FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prince George, BC – The City of Prince George is proud to announce it was the recipient of two Community Leadership Awards at the North Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) Annual General Meeting and convention in Prince Rupert last week.
The City won the Environmental Stewardship award for its efforts to acknowledge, preserve, and protect our community's natural environment. Using Novion’s Natural Asset Management Platform, satellite imaging, multispectral bands, and AI to identify our natural assets including; wetlands, forests, green infrastructure and grasslands and assesses the condition of those assets within the City boundary. This tool will inform the City’s decision making to retain certain areas of our community for environmental sustainability purposes and help the City adapt to a changing climate utilizing nature.
The second award, the Economic Development Award, was presented jointly to the City of Prince George and the City of Prince Rupert in recognition of their partnership to launch and advance the Northern BC Hydrogen Hub initiative. This initiative aims to diversify regional and local economies, create sustainable employment opportunities, and support an emerging industry that contributes to environmental sustainability by decarbonizing hard-to-abate industrial sectors in northern BC.
Since the initiative began, the region has attracted real and proposed investments exceeding $1 billion in capital expenditures and created hundreds of jobs tied to hydrogen and other clean fuel projects.
Deanna Wasnik, Director of Planning and Development, said both the Asset Management and Economic Development teams are deserving recipients, and the awards reflect their ongoing dedication to the people of Prince George.
“I am incredibly proud of the teams for earning these awards. Our commitment and work in the areas of asset management and economic development are world class. We often talk about our unique infrastructure story in Prince George – our expansive geography presents both challenges and opportunities. From an asset management perspective, this means we have more natural areas to manage and preserve. It’s a monumental task, and these teams are meeting the challenge with excellence,” Director Wasnik said.
It was also announced at the AGM last week that the City of Prince George, along with partners Lheidli T’enneh, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, and Tourism Prince George, has been selected as the host community of the 2026 NCLGA Annual General Meeting.
Established in 1955, the NCLGA serves as the advocacy body for local government officials in North Central British Columbia. Spanning from 100 Mile House to the Yukon border and from Haida Gwaii to the Alberta border, the association represents over 240 elected officials from more than 42 local and First Nations governments.
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Media contact:
Claire Thwaites, communications manager
Mobile: 778-349-1386
Email: media@princegeorge.ca