Dassault Systèmes and the Université de Moncton, Canada’s largest French-language university outside Québec, today announced the launch of a new project aimed to solve housing, urban densification and ecological conservation challenges in the southeastern region of New Brunswick, Canada. The partnership was signed at VivaTech 2025 in Paris.
The six-month project will develop collaborative virtual environments to model, analyze and plan sustainable urban development in the cities of Dieppe and Moncton - two of Canada’s fastest growing metropolitan areas in the last 20 years - all while establishing a protected wildlife corridor in the southeastern part of New Brunswick.
In addition to the Université de Moncton and Dassault Systèmes, the project brings together several Canadian partners: the cities of Dieppe and Moncton, the Southeast Regional Service Commission, Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, and the New Brunswick-based businesses Black Arcs and Remsoft.
Dassault Systèmes will use its 3DEXPERIENCE platform to create, maintain and analyze a virtual twin of a zone in New Brunswick measuring approximately 386 miles² (1,000 km²). This virtual twin is enriched with territorial data on buildings, zoning, mobility, biodiversity and more, provided by the partners.
Stakeholders will use this virtual twin to share information, test and evaluate different planning scenarios, evaluate the impacts of urban densification, and make informed decisions to optimize housing planning and preserve ecological corridors that are essential to the region’s environmental wellbeing.
“Our partnership will enable the Université de Moncton to benefit from a large-scale territory virtual twin that is delivered quickly through a managed solution that reduces costs and risks. Local stakeholders will be able to simulate what-if scenarios, evaluate options and take informed decisions – all on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform – to solve complex real-life challenges and optimize quality of life in the region of New Brunswick,” said Josephine Ong, Vice President, Cities and Public Services Industry, Dassault Systèmes.
“This partnership with Dassault Systèmes positions the Université de Moncton at the forefront of digital innovation applied to urban and environmental issues. We are proud to put our expertise at the service of a project with strong regional and international impact,” said Francis LeBlanc, associate vice-rector for research and dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, Université de Moncton.
This collaboration was made possible thanks to the support of Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB), which played a key role in fostering the connection between Dassault Systèmes and the Université de Moncton.
“New Brunswick is truly a hub of innovation and collaboration. This partnership demonstrates the strength of the connections between research, industry, and regional development. Together, we are creating solutions that have a real local impact and significant global potential,” said Luke Randall, minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick.
This project represents an important step forward for urban development in New Brunswick. By combining Dassault Systèmes' technology with local expertise, it will help plan city growth more effectively while protecting the environment. The approach could also serve as a model for other regions in Canada and beyond.
