Stantec Inc

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Stantec's first quarter 2024 results webcast and conference call. Leading the call today are Gord Johnston, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Teresa Jang, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Stantec invites those dialing in to view the slide presentation, which is available in the Investors section at stantec.com. Today's call is also webcast. Please be advised that if you have dialed in while also viewing the webcast, you should mute your computer as there is a delay between the call and the webcast. All information provided during this conference call is subject to the forward-looking statements qualification set out on slide two, detailed in stand text, management, discussion, and analysis, and incorporated in full for the purpose of today's call. Unless otherwise noted, dollar amounts discussed in today's call are expressed in Canadian dollars and are generally rounded. With that, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Mr. Gord Johnston.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. Stantec is off to a great start for the year.

Momentum continues to build on the favorable market trends that have emerged over the past two years. We continue to see strong demand and major projects in water security and water treatment. With the recently announced EPA regulations on PFAS, We expect this area to grow significantly. Stantec's been on the leading edge of PFAS work for several years, with multiple contracts underway in data analysis, treatment piloting, site remediation, and full-scale system design. And we have several PFAS treatment systems that are fully operational. We also continue to see great demand for energy transition and climate solutions, including strengthening of electrical grids and for environmental services. Aging infrastructure continues to drive significant needs, either for the repair or replacement of roads, bridges, railways, and transit. With approximately 400 billion of IIGA funding now distributed, investment towards addressing these needs is spurring growth. And the ongoing push to restore productive capacity continues to drive significant work in advanced manufacturing, data centers, and other mission-critical facilities in all of our key markets. Our solid first quarter results reflect our ability to capitalize on this robust market demand and to deliver strong operational performance. We are also successfully executing on our plans to grow through strategic and disciplined M&A. In the first quarter, we closed our acquisitions of Zetcon and Morrison Hirschfield. And it's been very gratifying to see that since joining Stantec, both companies have continued to attract new employees,