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Esri Canada and Ville de Montréal win OCTAS award for Vision Zero innovation

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Project TITANS uses a GIS-based digital twin and virtual reality for safer, smarter urban mobility planning

Key points:

  • Esri Canada and Ville de Montréal won the OCTAS Jury’s Choice Award for Project TITANS, recognizing innovation and impact in Québec’s digital technology sector.

  • Developed through Esri Canada’s Transportation - GeoXchange® (TGX), Project TITANS combines a GIS-based digital twin, multimodal data, traffic modelling and virtual reality to help cities test mobility scenarios before implementation.

  • Project TITANS supports Montréal’s Vision Zero goals by strengthening evidence-based planning, stakeholder engagement and safer transportation decision-making.

     

MONTRÉAL—September 2, 2026—Esri Canada and Ville de Montréal have been recognized with the Réseau Action TI OCTAS Jury’s Choice Award  for Project TITANS, a next-generation transportation modelling and simulation solution designed to help cities plan safer, more efficient and more sustainable transportation networks. The OCTAS awards, which recognize excellence in information technology and digital innovation in Québec, selected Project TITANS for demonstrating how integrating multimodal data into a digital twin using geographic information systems (GIS) and combining it with modelling, simulation and immersive virtual reality can help address real-world urban mobility challenges.

“The Jury’s Choice Award recognizes a project that stands out for both its innovation and its impact. Project TITANS captured the jury’s attention because it was able to apply technology to a real-world urban mobility challenge, while also demonstrating the power of collaboration between the public sector and a technology partner. It is this combination of vision, innovation and impact that made it our favourite,” said Éric Marcoux, chair of the OCTAS Jury.

“This award is a reminder that cities can’t innovate alone. Our administration is committed to continuing to partner with the private sector to turn innovation into practical solutions that deliver safer, smarter mobility through better traffic management, improved construction coordination and more informed decision-making,” said Ville de Montréal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada.

Project TITANS was developed in collaboration with Ville de Montréal as part of Esri Canada’s Transportation - GeoXchange® (TGX), a distributed data exchange framework that allows organizations to maintain control of their data while enabling seamless, standardized exchange with authorized partners. Using Esri’s ArcGIS technology, Project TITANS combines data from city operations, infrastructure and connected technologies, advanced traffic modelling, predictive simulation and immersive virtual reality to help planners, engineers and decision-makers visualize complex mobility scenarios before designs are actually built. Traffic modelling and simulation capabilities are delivered through the Scenexus Predictive Digital Twin Platform, and the virtual reality experience was developed using the Unity game engine. Microsoft tools including Microsoft Copilot and Github were used to accelerate the development and delivery of this innovative solution.

Project TITANS is a prototype inspired by Ville de Montréal and co-developed through close collaboration among the municipalities of Montréal, Toronto and the Halifax Regional Municipality.

“Project TITANS is pushing the boundaries of innovation in urban planning through an immersive digital twin of road networks. It represents the next generation of decision-support tools, where innovation, location intelligence and immersive visualization come together to help planners design more efficient, sustainable and resilient road networks that are better adapted to the challenges of modern cities,” noted Jonathan Hamel-Nunes, head of the Innovation and Travel Management Division, Ville de Montréal.

The solution supports Montréal’s Vision Zero objectives by enabling teams to test and assess the potential impacts of street design, policy and infrastructure decisions on different road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, motorists and people using mobility devices. It also helps communicate the City’s plans and engage stakeholders through dynamic, interactive presentations. By making transportation trade-offs visible and experiential, Project TITANS helps strengthen evidence-based planning, stakeholder alignment and public understanding.

“Project TITANS reflects how Canadian municipalities can collaborate with one another and with technology partners as part of Esri Canada’s Transportation GeoExchange framework to explore new approaches to mobility planning,” said Daniel Kligerman, director, Intelligent Transportation Solutions, Esri Canada. “By bringing together GIS, digital twins and immersive VR simulation, cities gain powerful tools to test options, understand impacts and build confidence in decisions before they’re implemented in the real world. This is crucial for informing safer mobility planning across Canada.”

Esri Canada is a founding member of the Smart Mobility Center, an independent, not-for-profit organization that advances intelligent, connected and sustainable transportation solutions through collaboration among public agencies, industry, academia and technology providers. As organizations worldwide look to adopt GIS-based digital twin capabilities for smart mobility, the Transportation GeoExchange will be showcased at the following international events:

Watch this video on Project Titans

Learn more about Esri Canada’s Transportation - GeoXchange® at esri.ca/tgx 

About Ville de Montréal
Montréal is Québec’s largest city. This urban centre, which is located on an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence Valley, is composed of 19 boroughs. The city offers services across the island of Montréal. Its organizational structure includes political bodies, associate organizations, municipal departments and boroughs. Services to residents are provided by both the city and its boroughs.

About Esri Canada
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower people in business, government, and education to make informed and timely decisions by leveraging the power of mapping and spatial analytics. These solutions enable organizations to better manage their resources, plan their future and collaborate within and beyond their organization. Esri Canada’s products and services help advance successful digital transformation. The company serves more than 14,000 organizations from 14 offices across Canada and is based in Toronto. Esri Canada has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 14 consecutive years. More information can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on X(Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Esri Canada
press@esri.ca

Four men stand side by side holding an OCTAS award plaque and certificate in front of a black backdrop with repeated OCTAS logos.

The Project TITANS team with their OCTAS award. From left: Mohamed Gallaa, Section Head, Connected Mobility and Intelligent Transportation Systems, Ville de Montréal; Frank Leung, Business Development Manager, ITS, Esri Canada; Jonathan Hamel-Nunes, Head of Innovation and Travel Management, Ville de Montréal; and Guillaume Pelud, Region Director, Québec, Esri Canada