The move enhances IBI Group’s service offerings in the water, transportation, urban development and environmental sectors, and adds 180 employees to IBI Group’s staff.

Announced in update was a stimulus package worth up to $100 billion, spending of $1.5 billion for clean-water infrastructure in Indigenous communities, and $2.6 billion for residential energy retrofits.

The project, which was announced in July 2016, has sat idle almost since its announcement. Lakehead University wants to take advantage of federal and provincial stimulus funding to finally get the facility built.

October’s total of $8.2 billion is nearly 15 percent lower than September’s near-record performance, but more closely reflects normal monthly construction activity.

In Ontario, the  site plan approval process takes an average of 249 days, almost 100 days more than the average in other OECD countries, says the report.