TORONTO, April  22, 2024  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) ("Aecon" or the "Company") today released its 2023 Sustainability Report highlighting its progress and role in Advancing the Energy Transition.

"Our 2023 Sustainability Report illustrates our role as an innovative partner in delivering projects that will accelerate the energy transition in support of a net-zero future, and our commitment to sustainability in delivering infrastructure that aligns with our purpose – building what matters to enable future generations to thrive," said Jean-Louis Servranckx, President & Chief Executive Officer, Aecon Group Inc. "We are proud to build and operate infrastructure that meets today's needs while addressing tomorrow's complex challenges."

Highlights of the report include accomplishments in the following key areas of focus:

What we Build: Aecon is working with its clients to advance the energy transition and lay the foundations for thriving and sustainable communities through vital power generation, high-voltage transmission, energy storage, water management and sustainable transportation projects.

In 2023, 64% of Aecon's revenue in the year and 75% of backlog at year-end was tied to sustainability projects. As Aecon continued its work in established markets delivering some of the largest projects in North America, it expanded its growth in the U.S. and select international markets with a strategic focus on the energy transition. Supporting this growth, Oaktree Capital Management LP made a convertible preferred equity investment in Aecon Utilities.

Aecon added to its roster of energy transition projects including refurbishing additional units at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, delivering North America's first grid-scale Small Modular Reactor at the Darlington nuclear site, and the Oneida Energy Storage project in Ontario. Aecon was also awarded a contract for the replacement of condensers and feedwater heaters at the North Anna Power Station in Virginia.

How we Build: Aecon is committed to creating positive environmental and social impacts and is working with researchers, innovators, suppliers, clients, and local and Indigenous communities to drive progress in sustainable construction.

• Environment: Aecon has achieved a 20% cumulative reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions since 2020, supporting its focus on achieving a 30% direct CO2 emissions reduction on an intensity basis (scopes 1 and 2) by 2030 as compared to 2020 and net-zero (scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 2050. Aecon became an Envision-qualified company and enhanced its sustainability training to offer an Envision certification program to employees. Aecon has also approved near and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The SBTi has verified Aecon's net-zero science-based target by 2050.

• Social: Building on Aecon's inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan, Aecon achieved Silver Certification in Progressive Aboriginal Relations from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. Aecon was pleased to establish three key Indigenous-led joint ventures and procured $253 million of goods and services from the Indigenous economy. Aecon also expanded its Aecon Women in Trades program to include a nuclear cohort and continued implementing new initiatives around its Safety Always culture, recording a Total Recordable Injury Frequency of 0.89.

• Governance: Aecon published its first formal report summarizing the steps it has taken to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour and child labour, in alignment with its core values and pursuant to the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act. Aecon also implemented sustainability and climate change risks into its Enterprise Risk Management framework and aligned its reporting with industry best practices including the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 and S2.