Chris Waight

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT CHRIS WAIGHT

My career has always lived at the intersection of practical construction knowledge and digital precision. I started in 2003 as a glazing designer in Coquitlam, learning early that solid detailing, clear communication, and dependable coordination matter far more than buzzwords. Those lessons have anchored me ever since.In 2007, I joined Stantec and spent over 18 years growing through structural, architectural, and BIM-focused roles across BC. I began in the Kelowna office, where I built the structural modeling and Revit foundation that shaped my approach to multi-disciplinary digital delivery. As my responsibilities expanded, I supported the Victoria and Vancouver offices as Structural BIM Lead, contributing to some of the region’s most complex and coordination-heavy work.During this period, I worked extensively in the Healthcare, Institutional, and Education sectors on major projects including:North Island Hospitals, Doha, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet (Phase 1), Stantec Tower, and Royal Columbian Hospital Phase 1.These multi-model, multi-team environments sharpened my focus on creating workflows and systems that make project delivery more reliable and predictable.In 2018, I moved to Kamloops and joined Stantec Architecture — or, as some of my structural colleagues liked to joke, “the Dark Side.” I was already well-embedded in those sectors, but Architecture changed the way I interacted with them. The role brought broader responsibilities, more documentation, and more moving parts across the full project lifecycle. That experience strengthened my understanding of how disciplines connect and where digital systems need to support people, not get in their way.Today at McElhanney, I’m focused on building the digital foundations that support teams across multiple disciplines — unified standards, metadata frameworks, ISO 19650–ready workflows, CDE structure, ACC integration, and practical BIM strategies built for real project conditions.Some coworkers have called me grumpy over the years — fair enough.But most of the time, that “grumpiness” is just a high bar for clarity, quality, and work we can stand behind. It comes from caring about the craft… and, admittedly, from more than a few 20-hour days untangling issues that better systems would’ve prevented.After 20+ years in this industry, my motivation hasn’t changed: build smarter, collaborate better, and help project teams deliver strong, dependable work.