Indigenous-focused engineering consultancy Soar Professional Services launches
Soar Professional Services, a New Brunswick-based engineering consulting firm focusing on Indigenous communities, has launched in partnership with Dillon Consulting – which will be a minority owner in the new company.
Soar is owned and led by Ryan Dunbar, a partner at Dillon and a member of the Kingsclear First Nation, New Brunswick. Dunbar has spent the last 16 years at Dillon, leading numerous projects in hydrogeology, site investigation, and risk assessment.
A licensed professional engineer, Dunbar holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the University of New Brunswick.
Dunbar’s new company will provide engineering, environmental science, and management consulting services to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities and organizations in Canada. Soar will also work with Canadian corporations interfacing with Indigenous communities.
Soar’s project work will focus on economic development, housing, environmental, planning, and infrastructure projects.
“We believe we have created an organization with purpose and bold objectives, representing how a Canadian corporation, inspired by progression in the value of inclusion with visionary leadership, can promote a truly innovative approach towards reconciliation,” Dunbar said.
Soar says it will actively hire, train, and develop Indigenous staff across Canada. The firm will also in its engagements implement “Two-Eyed Seeing,” a concept that seeks to reconcile the use of Western method and theory with Indigenous knowledge.
By partnering with Dillon, a national engineering consultancy with more than 900 employees, Soar will have access to technical resources and expertise that enable the delivery of complex and remotely located projects.
“SOAR Professional Services was born from the vision of our passionate people and as a minority owner, Dillon is fully committed to empowering and supporting the Indigenous owners of SOAR to build their own Employee Owned firm,” said Sean Hanlon, CEO of Dillon. “I believe under the vision and guidance of Ryan, SOAR will become a destination for Indigenous entrepreneurs and professionals to make meaningful change in communities across Canada.”
