Kear Porttris

Kear is Métis-Chinese, was born and raised in the Canadian Prairies, and strives to stay connected to his roots in all aspects of his life.

He completed his Masters Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Victoria in the Winter of 2020; his research focused on Aboriginal Housing and Community Energy Use in British Columbia. Kear also holds a Business Diploma from the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (now know as Saskatchewan Polytechnic), specializing in Human Resources. He is also a Certified Passive House Consultant.

Kear is currently the Director of Indigenous Relations for QM Environmental and is the owner of Porttris Consulting Group.

EIT. M.A.Sc. B.Eng. CPHD

My family and lineage is pretty unique. On one side, my father was the first person in his family to go to University. He survived the foster care system, not without his own trauma and challenges, but he was able to go through University and do what he needed to do to support our family. On the other side, my Chinese immigrant mother was a true tiger mom, who expected no less than 100% on my science and math tests. We were a middle-class family, so for me, University wasn’t a question of if, it was a question of when. That was the reality for me on both sides.

I’ve always had a really strong identity in who I am and always envisioned myself as something more. I’ve always made my own decisions, whether I was a teenager making bad decisions or as an adult making good decisions. This awareness has helped me overcome many challenging situations, that often stemmed from my poor decisions in my youth, and has allowed me to be where I am today.

When I entered University at 18 I wasn’t ready. I quit and went away for a couple years, where I worked and took some college courses. When I started on my pursuit of engineering, I was a mature student, and knew exactly what I was getting into. I set myself up to thrive in ways that someone without my varied educational and life experience may not have been able to do. It wasn’t easy, and I didn’t know everything, but I was ready.

What makes me successful as a professional and has gotten me to where I am today is networking. I think any professional can tell you, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. For me, the networking, mentorship and exposure to career possibilities was supremely important and helped bridge my education to my career.

Networking has become an integral part of my journey and job. UVic has mandatory co-op education. I learned early on that it takes 3-6 months to develop relationships to get a co-op job. My personal circumstances with family and community didn’t allow me the flexibility to openly apply for jobs outside of Victoria, where I lived, so developing local connections was a necessity. I grew up in Regina, SK; my dad was a teacher and my mom was a postal worker; we didn’t have any direct connections to the engineering industry; I was starting from scratch. Direct industry connections is what I really envision in this award: creating the connection between professionals and students will help kickstart their journeys as young professionals.