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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 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 10, 2012

Town of Mount Royal, Quebec launches library expansion project

The Town of Mount Royal (TMR), Quebec officially launched construction of an expansion and renovation of the Reginald J. P. Dawson Library, about nine kilometers west of downtown Montreal.

February 9, 2012

Toronto Construction Association presents ‘Best of the Best’ awards

The Toronto Construction Association (TCA) has saluted outstanding achievements by both member companies and individuals in its 14th annual “Best of the Best” Awards. Two PCL Constructors projects, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind residence in Muskoka and a 38-storey high-rise in Toronto were winners.

February 8, 2012

PCL program aims to nurture the future

At a time when jobs for young people are scarce, one of Canada’s largest builders is focused on nurturing the present and future workforce for an evolving industry.

February 8, 2012

Worrall receives Hamilton-Halton Construction Association young leader award

Mohawk College graduate Ron Worrall, senior project manager at Hamilton’s Ira McDonald Construction Ltd., is the recipient of the Hamilton-Halton Construction Association’s (HHCA) inaugural young leader award.

February 7, 2012

Boulanger joins St. Romuald, Quebec steel constructor Supermétal

Structural steel construction company Supermetal has hired Sylvie Boulanger as vice-president, technical marketing. Boulanger has been Quebec Regional Manager of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) for the past 10 years.

February 3, 2012

ASHRAE, International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials plan to cooperate on codes, standards

ASHRAE and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) specifically detailing ways in which the two organizations can work together to advance and promote mutual interests in built environment codes and standards. A memorandum of understanding was signed during ASHRAE’s 2012 Winter Conference in Chicago.

February 3, 2012

Ontario Road Builders’ Association focused on partnerships at convention

The theme of this year’s convention, “Partners in Progress: Keeping Ontario Moving Together” is an important one, said Rob Bradford, ORBA executive director. The convention will break new ground this year with the involvement of Metrolinx, a government of Ontario agency, created to improve the coordination and integration of all modes of transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

February 2, 2012

Banff, Alberta gets $4.4 million from Green Municipal Fund for recreation centre expansion

The Town of Banff, Alberta used $4.4 million in funding from the Green Municipal Fund (GMF) loan and grant contributions towards a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver-certified expansion of its recreation centre.

February 2, 2012

Ottawa recognizes Westmount, Quebec for architecture, landscape

The City of Westmount, Quebec on the island of Montreal is recognized by Environment Minister Peter Kent and Parks Canada as a historically significant place due to the role of architecture in neighbourhood development before 1930. The Cataraqui cemetery in Kingston, Ontario was recognized as an example of a rural or garden cemetery.

February 2, 2012

Saint Laurent Quebec awards architectural design contracts

The Montreal borough council of Saint-Laurent voted last week in favour of three contracts totaling more than $143,000 to prepare plans and specifications for park development. Two contracts were awarded to Groupe Seguin Lacasse Inc. while another went to Beaupre and Associes experts-conseils.

February 2, 2012

Minto office tower in Ottawa scores top BOMA rating

A Minto Group Ottawa office tower became the first building in that city to receive BOMA’s highest level of recognition for excellence in environmental best practices within the commercial building industry.

February 1, 2012

Construction continues on Tridel mixed-use 49-storey tower in Toronto

Work is progressing for Three Hundred Front Street West on the mixed use building in Toronto, Ontario. Deltera Inc. has scheduled completion of the 49-storey, 676-unit project for the end of 2012.

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

Mark Van Bree takes over as Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association president

Don Sloat, outgoing president of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, passed the torch over to incoming president Mark Van Bree at the OSWCA annual general meeting and conference. The OSWCA worked with other organizations to re-introduce the One Call Act, which went through first and second reading at Queen’s Park. If passed, the Act would establish Ontario One Call Ltd. as a not-for-profit call centre, single point-of contact, for all underground utility location services in Ontario.

January 30, 2012

EllisDon works on Waterloo Consolidated Courthouse in Kitchener, Ontario

Glass has reached the top floor of the Waterloo Consolidated Courthouse in Kitchener, Ontario. EllisDon Corp. is construction manager of the design/build,facility that will have 30 courtrooms. The architect for the project is NORR Ltd. and the consultant is SNC-Lavalin.

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 26, 2012

United States construction firms expect fewer 2012 layoffs

Significantly fewer construction firms in the United States are planning to make layoffs in 2012 than at any point in the past few years, according to survey results released by the Associated General Contractors of America and Computer Guidance Corporation.

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 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 20, 2012

Federal gas tax supports solar energy projects in Wawa, Ontario

The Municipality of Wawa, Ontario has installed solar panels on five municipal buildings with partial funding from the federal Gas Tax Fund.

January 19, 2012

Windsor-Essex Parkway on track: Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Construction of the Windsor-Essex Parkway is on track, says the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The project is an 11-kilometre addition to Highway 401, connecting to the Windsor- Detroit border.

January 19, 2012

Designers work on $8.5-million net-zero building in Varennes, Quebec

The Jacques-Lemoyne-de-Sainte-Marie library in Varennes, Quebec will be demolished to make room for a cross-laminated wooden structure, vested with photovoltaic solar panels. The consortium Laroche-Gagne, Labbe Architecture & Associates and Vincent Leclerc & Associates is working on the plans.

January 19, 2012

Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association lauds Toronto 2012 water rate change

As Toronto politicians, labour leaders and pundits argue over the city’s tax-supported proposed budget the head of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA) is praising city council for approving a nine per cent increase in water rates.

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 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 18, 2012

Conestoga Solar owner Dave Walden gets Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Award of Merit

The Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association (OIRCA) has announced that the inaugural winner of the association’s Award of Merit is Dave Walden, the former owner of Conestoga Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd. of Cambridge, Ontario. He is currently the owner of Conestoga Solar Inc., also ased in Cambridge.

January 17, 2012

CVTech lands Hydro Quebec construction contracts

Le Groupe CVTech Inc. of Drummondville, Quebec announced Monday it has been awarded more than $38 million worth of contracts, including a $6.8-million electrical transmission line construction project with Hydro-Quebec. Its subsidiary Thirau ltee will build a transmission line connecting a wind farm to the Bolduc substation. Another subsidiary, Riggs Distler & Company, has been awarded a US$9.5-million contract for the installation of two rapid-start coal-fired boilers at Veolia Energy North America's Grays Ferry power plant in Philadelphia.

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

Toronto IIDEX trade show to have renewed focus

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) will be a co-presenter of this year’s IIDEX/NeoCon Canada conference and expo, which has traditionally been a contract furniture show but will start placing a greater emphasis on construction products, architecture and technology, the event organizer has announced.

January 17, 2012

RBC Centre largest LEED New Construction project

The 1.2 million-square-foot RBC Centre is now the largest certified LEED New Construction project in Canada.

January 16, 2012

Ottawa reaches naval ship construction deal with Irving

The federal government and the Irving shipyard in Halifax have reached an agreement in principle to build the Royal Canadian Navy’s next fleet of warships.

January 16, 2012

U.S. construction November 2011 spending hit $807 billion

Construction spending in the United States totaled $807 billion in November 2011, the highest level since June 2010, as homebuilding, private nonresidential construction and public construction all increased compared to October, the Associated General Contractors of America reported in an analysis of new Census Bureau data.

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

Alternative Financing and Procurement key for Ontario government construction

Infrastructure Ontario’s principle method for most project management has been Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP), which allows IO to transfer risk to the private sector and thus deliver value for money. Since its merger with the Ontario Realty Corporation, IO manages one of the largest real estate portfolios in the country and requires a strategic focus to manage it.