👋🏼 Bye bye, GST

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Good morning!  Concrete trouble is brewing across the pond in the UK. Air-bubble filled concrete material was widely used in the 1990s, but decades later, the light, cheap product is now causing hundreds of buildings to start crumbling. Before you get too worried, its use was essentially non-existent in Canada.

In this newsletter:

💰 Trudeau terminates tax

🏗️ Urban design award winners

🎤 Innovator interviews

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 11:45PM ET September 18th, 2023.

Economy:  A historic number of homes could soon be on the market. A new study of 1,099 Canadian adults found that 20% are planning to sell their primary home within the next three years. Another 41% want to sell more than five years from now and 31% are not thinking about selling.

THE BIG STORY

Rental housing gets a tax break

Federal GST is getting nixed for new rental apartment projects. The news came from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after intense pressure to address the nation’s worsening housing crisis. The plan is to encourage much needed projects by saving developers thousands in taxes.

Crunching the numbers: 

GST is 5%. For a two-bedroom rental unit valued at $500,000, the enhanced GST Rental Rebate would deliver $25,000 in tax relief. Some experts estimate the policy could increase supply by 200,000 to 300,000 by the end of 2030.

Industry reaction:

• The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) called it a step in the right direction and called for more tax incentives.

• RBC economist Rachel Battaglia wrote that while the removal of GST on rental construction projects will improve their financial viability – and with it, hopefully spur more development – it isn't likely to lower rents in short order.

• Canadian Apartment Properties REIT officials stated that removing GST/HST won't allow all projects to pencil out but it will for sure move the needle on some projects.

Trudeau’s political opponents criticized him for not doing it sooner and laid out their plans to take incentives even further.

Other incentives many experts are calling for:

• Eliminating the collection of taxes on profits emanating from residential construction projects where the funds are re-invested into advancing similar projects.

• Upzoning more cities to allow multi-unit residential projects like Vancouver recently has done.

• Lowering the rate of borrowing through the Rental Construction Financing Initiative for new construction projects.

• Cutting provincial taxes on desired projects, which some are already considering.

Where housing stands: The task ahead is massive. The latest federal data shows we need an additional 3.45 million homes by the end of the decade, over and above what is already projected to be built by that time, to cool housing costs.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

⚖️ A two-day hearing is underway to determine if the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project can proceed with a route change. The request comes after crews ran into tunnelling issues. Earlier this year, the project team estimated the entire expansion project would cost $30.9-billion.

📉 The trend in housing starts was flat in August at 244,507 units, up only 0.8% from 242,552 units in July, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts for all areas in Canada decreased 1% in August compared to July.

🏥 Shovels are in the ground for a new hospital in Surrey and new cancer centre. The groundbreaking comes despite massive cost escalations for the project due to inflation, supply-chain disruptions and labour shortages. Officials stated that the project is too critical to delay any longer.

📢 Engineering giant SNC-Lavalin has embarked on a complete rebranding. The company’s new name is AtkinsRéalis. Officials say the move comes after repositioning the company and completing work to correct underlying performance issues.

25 Innovators In Construction

Innovation award winners offer insight

In the days following the announcement of our 25 Innovators in Construction Award winners, we reached out to all the companies and asked for their thoughts on the future of the construction sector, how they keep their operations on the cutting edge and much more. Check out what we heard in an article only available to SiteNews subscribers.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Finding the perfect angle

Harris Square, part of the the fourth and final phase of Toronto’s River City development, was recently honoured by judges from city’s Urban Design Awards. The judges wrote that a very good example of an innovative and attractive play in massing, form, texture, and colour to achieve a good fit on a very tight site and to integrate with the surrounding public realm. Designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architects and ZAS Architects, It includes 140 condo units with retail at grade.

PROJECT UPDATES

Officials submit revised plans for Ontario Place

North America's first zero carbon office tower is open

Calgary builders urge approval of $380M multi-sport fieldhouse 

Canfor plans to build a $200 million mill in northern B.C.

Crews break ground on new Surrey hospital

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

LIST: 🏥 8 massive Canadian hospital projects 

READ: 🏗️ Subway construction reveals 2000-year-old Chinese city

PHOTOS: 📸 Historic shots show Yonge Line construction beginning 

READ: 🚔 Florida man crashes excavator into Walmart during joyride

VIDEO: 🌊 Pakistan’s first female architect builds flood-resistant homes

HOT JOBS

🔥 Check out the best roles up for grabs in construction right now:

Project Manager - Toronto, Ont. - AtkinsRéalis (SNC-Lavalin)

Project Controls Manager - Calgary, Alta. - Hatch

Project Manager - Saint John’s, Nfld. - Oceaneering

Project Manager, LiDAR - Vancouver, B.C. - McElhanney

Check out all roles at SiteNews Jobs or put your job post in front of tens of thousands of construction professionals here.

Struggling to fill a role? send us an email at [email protected] to connect with one of our specialized recruitment experts.

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!