News

Ending the CSP confusion By John DeVries, President of Ottawa Construction Association and Chair of Link2Build Ontario

James McVeety named 2020 ORBA President The Ontario Road Builders’ Association elected James McVeety, Director of Pre-Construction, P3 and Major Projects at Black and McDonald, as its President during its 93rd annual general meeting on February 3rd at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. McVeety is taking the over helm of the Association’s board from Steve Smith.

Small businesses developing innovative solutions for construction waste materials Three Canadian companies, including GreenMantra Technologies from Brantford, have each received $1 million federal grants to develop solutions to plastic waste pollution from construction and food packaging.

General Contractors press fight against litigation exclusionary clauses Ontario General Contractors Association President Clive Thurston has called OGCA members to take action to fight litigation exclusionary clauses. In the most recent OGCA newsletter, Thurston wrote, “In the last newsletter, we issued a call to action to all of our members and are pleased to report there's been significant response from you, but there is more that is needed.”

New sensor provides better leak protection in buildings A new, battery-free sensor can detect water leaks in buildings at a fraction of the cost of existing systems. The tiny device, developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo, uses nanotechnology to power itself and send an alert to smartphones when exposed to moisture.

RESCON calls for change to “antiquated process” to streamline building and planning development In RESCON’s 2020 Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, the organization states, “Currently, our process is antiquated, and we are not abreast of other jurisdictions doing things much more efficiently. Although recent changes by the government, especially around the passing of the More Homes, More Choice Act has put us on the right path, there is still room for improvement, particularly around municipal overreach and process streamlining.”

Canadian construction labour demand to intensify BuildForce Canada’s 2020–2029 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward national report forecasts intensifying labour demand commencing in 2020, propelled by major public transportation and infrastructure, utility, liquefied natural gas, pipeline, and health services projects. New-housing construction is expected to bounce back in most provinces, building on growing non-residential construction and maintenance demands fueled by ongoing investments in public and private infrastructure and incr

Kitchener Innovation District welcomes first Canadian Google for Startups Kitchener’s downtown continues to attract global brands, as Google has announced its plans for a new office in the Innovation District. Google will be the flagship tenant of the Breithaupt Block Phase 3 expansion. Once construction is complete, the offices will accommodate new Google employees and Canada’s first Google for Startups Accelerator.

New regulations will impact construction sector In early December 2019, the provincial government released a regulatory package that is bound have significant impacts on the construction sector and in particular the environmental side of land development.

Employment up nationally and in Ontario Employment in Canada increased by 35,000 (+0.2%) in January, according to Statistics Canada. The report states this was all in full-time work. The new jobs caused the unemployment rate to drop 0.1% nationally, to 5.5%.