(Photo credit: Ottawa Business Journal)
Ottawa-based Calian Group Ltd. has expanded its nuclear safety and emergency management capabilities with the acquisition of International Safety Research Inc. (ISR), making Calian one of the country’s largest EM specialists in the country.
“ISR is an excellent fit for Calian,” stated Jerry Johnston, VP, Training & Engineering Services. “The synergies that we can derive from the combination of ISR’s services, and our own Emergency Management service offering, will allow us to provide unparalleled support to both new and existing customers, here in Canada and internationally.”
Another successful Ottawa company, ISR has been in business for almost 20 years providing radiation and nuclear safety engineering, and emergency preparedness and response services to both government and private sector customers. It specializes in radiation and nuclear safety as well as Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE), counter terrorism, and response and has a presence in Dubai and the Netherlands as well as Canada.
“ISR brings complementary technology and expertise that will bolster our service offering to the market,” said Richard Moreau, Calian’s Director of Emergency Management.
Both Calian and ISR are well known in the industry for executing full-scale emergency preparedness exercises, and the need continues to grow.
“There is an increased recognition that the focus needs to shift from response to prevention and mitigation,” said Moreau. “Organizations are recognizing the need to have plans that are rehearsed.”
Last year, ISR executed a cross-border resiliency experiment simulating a coordinated response to a natural disaster along the Canada-U.S. border, and a full-scale training exercise designed to identify the current capability in responding to Class 3 flammable liquid derailments, in response to the catastrophic derailment in Lac Megantic.
Calian most recently assisted the City of Ottawa with a full-scale emergency management exercise in preparation for Canada 150, and designed and executed an exercise with Bruce Power to test the nuclear power facility’s emergency plan.
Calian also provided comprehensive training, education, and exercise support for the dozens of municipal, provincial, federal, and international agencies tasked to ensure the security and safety of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and provided equivalent support for the G8 and G20 Conferences that took place the same year in southern Ontario and Toronto.
The combined strength of these two home-grown powerhouse organizations will position them to continue to support the increasing emergency management needs of the Canadian market and to bring this expertise to international markets.