a mining site, and planning studies for municipalities dealing with population growth, aging assets and climate‑related pressures.

“It’s a role that constantly evolves and that’s exactly what keeps it exciting.”

Working across the full water cycle

Michel’s experience spans drinking water production, wastewater treatment, municipal infrastructure, stormwater systems and industrial water. He works at the process engineering level, evaluating treatment options, assessing capacity, identifying regulatory risks, while also supporting communities with asset management and long‑term investment planning.

He sees all of it as interconnected: potable water, sanitation, stormwater, environmental protection and industrial use all shape one another. That systems‑level thinking is what allows him to take on a wide range of challenges while staying focused on a single mission, strengthening water infrastructure to serve communities and ecosystems.

From Montreal to Vancouver

Michel started in Montreal, where he met the Quebec‑based water infrastructure team and got to know the practice’s ongoing projects. A few months later, he relocated permanently to Vancouver to help close the gap between the team’s existing capabilities and the growing pipeline of opportunities in Western Canada.

That willingness to move where the work is has shaped his career development since joining. He’s taken on more complex and varied projects across multiple regions, expanded into business development, and started contributing to the strategic growth of the practice, from recruitment to cross‑selling to building partnerships.

 

A culture that’s hard to replicate

When asked what stands out about working at AtkinsRéalis, Michel comes back to collaboration. Not as a corporate value, but as something he experiences daily.

“People here want to help, whether it’s sharing past project experience, brainstorming technical solutions, or supporting a tight proposal deadline. There’s a real sense of community across regions.”

He also values the openness to new ideas and the balance between ambition and empathy, a team that takes the work seriously because it affects communities, but also supports each other as people.

And his sign‑off, in true Michel fashion: As someone now living in Vancouver, I’ve learned that the weather forecast here is basically just a polite suggestion. But rain or shine, I’m always glad to connect with people interested in the water sector.
 

Explore water careers at AtkinsRéalis

If you work in water engineering, environmental science, regulation or infrastructure or you’re thinking about a move into the sector, take a look at our current water roles or join our talent network to hear about opportunities as they come up.