Canadian Structural Engineering Context
Canada's National Building Code 2020 (NBC 2020) governs structural design across most provinces, with province-specific adoptions and amendments. Ontario — Canada's most populous province — has adopted NBC 2020 through the Ontario Building Code (OBC), which references NBC 2020 Part 4 for structural requirements. Structural engineering in Canada must address the country's distinctive climate: heavy snow loads, large temperature swings (thermal expansion in steel), and in many regions, significant seismic hazard that has been progressively more accurately mapped in recent NBC editions.
Our Canada Experience
Project P-2022-044, the Ontario Steel Structure Replacement, is our primary Canadian commission. This project demonstrated the full lifecycle of structural engineering practice: an existing structure assessed against NBC 2020 current requirements, deficiencies identified and documented, and a replacement structure designed from scratch to NBC 2020 standards — lighter, more efficient, and fully compliant with current seismic and snow load provisions. The replacement design used a concentrically braced frame system optimised for the Ontario seismic environment, with snow drift accumulation at the eave conditions designed per NBC 2020 Clause 4.1.6.
NBC 2020 Snow and Wind
Ontario experiences some of the highest design snow loads of any populated region in the country, driven by the lake-effect snow phenomenon around the Great Lakes. NBC 2020 climatic data tables provide site-specific ground snow loads (Ss) and associated rain-on-snow loads (Sr) for hundreds of Canadian locations, updated in 2020 with improved statistical data. The roof snow load calculation per NBC 2020 Clause 4.1.6 applies shape factors, exposure factors, and accumulation factors to the ground snow load — resulting in design roof loads that can significantly exceed the simple ground snow load where drifting conditions apply.
Engaging Us for Canadian Projects
We provide structural design, capacity assessment, and documentation services for Canadian projects under NBC 2020. Our deliverables are formatted for review by the provincial authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), with full derivation of NBC 2020 loads, Canadian climatic data references, and code compliance documentation. Contact us with your project scope, province, and NBC 2020 edition in effect locally.