News

New student residence boosts Windsor construction A new, five-storey student residence at St. Clair College in Windsor is the big news in the city’s January 2020 building department major construction report. A comparison between January 2019 and January 2020 shows that residential construction permits have doubled, year to year, but the value of industrial permits dropped from $2,684,000 to $536,430, and commercial permits are slightly down, from $2,510,701 to $1,911,595.

Ottawa construction tops $3 billion in 2019 The city of Ottawa has experienced a consistent increase in construction value through the first two decades of this millennium. But 2019 saw the city exceed the $3 billion mark for the first time in its history.Building permits worth $3,067.4 million were issued last year – an increase of 3.28% over 2018’s total of $2,969.8 million. That had been the highest level to date.

Construction costs on the rise Statistics Canada reported on February 6 that the prices for both residential and non-residential construction rose in the fourth quarter of 2019. Costs for residential building construction increased 0.5 percent, and costs for non-residential building construction rose 0.4 percent.

OCA to hold construction symposium The Ottawa Construction Association (OCA) will hold its second-annual Construction Symposium and Trade Show at Ottawa’s EY Centre on February 26 and 27.

Trade contractors meet with government Representatives of the National Trade Contractors Council of Canada (NTCCC) met with government officials last month to discuss three important issues: prompt payment, reprisal clauses and workforce development.

Hotel construction hits record high in 2019 Lodging Econometrics, an organization that studies and reports on real-estate trends in the hospitality sector, reported recently that hotel construction in Canada reached an all-time high in 2019.

Plans to widen Highway 17 in Kenora moving forward Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Indigenous Affairs Greg Rickford announced on February 5 that the province had signed a memorandum of understanding with First Nations groups as a step toward widening and twinning Highway 17 between Kenora and the Manitoba border.

Province invests in trades training in North Bay The Ontario government announce an investment of $600,000 in programming at North Bay’s Canadore College on February 3.

Niagara Health targets WELL standard for new facility Niagara Health hasn’t yet put a shovel into the ground on its South Niagara Project, but the organization declared on February 4 that it intends for the building to become the country’s first healthcare facility to meet the WELL certification standard.

Province invests nearly $10 million in training at Conestoga Skilled trades training at Conestoga College got a big shot in the arm on January 31.