Ha ving re-invested over $20 billion into Canada’s 43,000-kilometre rail network in the past decade, railways are moving $350 billion of goods each year (half of Canada’s exports!). They’ve invested in safety, supply chain capacity, and technologies like hydrogen and battery-powered locomotives. There are also high-capacity hopper cars, intermodal terminals, loop tracks that speed up grain loading elevators, and much more.
Clearly integral to Canada’s economy, railways have stayed reliable through the COVID-19 pandemic, forest fires and other climate events, and geopolitical developments. Plus, it’s the
greenest mode of ground transportation. “Modal shift to rail means progress towards Canada’s emissions targets,” says Railway Association of Canada (RAC) President and CEO Marc Brazeau. “Rail makes up only four per cent of all emissions in the transportation sector. That’s a staggering number. If 10 per cent of freight shifted from trucks to trains, that would equate to lowering emissions by the same amount as taking one million cars off the road every year.”
Railways: Resilient and Innovative Railways invest roughly 20-25 cents of every dollar they earn back into their networks to improve safety, resilience, tech-
nology, infrastructure, capacity, and more. They are helping bolster climate-resistant infrastructure including through adding railbed culverts and protecting intermodal and coastal facilities. “Capacity-enhancing investments move supply chains, not more regulation,” Brazeau
explains. Brazeau noted that extended interswitching adds to transit times and sends business to the USA. He cautioned that banning the use of qualified replacement workers could lead to more frequent delays and disruptions.
Practical supply chain solutions include capital cost allowance, boosting infrastructure programs like the Rail Safety Improvement Program and National Supply Chain Corridor Fund, and adding short-line support programs or tax credits.
“We need to look at facts, not anecdotes,” Brazeau adds. “Canadian railways are critical infrastructure and they are pulling for Canada.”
Pomerleau Is Building Environmentally Conscious Communities
Canadian construction industry leader Pomerleau is working in a committed, collaborative, and sustainable way to build the living environments of tomorrow.
What do the circular economy and the Passive House Building Certification have in common? Well, for one, both concepts are heavily ingrained in environmental practices, especially on construction sites.
But what’s more, both the circular economy and the Passive House Building Certification lead the transition to the creation of thriving, environmentally responsible communities.
Pomerleau, one of Canada’s largest construction companies, is on a mission to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices into its work. In June, the company released its first integrated report.
The report is a combination of the company’s Activity report and its ESG report. Last year, the general contractor outlined its ESG commitments through its platform Perspective.
Pomerleau is now demonstrating how its objectives are being achieved.
Several of Pomerleau’s projects are actively contributing to the realization of sustainably conscious communities, including two up-and-coming residences in two of Canada’s major cities.
The Student Residence at U of T Scarborough
The University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus just got a bit greener. Pomerleau managed the design and construction of Harmony Commons — one of the most energy-efficient student residence buildings in Canada, which provides an environment tailored to the needs of 746 students.
The Passive House standard is considered one of the most rigorous voluntary energy-based standards in the industry today. Buildings that comply use significantly less heating and cooling energy than
their conventional counterparts. The Harmony Commons residence features many low-energy design elements, including high-efficiency insulation and windows, as well as building systems that dramatically reduce energy consumption by 40 to 60 per cent compared to conventional buildings.
In close collaboration with the University of Toronto Scarborough, Pomerleau developed value-engineering solutions to remedy obstacles on-site and improve working methods. Innovative technologies were used to reach goals and track progress, including the use of building information modelling collaboration tools to optimize coordination, avoid rework during construction, and reduce waste.
A conscious and balanced space
Harmony Commons will provide a community-oriented living environment for first-year students that balances academic, social, and sustainable living habits. With its nine floors and 746 rooms, the residence will be at the centre of a vibrant campus life.
“There are so many interesting elements to this building. The mechanical system is designed to recuperate heat and energy. We have a pit in the basement that captures all the hot water from the showers and uses it as a heat source, and the heat from the commercial kitchen in the cafeteria is also captured and reused. The construction of the building envelope had to be so perfect and detail-oriented that an on-site mock-up was built to ensure the process was clear to all parties prior to final installation,” says project director Michael Faustini.
Introducing the Haleco project
Circular economy concepts have heavily influenced Pomerleau’s Haleco project, which is situated in the heart of Old Montreal. The Haleco is not your regular residential building. When completed, the tower will have a public market, an urban farm, an orchard, a lab for making and repairing goods, and spaces for citizen initiatives. With 22 storeys, 327 rental units, 40 community housing units, offices, and commercial spaces, the building is set to revolutionize city living.
As the general contractor on the project, Pomerleau, alongside its partners COGIR Real Estate and Ivanhoé Cambridge, is playing a role in the design and construction of Haleco. To follow the principles of the circular economy and promote environmental integrity on-site, Pomerleau worked with two partners to give materials a new life. Following the deconstruction of buildings on the site, several components, including faucets, hardware, and doors, were given to Architecture sans frontières Quebec, an organization that helps communities
The construction of the building envelope had to be so perfect and detailoriented that an on-site mock-up was built to ensure the process was clear to all parties prior to final installation.
around the world affected by natural disasters and social inequalities, and Habitat for Humanity Quebec, an organization that helps families in Quebec with modest incomes who live in precarious housing conditions. Pomerleau also collaborated with arborists and the Centre de valorisation du bois urbain, a social economy enterprise, to ensure the transformation of trees that had been cut into hardwood flooring.
Leading the change
To elevate the level of expertise across all its sites, Pomerleau hired an employee who specializes in the circular economy and who’s developing and implementing initiatives that brings the company closer to its ESG goals. Working closely with Pomerleau’s internal teams and suppliers, the expert develops opportunities to divert materials through the reduction, reuse, recycling, and recovery of residual materials.
The construction industry has a large role to play in the transition toward a netzero world, and things are changing for the better. The investment in sustainable projects and certifications is leading the change, and Pomerleau is at the forefront of the creation of more responsible cities.
Michael Faustini Project Director, Pomerleau
How ApprenticeSearch.com is Helping Remove Barriers to the Skilled Trades
One
For almost 25 years, ApprenticeSearch.com has established itself as a leader in supporting apprentices and employers with programs and services that increase participation in the apprenticeship pathway. The site is visited by millions of people each year, generating thousands of confirmed job matches and repeat hirings from the over 5,000 skilled trades employers in its database.
“We’re not just a job board,” says Kathryn Gibbons, Program Manager with ApprenticeSearch.com. “We offer several programs and have a team of job coaches and employment specialists who work with apprentices and individuals considering a career in the trades. We also collaborate with employers to meet industry demands. We are not a peopleless system. This is what differentiates us.”
Michelle Murray, Director of Operations, ApprenticeSearch.com, offers more insight into the work being done to meet the demand for skilled trades professionals in Canada.
How does navigating the apprenticeship pathway help ensure more workers in the trades?
We do a lot of work to promote the trades, and we're starting to see a shift where people are seeing the trades as a first career choice. But there can be barriers that prevent people from pursuing an apprenticeship. The pathway to enter the trades is fragmented within each trade and also between sectors. There are different apprentice pathways and prerequisites. We help people who wouldn’t have this insight to navigate the system so they can become
apprentices and certified tradespeople.
How do you bridge the gap between interest and industry demand?
We have a rich set of data that allows us to match interest with the demands of industry. Some people think of becoming a plumber, for example, but they don’t know that becoming a sprinkler fitter might be in more demand. Or sometimes people have their minds set on a particular trade, but when we work with them, they find out their skills are better suited for a different trade. We also host education sessions with industry representatives so prospective apprentices can network, ask questions, and get to know the sector better.
How do we ensure equity-deserving groups, including women, have opportunities in the trades?
been represented in the trades, we still have more work to do. It can be isolating when you don’t see your gender or race represented in the workplace. We’ve developed a peer mentorship group for women in the trades. We can facilitate access to mental health supports, protective equipment and tools. Additionally, we support our employers to foster more inclusive workplaces. This can include advocating for flexible schedules for childcare, washrooms for women, and work gear that is designed and fitted for women.
We’re not just a job board. We offer several programs and have a team of job coaches and employment specialists who work with apprentices and individuals considering a career in the trades.
We have a long history of working within the community to empower workers and job seekers who face higher barriers to meaningful employment, including women, racialized individuals, persons with disabilities or mental health challenges, and members of at-risk communities.
Half of our users are from equity-deserving groups. And while we’ve seen an increase in women and others who haven’t typically
How is a collaborative approach helping with apprentice recruitment?
We work with employers of all sizes to support them in connecting with qualified candidates, but small- and mediumsized businesses can really benefit from our services because they typically don’t have human resources departments. One program that has proven successful is the Canadian Apprenticeship Service, which is being delivered through a unique partnership of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board of Ontario, the Canadian Construction Association, BuildForce Canada, SkillPlan, and ApprenticeSearch.com, with funding from the Government of Canada's Apprenticeship Service Program. Small- and medium-sized businesses can receive financial incentives for hiring Level 1 apprentices, including $10,000 per apprentice per year, if the apprentice identifies as being from an under-represented group.
What is the future of the trades in Canada?
The future is bright; there are a lot of promising things happening. We’ve been around long enough to see the positive impact of our work, as we now have former apprentices posting on our site as employers. We want people to treat the trades with the same level of respect as other post-secondary programs. We need skilled trades to make the
work.
Canadian organization is connecting employers and apprentices across the country to address challenges in accessing skilled trades talent.
Ken Donohue
How Abundant Thinking Can Be Good for the Construction Industry
Abundant
thinking is a mindset that many people apply in their personal lives. Can it have a role in the construction industry?
Anne Papmehl
Bringing an abundant mindset to business is an approach that prioritizes creating value for all stakeholders.
It’s a belief that there are ample or abundant opportunities for success and growth, and that mutually beneficial outcomes can be achieved through collaboration and cooperation. In contrast to the transactional model of creating profits for shareholders, which has underpinned business strategy for the past 100 years, abundant thinking looks at how to make business relationships transformative.
Bringing abundant thinking to life in the construction industry
Chandos Construction is a 100 per cent employee-owned Canadian company working to bring abundant thinking to the construction industry. Chandos believes that prioritizing purpose-driven impact and building an abundant future are key to positively influencing society and building long-term financial sustainability.
“Companies that embrace abundant thinking tend to be better at talent retention and acquisition, customer loyalty, and risk management,” says Tim Coldwell, President of Chandos. It’s also a strategic way to respond to the trends or “signals” that are redefining the business landscape, such as climate change, artificial intelligence, diversity, conscious consumers, activist employees, and impact investing. “The idea of strategic foresight and abundant thinking enhances your organization’s ability to respond to these signals and plan for the future,” says Coldwell.
Thinking through the future
At a broad level, Chandos is working to transform the construction industry to be more sustainable and inclusive, inspired by
the possibility of an abundant future. The construction industry lags in the areas of vision, purpose, and transformation, but through knowledge-sharing and an array of outside perspectives and partnerships with future-oriented industry leaders, Chandos hopes to change that. Chandos recently partnered with the Ontario College of Art and Design University’s executive design studio (OCAD U CO) to explore design thinking needed to drive innovation and change. In their early work together, Chandos and OCAD U CO hosted the Futures Lab AEC Foresight Workshop. The Futures Lab brought together a cross section of 40 architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry stakeholders from across North America to have conversations about signals of the future and how they affect everything from society at large all the way down to specifics in the AEC space.
Helping to harness an abundant mindset in construction
prising discoveries included the impact of the metaverse on training and employee retention and the challenges that a growing social polarization will present when tackling important social and environmental issues.
Building on this work, on June 15, 2023, Chandos gathered 50 Canadian leaders from 30 firms to a first-ever Abundance Summit exploring how to transition businesses from transactional to transformational. Since cross industry collaboration and partnerships are key to driving change, the summit was an opportunity for Chandos to bring together potential partners and clients and to build a community of people within the construction industry.
We wholeheartedly believe in the collective power of abundant thinking, and we can attain this only when we seek out new possibilities to collaborate and create new approaches and business models together.
A report from the workshop captures the outcomes of these conversations, along with recommendations and relevant signals for the future of the industry. Some outcomes were expected: participants viewed climate change as one of the challenge signals that will have the strongest impact on the AEC industry over the next 10 years. Sur-
“We wholeheartedly believe in the collective power of abundant thinking, and we can attain this only when we seek out new possibilities to collaborate and create new approaches and business models together,” says Coldwell.
Along with co-hosts from Conspiracy of Love, a world-leading purpose consultancy, Chandos challenged participants to harness an abundant mindset and build new collaborative approaches that could benefit all stakeholders and identify areas where the construction businesses can make a strong impact. Leading thinkers from outside the industry shared their experiences and advice on how to unlock the power of abundance within their organizations.
Summit participants received a copy of Chandos’ newly launched FUTURE/READY strategic foresight toolkit, developed in partnership with OCAD University, to help them explore the future and its possible impact on their industry, enterprise, and the community and to continue the conversation.
Navigate the future with a free strategic foresight toolkit
In keeping with its commitment to collaboration, cooperation, and sharing within the industry, Chandos is now making this FUTURE/READY strategic foresight toolkit available free of charge to anyone interested. The toolkit contains a set of signals and prompt cards to help your team navigate an uncertain future. In addition to the toolkit itself, you can access templates to help support and structure your conversations.
Tim Coldwell President, Chandos Construction
Collaborative Construction Is Key to Better Canadian Infrastructure
To build big, be more competitive, and spend public infrastructure dollars more wisely, Canada needs to adopt a collaborative labour model.
Paul de Jong, President & CEO, Progressive Contractors Association of Canada
de Jong President & CEO, Progressive Contractors Association of Canada
Project delays, rising costs, and regulatory red tape add up. It means that increasingly, Canadians are paying more for less infrastructure, which sends the wrong signal to international investors. This is not how it should be — not when there are more efficient and innovative ways to build the highways, hospitals, and environmental infrastructure that we need.
One major factor in infrastructure construction is labour, which accounts for 30 to 40 per cent of public project costs. As governments look for ways to maximize value for taxpayers, they’re turning to builders who make the most of an innovative labour model — a model used by member companies of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada (PCA).
Delivering public value
The PCA is a national construction association whose members are building major capital and infrastructure projects using a labour model that’s revolutionizing construction. Our model does what many traditional labour models do not: it provides good value on public construction work through more productive and collaborative construction.
Our medium and large, award-winning contractors have built 40 per cent of all energy and natural resource projects in British Columbia and Alberta. In Ontario, our members are leaders in building water and wastewater facilities, as well as schools and long-term care facilities. These public projects built through the PCA’s collaborative labour model have been recognized by governments for setting high standards in construction.
A labour approach built on collaboration
Our members employ more than 40,000
skilled tradespeople who are organized under a collaborative labour model with the rapidly growing, independent CLAC union. It’s a labour approach that academic research and market-proven experience have shown yields better on time, on budget, and on target results than stale, adversarial, or transactional approaches.
For starters, wall-to-wall certification where all trades are represented by one union allows for flexibility in designing work teams, scheduling shifts, and encouraging multi-skilling. This results in greater collaboration and productivity on the worksite, more time on tools per worker, and zero onsite jurisdictional disputes between rival unions. It’s a more efficient approach to building and the reason that the PCA’s membership has expanded to 140 companies, including some of Canada’s largest builders.
Our collaborative labour model also builds loyalty. Construction employers hire workers directly, not through a hiring hall. When companies build the teams they want, this appeals to a younger, more diverse workforce and leads to higher apprenticeship ratios. These strong working relationships go a long way in keeping workers safe, healthy, and happy at work.
governments prefer to keep building public infrastructure the old and costly way.
B.C., for example, devised labour rules that only allow select Building Trades Unions (BTU) members to build major public projects. Contractors cannot bid on projects unless they use workers assigned to them by BTU hiring halls, rather than teams they’ve often worked with for decades. As a result, many companies choose not to bid on projects, raising project costs even higher.
Take the Cowichan District Hospital, which is currently a whopping 63 per cent over the original budget. That’s more than half a billion dollars in public funding that could have been better spent.
Our model does what many traditional labour models do not: it provides good value on public construction work through more productive and collaborative construction.
Some governments fail to evolve
Despite all of the proven benefits of the PCA’s collaborative labour model, some
Missing out on construction savings A similar exclusive labour agreement was struck between certain BTUs and The Ottawa Hospital to build its new $2.8-billion civic campus.
The Montreal Economic Institute estimates that by excluding many non-BTU companies who prefer the more efficient and collaborative model to build, this anti-competitive labour deal will escalate project costs by anywhere from $168 million to $525 million by 2028.
Collaborative construction is the labour model that supports today’s fiscal reality. It’s the way to support and advance Canada’s infrastructure goals and to ensure that when public projects are built, Canadians get what they want and deserve: their money’s worth.
