Conference News

Three-day Halifax summit will bring together industry leaders to explore BIM, digital twins, open standards, modern construction methods and the technologies transforming Canada’s built environment.

GoGeomatics Canada Newsmakers | Halifax, Nova Scotia

Building Transformations, the national organization formerly known as CanBIM, will bring its flagship Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital construction programming to Atlantic Canada this summer with the 2026 East Coast Industry Summit, running August 11–13, 2026, at the Halifax Convention Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Held in partnership with buildingSMART Canada and the Construction Association of Nova Scotia (CANS), the in-person summit is themed “Rising Tides of Innovation: Embracing Digital Change in Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO).” It is designed to bring architects, engineers, contractors, owners and digital practitioners together as Atlantic Canada prepares for a significant construction boom.

The summit arrives as Canada’s building and infrastructure sector continues to face an aging workforce, persistent productivity gaps and a growing volume of work that traditional methods are struggling to keep pace with. Building Transformations has positioned the East Coast Industry Summit as a place for practitioners to compare how digital tools and processes—from BIM to modern construction methods—are being used on real projects.

Digital Transformation Across the Building Lifecycle

The program is built around the idea that architecture, engineering, construction and operations are increasingly connected by shared digital information rather than separated by discipline. Sessions across the three days will cover Building Information Modelling and BIM data management, digital twins, open standards and interoperability, and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), including mass timber and prefabrication.

Rather than treating these as separate tracks, the summit’s agenda connects them. Sessions on BIM strategy sit alongside discussions of geospatial data and GIS integration, while presentations on prefabrication and precast systems appear alongside sessions on national digital infrastructure. The result is a program that reflects how digital practitioners work today, moving between design software, field data and asset management systems on a single project.

Three Days of Programming

The confirmed agenda includes:

• Day 1 – August 11: Ticketed technical tours of Halifax-area projects, a buildingSMART Canada workshop on BIM and GIS in practice, the OGC Canada Forum on open geospatial standards, an Innovation Showcase of rapid-fire technology presentations, and an opening reception open to all attendees.
• Day 2 – August 12: An executive keynote and panel on construction activity and productivity in Atlantic Canada, two full streams of breakout sessions on process, tools and technology and on Modern Methods of Construction, a technology trade show, and an evening networking cruise on Halifax Harbour.
• Day 3 – August 13: An executive panel on scaling modern construction for housing, healthcare and education, additional breakout sessions, continued trade show exhibits, and closing remarks.

Confirmed session topics include Carleton Immersive Media Studio’s open-source Digital Twin platform connecting GIS and BIM data; the National Research Council of Canada’s Digital Construction Platform, a national initiative addressing Canada’s long-standing construction productivity gap; a BIM Toolkit for housing developed under Canada’s National Housing Strategy; and the OGC Canada Forum’s discussion of open standards, ranging from maritime hydrographic data at the Port of Halifax to Next Generation 9-1-1 infrastructure.

Additional sessions will address ISO 19650 information management, reality capture and scan-to-BIM workflows, precast concrete and mass timber construction, and workforce development for a digitally enabled industry.

Why BIM and Geospatial Communities Are Converging

A recurring theme throughout the summit is the growing overlap between BIM and geospatial disciplines. As buildings and infrastructure are increasingly modelled, monitored and managed digitally across their full lifecycle, the data produced by BIM processes is converging with the data traditionally managed by GIS, reality capture and surveying professionals.

Digital twins, open data standards and asset management systems depend on that convergence working smoothly. Several summit sessions—including the OGC Canada Forum and the buildingSMART Canada workshop on BIM and GIS in practice—are built specifically around that intersection. For professionals working in geomatics, surveying and spatial data, the summit offers a rare opportunity to see how their work connects to the broader AECO digital ecosystem.

“BIM, GIS, reality capture and digital twins are increasingly becoming part of the same connected digital environment. The East Coast Industry Summit creates an important opportunity for these communities to learn from one another and build stronger connections across Canada’s built environment sector. I’m looking forward to attending the summit in Halifax, meeting delegates and sharing some of the conversations and innovations with the GoGeomatics community. We are proud to support the event as its official media sponsor.”

— Jonathan Murphy, Founder and CEO of GoGeomatics Canada

GoGeomatics Canada is proud to serve as the official media sponsor of the 2026 East Coast Industry Summit. Through this partnership, GoGeomatics will help share event news and relevant coverage with Canada’s geospatial community in the lead-up to and during the summit.

Registration is now open. Visit the official registration page for ticket options and full details.

Event Details

Event: 2026 East Coast Industry Summit
Theme: Rising Tides of Innovation: Embracing Digital Change in Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO)
Dates: August 11–13, 2026
Venue: Halifax Convention Centre, 1650 Argyle Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 0E6
Format: In person
Organizer: Building Transformations, in partnership with buildingSMART Canada and the Construction Association of Nova Scotia (CANS)
Official event page: buildingtransformations.org/events/halifax26
Registration: Register on Eventbrite
Contact: [email protected]

About Building Transformations

Building Transformations, formerly known as CanBIM, is a national organization that fosters a community committed to knowledge sharing and advancing technology and innovation in the built environment. Through live and virtual events, Think Tanks, an annual Innovation Spotlight Awards program and industry publications, Building Transformations connects architects, engineers, contractors, owners and technology providers working to advance Building Information Modelling and digital practice across Canada. Learn more at buildingtransformations.org.

About GoGeomatics Canada

GoGeomatics Canada is the largest and most popular communications hub promoting the Canadian geospatial community. Incorporated in 2011, GoGeomatics hosts more than 100 free networking events each year in cities across Canada and publishes an online magazine covering GIS, BIM and GIS integration, digital twins, reality capture and lidar, Earth observation and other geospatial technology topics. Learn more at gogeomatics.ca.