City honors public works professionals with an open house event featuring equipment displays, educational exhibits, and family-friendly activities.
Do you ever wonder who’s behind the scenes when you pour a glass of water, drive down a freshly plowed street, flush your toilet or see a fire truck hooked up to a hydrant? Coquitlam’s Public Works professionals provide these essential services and more, and the city is celebrating them during National Public Works Week, May 18 to 24.
The City’s public works team works 24/7 to maintain and enhance quality of life for Coquitlam businesses and residents. These dedicated crews maintain roads, water, sewer, and drainage systems, vehicles and equipment, solid waste, emergency engineering services, and more.
Join us Saturday, May 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the new Austin Operations Building, located at 500 Mariner Way (enter off Austin Avenue), to meet the team that provides these essential services that keep our community running.
The event is new, free and family-friendly with more than 15 exhibits. Featured displays include a crane truck, vactor truck, pipe camera van, and equipment for kids to explore. Environmental education exhibits offer insights on keeping streams clean and wildlife safe.
Visitors can see the in-house dispatch center and view how the 24/7 utility control center staff manage infrastructure work and emergencies. The Parks equipment road show will display tools keeping city parks operational, while guests enjoy lawn games.
Learn about the city’s animal shelter through interactive displays and a prize wheel. For children, activities include a chance to view sports services equipment, visit a coloring station, and more. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
In 2024, the Public Works team handled 10,380 service requests, cleaned 80 km of water mains, swept 6,600 km of roads, and maintained 1,622 km of pipe. They provided 300 liters of water per capita daily and diverted 69% of household waste from landfills.
Coquitlam’s road, drainage, and water systems comprise an extensive network, including 1,145 lane km of asphalt roads, 523 km of water mains, and other vital infrastructure monitored and maintained by Public Works staff.
For more information, visit coquitlam.ca/PublicWorks. Media contact is Inder Tung, Manager of Public Works Services at epw@coquitlam.ca.
We acknowledge the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm, meaning ‘Red Fish Up the River’. The city honors the traditional and ancestral lands of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm, including historically shared territories with the q̓ic̓əy̓ and other Coast Salish Peoples.