Pomerleau, one of Canada's largest construction companies, has given its office employees a virtual reality visit of a major construction site in the Greater Montréal area. The experience was developed with the business services unit of the Cégep de Thetford and aims to help staff who rarely or never visit a site understand the reality of large projects.
The project started in April 2025. The Cégep team accompanied Pomerleau through design, on-site filming, technology integration and deployment of the training.
How it works
The visit was built from footage captured on site in real conditions and is delivered through the Uptale platform. In the headset, employees explore the environment, learn site work practices and health and safety requirements, and see the roles of the different teams on site. Sessions are available to employees at the Montréal, Québec and Saint-Georges offices. The objective is to reduce the constraints of accessing construction sites and to reinforce health and safety practices.
Participation and feedback
According to the Cégep de Thetford's announcement, participant feedback was very positive:
- About 100 Pomerleau office employees took part.
- 85% of participating employees were satisfied.
- Nearly 9 in 10 said they would recommend the immersion to colleagues.
Participants highlighted the production quality, the chance to see a full-size site and the clearer picture of each role on large projects. These figures are participant feedback reported by the supplier, not an independent evaluation.
What comes next
Given the interest, Pomerleau is exploring a new experience to extend the project; this is under consideration rather than a deployment.
