Concordia to host three major international construction conferences
The cantilever section of the original Champlain Bridge, located on the Seaway Dike, was deconstructed in the fall of 2023. (Photo credit: Ponts Jacques Cartier et Champlain Incorporée)
Concordia will host three co-located international conferences focused on automation, robotics, modular and offsite construction in July 2025. The event is expected to attract 500 participants from 30 countries, bringing together leading experts to discuss the latest advancements in the field.
The event is organized by a local committee led by Amin Hammad, professor at the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering and associate director of the Centre for Innovation in Construction and Infrastructure Engineering and Management, known as CICIEM.
“This is the world’s largest event of its kind, and innovation in construction practices is crucial to meeting the growing demand for housing while maintaining affordability,” says Hammad. “By bringing global leaders together, we aim to foster collaboration and generate practical solutions to address housing challenges.”
The conferences come at a critical time as Canada faces a significant housing supply gap. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates that 3.5 million additional housing units are needed by 2030 to restore affordability, with Quebec among the provinces most affected.
Three conferences under one roof:
- ISARC 2025: International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction
Supported by the International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction, this symposium will explore:- Digital twinning, creating a virtual copy of a building or infrastructure that mirrors the real-world version to test and improve its performance
- Extended reality, which combines virtual and augmented reality to allow users to interact with digital elements as if they were real
- Automation in construction, where machines and software perform tasks with minimal human intervention.
- CSCE-CSC/CRC 2025: CSCE Construction Specialty Conference / Construction Research Congress: Organized with the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering and the American Society of Civil Engineers, this conference will focus on:
- Infrastructure management, which involves planning and maintaining public systems like roads, bridges and water supplies,
- Systems resilience, which ensures that infrastructure can withstand and quickly recover from disruptions
- Sustainable construction, which promotes building methods that reduce waste and environmental impact.
- MOC 2025: Modular and Offsite Construction Summit: Led by academic and industry experts, the summit will address:
- Modular construction, which involves building parts of a structure in a factory setting and assembling them on-site
- Risk mitigation, which covers strategies to reduce potential problems during construction
- Work process improvement, which streamlines construction steps to be more efficient and less costly
- Lean construction practices, which are methods to minimize waste and increase efficiency in projects.
The event is supported by major sponsors including Hydro-Québec, JCCBI, Hatch, Pomerleau, Canam, Fayolle Canada, AECON and Horizon Legacy.
Learn more about Concordia’s role in construction innovation at the Centre for Innovation in Construction and Infrastructure Engineering and Management (CICIEM).