Asset Maintenance and Public Investment: From the PQI to Project Delivery An OAQ Training Course (in French)

To register, please visit the following link: Asset Maintenance and Public Investment: From the PQI to Project Delivery – Ordre des architectes du Québec (in French)

To claim your PDUs, please email us at kzid@pmimontreal.org after attending the session.

This training offers architects, professionals, and key stakeholders a practical look at the decision-making mechanisms of public project owners. It contextualizes the reality shaping every project: asset condition, asset maintenance deficit, government obligations, annual investment capacity, long-term planning, portfolio prioritization, and accountability.

Through a practical case study inspired by real-world practices, participants will gain an understanding of the role played by the Plan québécois des infrastructures (Quebec Infrastructure Plan), the Plan annuel de gestion des investissements publics en infrastructures (Annual Public Infrastructure Investment Management Plan), and internal investment planning. The goal is not to turn participants into government reporting specialists, but to help them better grasp the constraints that influence public clients' decisions and, above all, the reasons why certain priorities may shift over the course of the year.

The discussion will then focus on a central challenge: how to maximize the value of every dollar invested. Reducing the asset maintenance deficit, achieving organizational goals, aligning with future major projects, managing delivery risks, and assessing actual disbursement capacity must all be considered simultaneously to build a credible and sustainable plan.

Finally, moving from the portfolio level to the project level will bridge this strategic vision with the day-to-day reality of design and delivery teams—covering authorization, initiation, planning, monthly tracking, disbursement forecasting, and variance management. Open-ended questions, real-life scenarios, and a disbursement variance analysis will invite participants to step into the public project owner’s shoes.

The ultimate objective is to foster a better understanding of the rationale behind every decision made by a public project owner in order to enhance collaboration, anticipate expectations, and contribute more effectively to value creation, beyond the scope of the project currently underway.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this training session, participants will be able to:

• Position a project within the public planning, authorization, and reporting cycle.

• Understand the role of asset maintenance and the asset maintenance deficit in decision-making.

• Recognize portfolio constraints: prioritization, annual thresholds, and disbursement capacity.

• Adapt their professional approach to better support value, predictability, and collaboration.

Christian Zarka
Architect, PfMP, PMP

Christian Zarka is an architect, a member of the Ordre des architectes du Québec, and holds a Master’s degree in Architecture. He is currently an Executive MBA candidate. He also holds the PfMP, PgMP, and PMP certifications from the Project Management Institute and acts as an arbitrator, mediator, and RBQ qualifying officer.

With over 20 years of experience, Christian has worked on both sides of the professional relationship—transitioning from architectural design to project management, and ultimately to managing public asset and investment portfolios. This background allows him to offer a practical perspective on the reality faced by public project owners as they reconcile technical needs, financial constraints, governance, and organizational priorities.

Currently the Director of Real Estate Management at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, Christian is responsible for assets, capital projects, and asset maintenance, as well as investment planning, prioritization, and reporting to decision-making bodies. He operates in an environment where every dollar invested must contribute to the sustainability of the infrastructure while supporting the organization's strategic objectives.

Christian is also an instructor at PMI-Montréal, a leading organization that has contributed to training and empowering the next generation of project managers for 30 years. As an instructor and speaker, he emphasizes an accessible, practice-oriented approach that helps professionals better understand the decisions, constraints, and expectations shaping public projects.

Virtual participation and PDU allocation
To ensure fair management of PDU allocation, virtual participants must be logged in no later than 10 minutes after the start of the event. After this time, access will no longer be authorized and no PDUs will be awarded.

Events

No refunds 5 open days or less prior to the event.

Substitution
Substitution of a participant is not permitted except for group registrations.

Cancellation
PMI-Montreal reserves the right to cancel a training program in the event of insufficient registrations. In this case, the full registration fee will be refunded.