Rising Stars 2024: Patrick Garneau

Patrick Garneau, 39
Associate VP, director of operations for freight, rail and transit in Eastern Canada
AECOM

Nominator’s quote: “Patrick’s broad engineering experience, strong construction skills, knowledge and understanding of the railroad make him one of AECOM’s most important young project managers in the Freight Rail market sector.” — John Falcetta, AECOM

Education: Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and applied mechanics, with a minor in construction and management, McGill University. Master’s degree in engineering project management, Ecole de Technologies Superieures.

Job responsibilities: Manages and oversees design and construction teams for all rail activities in eastern Canada, including disciplines such as track and infrastructure design, structures, construction administration and site supervision, signals and communications, facilities, stations and platforms, and terminals. Serves as a project engineer, as well as project manager, project director and regional client account manager for CN in Eastern Canada.

Career path: I started my early career working for the city of Montreal as a construction site supervisor. Because I was passionate about heavy construction as a young engineer, I then spent a few years working for Kiewit Corp. where I made my way through the cost, estimating, structures and other departments, where I spent most of my time as a field engineer.

Following Kiewit, I joined AECOM’s rail team out of Montreal as a project engineer and part of the rail construction administration group. A year later, I was promoted to assistant construction manager–rail, and earned the construction manager–rail title a couple years later. In 2018, I became AECOM’s regional rail director for Eastern Canada.

While holding these various positions, I completed hundreds of rail projects for Class Is in Canada as a project manager. In 2024, I became AVP and director of operations for the freight, rail and transit group in Eastern Canada.

How or why did you get into the rail industry? I’ve always been attracted by trains. I grew up as a kid with a CN track in our backyard, waving at trains while playing outside and getting up at night to count cars and watch maintenance crews replace ties in our area.

At one point in my career, a friend of mine had recently joined CN and spoke positively about his job as a railroader. I asked him if CN was hiring, but there were no openings at the time. He instead directed me toward AECOM, one of CN’s main rail-engineering consultants, where I landed shortly after.

What’s the best career advice that you’ve received? If you outperform and always deliver quality work, on budget and on time, you’ll build a strong reputation and put yourself in a highly valuable position.

What advice would you share with someone new to the rail industry? I would suggest to young railroaders to find mentors early in their career that can take them under their wing and help them grow to their full potential. Volunteer to attend track work blocks to learn more about how things are done in the field and build relationships with railroaders at all levels. The industry contacts you make early in your career will serve you well, and the extra experience you gain by being passionate about rail will help propel your career forward.

What was your first job? Construction site supervisor with the city of Montreal. I had to oversee construction work for transportation projects. I also worked as a land surveyor.

Share a fun fact about yourself. Coming out of high school, I was actually hoping to become an architect. When the time came for university admissions, I was told that I had to submit an arts portfolio along with my application -- which I obviously couldn’t provide. I then turned toward engineering as my plan B.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why? I would probably pick an astronaut, considering that a lot of them are very well-rounded people --highly educated and smart, athletes, dedicated workers -- all of this while being present for their family and spouses. I am sure this could turn into a highly motivational talk for the rest of my personal life and career. Astronaut Jim Lovell would be my first choice.

Who has had the most influence on your career? At one point in my career, a large portion of my direct reports were former senior Class I construction supervisors, mainly for track and structures. These people have taught me what’s not written in the textbooks: the work and methods of how to become a senior railroader. I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to decades of knowledge by working with these folks, which has helped me become the engineer and railroader I am today. I will always be thankful to all of them for this.

Describe a major obstacle in your career and how you surmounted it. Working on the construction side was a challenge in my personal life. I’ve very often had to miss family outings for unplanned work, be away from home for long work blocks, attend conference calls at night, leave home in the middle of the night for emergencies and such. One of the key success factors I found was to build a strong team of people who I can rely on, that clients and managers will trust, and that will be willing to share and split responsibilities even during the busiest times of the year. This has enabled me to maintain a strong work-life balance.

What is the biggest challenge facing the rail industry today? As younger generations enter the workforce and senior staff retire, we have faced a rapid shift over the last decade where railways are being managed and maintained by younger and less experienced staff. This is a risk factor and challenge that has opened the doors to planning and running operations differently.

Other challenges are the aging infrastructure, which requires large scale investments; the pressure to increase traffic (various major passenger rail projects); and the challenges associated with environmental sustainability.