OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE

Fort McMurray is no stranger to Mother Nature’s whims. Flooding is a regular spring-time occurrence; however, the most recent one to hit the city in April 2020 was the worst they’d seen in years. Add to that a global pandemic and it’s safe to say residents and responders have had a lot on their plates.

It was all-hands-on-deck in Fort McMurray with our Utilities crews working around the clock to ensure gas valves were turned off, outages responded to, and–first-and-foremost–that customers and employees stayed safe, all while maintaining COVID-related protocols.

We want to extend a HUGE thank you to all our people in Fort McMurray helping to keep residents and each other safe in these unprecedented “pandemic + crisis” circumstances. We salute you. 

ATCO Frontec was pleased to support Alberta’s pandemic response efforts through a contract with the Government of Alberta to provide a new health screening checkpoint as travellers cross the border from Montana into Alberta.

Coordinating with Alberta Health Services, Alberta Transport, and the Canadian Border Services Agency, we operated the COVID-19 screening checkpoint to the north of the Coutts Port of Entry and provided the command and control organization, medical screeners and logistic services until September 2020.

Our experienced Disaster and Emergency Management team managed this opportunity to serve Albertans through this pandemic as restrictions as lessened. Prioritizing safety is integral to our ATCO culture and the chance to expand our work through serving the Government of Alberta is one we take seriously. As we see restrictions from the COVID-19 shut-down being lifted, it’s important to remain vigilant to reduce the risks of a new wave of infections.

On the frontlines, through these difficult times, health professionals around the world are working day and night to help those suffering from COVID-19. Our incredible team at ATCO Espaciomovil in Guadalajara, Mexico has stepped up in a big way to help these modern-day heroes.​

ATCO is the largest manufacturer of modular products in the Mexican market, with the second largest fleet of rental assets in the country. Most recently, as part of a two-part contract, we are designing and constructing medical clinics for group Grupo Modelo, one of the world's top breweries. These clinics will be donated to support ongoing medical efforts in Mexico City and Tijuana.​ 

The first project was recently completed in just five days—a small modular clinic for the Government of Mexico´s National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) in Mexico City–which was the first hospital in the country to receive and treat COVID-19 patients. The unit will function as a standalone reception and initial examination area.

The second project, currently underway, is much more ambitious—a full modular hospital for the city of Tijuana in the northern state of Baja. We hope to have this building completed in 14 days or less.

In 2020, ATCO Mexico donated more than 400 safety kits containing face masks, chlorine and hand sanitizer, to Indigenous families in the Mountains of Zongolica, located near our hydroelectric facility in Veracruz.

We will distribute an additional 325 kits to the remaining families in the area in 2021.

Since 1930, ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen has been sharing recipes and advice with you. Our original aim was helping homemakers get the best results when using natural gas. Today, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are sharing our meals with isolated seniors in Calgary who have been financially impacted by COVID-19 and live alone, with a caregiver or in a seniors’ complex. In partnership with Calgary Seniors’ Resource Society, the talented and caring ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen culinary team has proudly provided 11,700 nutritious and delicious meals to seniors in need since late fall 2020.

Thanks to ATB CEO Curtis Stange for the #3Things4Neighbours challenge nomination! We’re always giving back to our communities – from delivering meals to seniors, to providing shelter for family gatherings and holding a drive-thru grad. 

Congratulations to the Calgary Graduating Class of 2020! ATCO was proud to be the Main Stage Sponsor at this unique event, held at Spruce Meadows and Calgary Stampede from June 15-26, 2020.

Drive Thru Grad 2020 was created when a local Calgary events company, a group of parents, and sponsors like ATCO, joined forces to create a memorable experience for high school grads whose graduation ceremonies were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The goal was to provide graduates to walk across stage and celebrate with their classmates at a safe social distance.

See more here.

ATCO kicked off the holiday season early at Calgary’s ATCO Village–a community of 15 tiny homes ATCO built in partnership with the Homes For Heroes Foundation dedicated to serving those veterans who may have landed on difficult times, and to whom we owe a deep gratitude for their service in protecting our country.

ATCO decorated the Village with a festive light display set to music, followed by an employee drive-by to thank our special veterans, and to celebrate the Village’s one-year anniversary.

As an extra holiday gift, ATCO matched $100,000 in donations made to the Homes For Heroes Foundation during the holiday season.

Learn more at: https://www.ATCO.com/H4H​.

During these uncertain times, it has been amazing to see how local businesses have been stepping up – and changing up – to support their communities. One such example is Calgary’s Burwood Distillery, known for their flavourful gins and honey influenced spirits. With the onset of the pandemic, they’ve changed their production to create a type of alcohol that is in high demand for people of all ages – hand sanitizer!

Burwood Distillery went above and beyond to ensure that their fellow citizens, businesses and non-profit organizations have access to hand sanitizer, and ATCO is proud to have played a part in this initiative. When we heard that they were shifting some of their spirit production to hand sanitizer, we reached out to purchase some for our offices and facilities. Our contact at Burwood mentioned that they had a shortage of bottles, so our supply chain team jumped into action, quickly sourcing a thousand 500ml bottles over the weekend, arranging for delivery and donating them to this great cause.

We caught up with Jordan Ramey, co-founder of Burwood Distillery to discuss.