⚖️ No trespassing

Together with

Good morning! 😱 Yikes! Horror movie smash hit ‘Backrooms’ uses the unsettling architecture of liminal spaces (a.k.a. transitional spaces) to terrify audiences. The film’s Vancouver-raised production supervisor, Danny Vermette, built a labyrinthine 30,000-square-foot set across four sound stages to bring the setting to life.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 ½ minutes

MARKETS

Economy: Killam Apartment REIT, one of Canada’s largest landlords, has paused new multi-family housing developments for the near term, citing unfavorable market conditions, poor financial returns relative to project risks, and severe municipal water and wastewater infrastructure deficits.

TOGETHER WITH MARK’S WAREHOUSE

Even the safest roadside work zone depends on you

Since 2023, CRH Canada has recorded over 250 motor vehicle incidents inside their construction limits. 

The crews in those zones can do everything right — proper gear, excellent training, rigorous procedures — and still end up hurt.

We spoke to the experts to learn what it takes to keep roadside workers safe. And you have a role to play.

EVENTS

EllisDon CEO Kieran Hawe at SiteSummit

How is one of Canada's largest general contractors navigating the industry’s biggest challenges?

Hear it straight from the source at SiteSummit 2026. Our conversation with EllisDon President and CEO Kieran Hawe will have no fluff. Just straight talk on leadership, capacity, and what this industry has to become. 

It’s just one of many can’t-miss sessions for this year’s program on June 23–24 at the George Brown Waterfront Campus in Toronto.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

⚖️ Final word: The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal by the Wolastoqey Nation, effectively upholding a New Brunswick Court of Appeal decision that establishes Aboriginal land title cannot legally coexist with private property ownership. 

📍 Wayfinding: Internal documents show Alberta is evaluating three strategic pipeline routes through northern B.C. and exploring a fourth southern option. The proposed paths target northern ports located within the current federal tanker moratorium area and appear chosen to prioritize politically supportive communities.

👷🏻 Tempering: Rio Tinto has begun commissioning its newly expanded AP60 aluminum smelter at Complexe Arvida in Saguenay, Quebec—a major $2.07 billion primary aluminum project that utilizes state-of-the-art, low-carbon smelting technology. 

🏗️ Stacking investments: Vancouver-based Siwash Rock Investments has completed an agreement with Stack Modular for a “foundational investment” in the Stack Modular group of companies. The firm says the move continues its mandate to support the next generation of entrepreneurs with growth capital.

THE BIG STORY

Canada vs. U.S. housing: The 30% agility gap

New analysis published by CMHC reveals that Canada’s inability to rapidly adjust residential construction to shifting market demand has severely penalized homebuyers, trapping capital and keeping supply artificially choked.

The U.S. Benchmark: Researchers simulated what Canada's real estate market would look like if domestic homebuilders possessed the same market elasticity and agility as their American counterparts. The results: national housing starts could be 30% higher, and average housing prices could be 10% lower.

Nowhere to go: The U.S. edge over us does not stem from superior on-site building efficiency. Our homebuilding speed is naturally throttled by geographic realities and a lack of alternative urban hubs. And Canada’s lower number of densified cities leaves workers with few other options. 

The regulatory bottleneck: But that’s not the whole story. Land-use and zoning laws act as the primary self-inflicted barrier to supply agility. The research confirms that restrictive land-use regulations directly increase prices and depress the volume of completions, a crisis concentrated in high-demand urban areas where lower rezoning approval rates stymie developer entry.

Road to recovery: The analysis emphasizes that the benefits of structural and regulatory overhauls are never instantaneous and require years to materialize. But policy interventions are beginning to help. The Housing Accelerator Fund, introduced in 2023, is actively allocating capital to municipal governments to systematically slash local construction red tape.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Old becomes new

Reliance Properties and McFarlane Biggar Architects and Designers, and ETRO Construction are saving a 1911 Edwardian-era warehouse in Vancouver from demolition through an innovative adaptive reuse project. Anticipated for completion this summer, the 837 Beatty Project will turn the original structure into a seven-storey hybrid property featuring a restored heavy-masonry brick facade combined with four new upper floors made of exposed mass timber—finally achieving the building's century-old expansion blueprint that was halted by the 1913 economic crash.

PROJECT UPDATES

Limited Notice to Proceed issued for Phase 2 Expansion of LNG Canada

$1B Victoria hospital project reaches halfway point

Dynamic testing begins for Broadway Subway line

$300M Core Crossings project underway in west Lethbridge

William Hawrelak Park reopens in Edmonton

Work begins on Calgary’s Olympic Plaza Transformation project

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

👷🏻 READ: Last month’s biggest construction career moves

👀 WATCH: Get a sneak peek inside Sen̓áḵw towers

⛏️ LIST: 10 dirty Canadian builders moving earth

🦺 WATCH: This mist keeps a tunnel safe (spooky)

♻️ WATCH: This epic Nova Scotia home is made of scrap

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

Disclaimer: SiteNews is an independently-operated news website. Views expressed are that of the editorial team and are based on publicly available information unless otherwise noted through sponsored content.