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February 13, 2012

Losing bidder bridles at Pan Am Games park selection, Equine Canada “thrilled”

Claims that the Pan Am games organizing committee is ignoring potential venues and not operating transparently are unfounded, says the head of Equine Canada which is thrilled at the selection of Caledon for equestrian events in 2015.

February 13, 2012

Procurement needs to be fair, open and transparent

Procurement needs to be fair, open and transparent Procurement expert Stephen Bauld spoke at the recent 12th Annual Contractor/Consultant/Owner conference and workshop in Kelowna, British Columbia. The event called “Project Success Foundations – Fair, Open, and Transparent processes” was truly all of that and more.

February 13, 2012

Steel truss system helps reduce construction cost of Toronto apartment building

A staggered truss system was used on a non-profit housing building, owned by Toronto Christian Resource Centre, built by Buttcon Construction and designed by Hilditch Architect. The building allows the TCRC to greatly expand its community services in Toronto’s Regent Park community

February 10, 2012

Carpenters’ union official Ucal Powell named to Order of Ontario

The Province of Ontario appointed Ucal Powell, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Carpenters’ District Council to the Order of Ontario. Powell was recognized for building a world-class apprenticeship program and earning a reputation as a giving and compassionate organization, with the Order of Ontario.

February 8, 2012

British Columbia lines up Aboriginal learners with jobs

In British Columbia, the Aboriginal Training for Employment Program helps participants pursue further studies and employment opportunities such as construction workers, health-care assistants, chefs, entrepreneurs, tourism operators and in many other occupations.

February 7, 2012

New Ryerson University building in Toronto will showcase steel and glass

Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the soon-to-be-completed Ryerson Image Centre at Ryerson University in Toronto is intended to be centre of excellence for photography and related media. General contractor PCL Constructors used a combination of steel and glass to transform the former School of Image Arts.

February 7, 2012

Steel key for CF-5 fighter jet monument at Toronto defence facility

In 2009, Western Mechanical Electrical Millwright Services Ltd. of Barrie, Ontario was contracted to mount a Canadian Forces CF-5 Freedom Fighter, formerly in service with the Royal Canadian Air Force and made by Canadair, outside of the Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) building near former Canadian Forces Base Downsview in Toronto. Western was called in on the contract after a previous contractor had failed to successfully mount the aircraft.

February 6, 2012

Benson Steel faces transport challenge on Toronto Yorkdale Mall construction project

At Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Benson Steel faced a challenge: how to transport nearly 30 tonnes of steel girder over a 300-foot stretch atop the roof of one of Toronto’s busiest shopping malls. The general contractor is Carillion.

February 6, 2012

Carillion Canada progresses on Ontario Coroner’s building in Toronto

Work is ongoing for the Forensic Services and Coroner’s Complex at 1201 Wilson Avenue in Toronto. Project manager Carillion Canada began the six-storey, design/build project with basement and mezzanine in August 2010. The project was designed by Stantec Architecture Ltd. and McLaren, Wilson & Lawrie is lab architect

February 3, 2012

Burlington, Ontario announces preferred hospital redevelopment site

The City of Burlington, Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, McMaster University and the Regional Municipality of Halton announced that Brant hospital is the preferred site for the Halton McMaster Family Health Centre. The hospital will begin the redevelopment phase with request for proposals and tender on Phase 1 in 2012 and construction in 2013.

February 3, 2012

Steel hurdles for Aga Khan Museum build

Fabricating and erecting 740 tons or so of structural steel required for the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto posed a series of unusual hurdles. Benson Steel is the supplier and erector for the job. Aga Khan Museum specializes in artifacts from Muslim communities.

February 2, 2012

Windstream Energy ready to invest and build in Kingston, Ontario offshore wind power

Windstream Energy has announced preliminary agreements with Anchor Concrete Products Ltd., George A. Wright & Son Ltd. and M. Sullivan & Son Ltd. for its 300 MW Wolfe Island Shoals offshore wind power project in eastern Lake Ontario.

February 2, 2012

Aluma Systems director Ian Steer to chair Toronto Construction Association

Birmingham native Ian Steer, director and general manager of Aluma Systems Inc., is the new chair for the Toronto Construction Association for 2012. He succeeds lawyer Glenn Ackerley, a partner with WeirFoulds.

February 2, 2012

Lamb Developments works on Flat Iron Lofts in Toronto

59 Project Management Inc. began the 10-storey Flat Iron Lofts in June 2010. Designed by Core Architects Inc., the owner is Lamb Developments Corp.

February 2, 2012

National Building Trades support federal regulatory reform

The Canadian Building Trades, which is affiliated with unions representing construction and manufacturing workers, announced Jan. 26 it is “encouraged” by remarks made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper about regulatory approval for construction projects.

January 31, 2012

New Brunswick to review health and safety violation fines

New Brunswick’s health and safety authority, WorkSafeNB, is conducting a stakeholder consultation to see if a demerit system would help enforce employers’ compliance with regulations. Currently, WorkSafeNB enforces compliance through penalties under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.

January 31, 2012

Toronto to open recycling plant for construction, demolition materials

Toronto’s most technologically advanced recycling plant will process an estimated 87,000 tonnes of construction and demolition (C&D) material in its first full year.

January 31, 2012

Engineering professor takes a close look at mechanical contractor use of building information modeling

Awad Hanna, chair of construction engineering and management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is conducting a research project on the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the mechanical contracting industry in both Canada and the United States. His research is supported by the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC).

January 31, 2012

Former Stantec consultant to head environmental review for Kincardine, Ontario radioactive waste site

Environment Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission announced a joint panel will examine the environmental effects of an underground facility for radioactive waste storage and management that Ontario Power Generation wants to build near Kincardine, Ontario. The panel chair is Stella Swanson, owner of Calgary-based Swanson Environmental Strategies Ltd. and a former consultant for Stantec. The other members are Queen’s University mining engineering professor James F. Archibald and Gunter Muecke, a retired Dalhousie University geology professor who worked for Shell Canada as a field geologist in the early 1960s.

January 26, 2012

Questions swirl over Ontario offshore wind power generation projects

In February 2011, the province announced a moratorium on offshore wind projects but Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc., which holds a feed-in-tariff contract with Ontario Power Authority, says it signed a turbine supply agreement with Siemens Canada. Ontario Conservative energy critic Vic Fedeli is asking Chris Bentley, Ontario’s energy minister, for clarification.

January 25, 2012

How British Columbia Supreme Court decided when low bidders sued over construction contracts

In its decision in Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. the province of British Columbia involving a highway construction project on Vancouver Island, the B.C. Supreme Court held that preferences for factors other than price were acceptable as long as those preferences were disclosed in the tender call. But in its decision in W.I.B. Co. Construction versus Central Okanagan School District No. 23, the court found that the owner was entitled to bypass the low bidder due to concerns with that bidder’s proposed site supervisor.

January 24, 2012

Pond Biofuels to pilot cement absorption system

Pond Biofuels is piloting a new carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption system at St. Marys Cement.

January 24, 2012

Toronto council approves $1.1 billion in capital projects

Toronto City Council has approved a capital budget that was essentially unchanged from that recommended by the executive and budget committees recently.

January 24, 2012

Dominus continues construction of Pier 27 Condominiums in Toronto

Work is moving along for the Pier 27 Condominiums phase one and two in Toronto. Dominus Construction Group Ltd. is construction manager of the two towers, owned by Fernbrook/Cityzen Development Corp. and designed by architectsAlliance.

January 24, 2012

PCL works on Bridgepoint Hospital in Toronto

Exterior work is progressing on the Bridgepoint Health Campus of Care at the Bridgepoint Hospital in Toronto, formerly known as Riverdale Hospital. PCL Constructors Canada Inc. have completion of the 10-storey, design-build project with over 500 beds scheduled for March 2013. It was designed by HDR Architecture Associates Inc./Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc.

January 23, 2012

Deltera works on Ventus at Metrogate in Toronto

Glass work moves upwards at Tridel Corp.’s Ventus at Metrogate condominium towers in Toronto. General contractor for the two 30-storey towers, located near Kennedy Road and Highway 401 in the former City of Scarborough, is Deltera Inc.

January 20, 2012

Hamilton, Ontario bridge funded by gas tax

Construction was recently completed on a new bridge on Parkdale Avenue over Lawrence Road, thanks to the Gas Tax Fund, in Hamilton, Ontario.

January 20, 2012

Bolton, Ontario Sneath Road Bridge rehabilitation project required careful work

When compared to the numerous multi-million dollar construction projects currently underway in Ontario the $230,000-restoration of the historic Sneath Road Bridge in Bolton might be considered somewhat minor.

January 19, 2012

Darcon works on Liberty Development World on Yonge project in Thornhill, Ontario

Concrete work progresses at the World on Yonge residential and commercial development at Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue north of Toronto in Thornhill. The owner is Liberty Development Corp. and general contractor is Darcon Inc.

January 19, 2012

EllisDon works on exterior of Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in Toronto

Work is moving along on the exterior of the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in Toronto. EllisDon Corp. is general contractor of the 21-storey facility and the architects are Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc. and HDR Architecture.

January 17, 2012

Ontario government makes property tax changes for green energy

Property tax amendments in will help Ontario property owners who install renewable energy technologies, states the provincial government.

January 17, 2012

Toddglen continues work on The Palm Condos in Toronto

Toddglen Group of Companies has completion of the 23-storey, Palm Condos in Toronto scheduled for late 2012. The owner is Castle Group Ventures and the project was designed by HCA Architecture.

January 16, 2012

Cornwall, Ontario invites bids for wastewater plant construction

The City of Cornwall, Ontario is taking bids for a construction project at its wastewater treatment facility. Bids are due February 14 and an information session is scheduled Jan. 18.

January 13, 2012

TMG Builders works on King West condos in Toronto

Work is moving upwards at the King West condominium project in Toronto. Construction manager TMG Builders along with Plazacorp Properties Ltd. began the three- tower project, designed by Quadrangle Architects Ltd./Gabriel Bodor Architect Inc., in 2010.

January 13, 2012

Recycling aggregates focus of new advocacy group

Recycling aggregates removed from demolition sites and road construction projects are the immediate focus of a new Ontario organization.

January 13, 2012

Conservatory Group works on Infinity Condominiums in Toronto

Construction is ongoing for the Infinity Condominiums phase three in Toronto. Owner/developer of the two-tower project, designed by E.I. Richmond Architects Ltd., is The Conservatory Group

January 12, 2012

Tucker Hi-Rise Construction continues work on Clear Spirit condos in Toronto

Work continues to move upwards on the Clear Spirit Condominiums on Mill Street in the Distillery District of Toronto. Tucker Hi-Rise Construction Ltd. is construction manager of the 44-storey, 364-unit project and the owner is Cityscape Development Corp.

January 12, 2012

The voyage to building North America’s first concrete ship in Montreal in 1917

In his book Captains of Concrete, Ottawa author Sonny Moran takes readers through memorable moments of the Canadian Government Ship (CGS) Concretia’s experiences as a government marine and fisheries ship and then refit as a recreational vessel. Concretia was completed in 1917 in Montreal. It was built out of concrete, technically known as ferrocement, as a World War One experimental vessel due to a shortage of wood and steel in Canada.

January 12, 2012

Glass work continues on California condos in Toronto

A heavy hoist takes place at the California Condominium project in Toronto. Toddglen Construction is the general contractor for the 30-storey, 368-unit project. The owner is Camrost-Felcorp and the project was designed by OneSpace Unlimited Architects.