⚡️ Dash

Good morning! 🐮 An aging railway bridge in St. Louis, Sask., has been given a second life after it was written off more than a decade ago. Now revitalized as a walking bridge, it serves as a tourist attraction that highlights a 100,000-year-old bison skeleton that was found during construction of the town’s newer bridge. 

⏰ Today’s read: 5 ½ minutes

MARKETS

Economy: Ottawa will launch applications within two months for the new $5-billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund. This fund prioritizes port, rail, and other infrastructure projects crucial for doubling Canada’s non-U.S. exports, a key goal for Prime Minister Mark Carney. Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon stated the funds, building on the previous National Trade Corridors Fund, will focus on relieving regional bottlenecks to move goods overseas. Experts suggest upgrading existing infrastructure may be more cost-effective and faster than new builds.

AWARDS

Deadline extended: Last week to nominate

Good news: Due to high demand, we have extended the Site Service Awards deadline by one final week. This is your last chance to honor an exceptional peer before an audience of hundreds of thousands across the entire SiteMedia network.

Don't let their hard work go unnoticed. The window closes for good on Friday. Nominate them below, now.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🤝 New alliance: Ottawa and Alberta are poised to announce a landmark deal that would grant Alberta exemptions from key federal environmental rules and include federal political support for a new oil pipeline to B.C.’s coast, in exchange for the province adopting stricter industrial carbon pricing and advancing a major carbon capture project. 

🏠 Investment framework: The federal government has released an Investment Policy Framework for Build Canada Homes that sets out how the new federal housing agency will deploy capital, prioritizing construction-ready affordable projects that can start within 12 months, meet local affordability targets, use modular or factory-built methods, and favour Canadian materials and regional partnerships.

🔌 New line: The Ontario government has directed Hydro One to develop and construct a new priority transmission line between Bowmanville and the Greater Toronto Area to support growing electricity demand. The proposed double-circuit 500-kilovolt transmission line will run from the Bowmanville Switching Station to one of three terminal stations. The line is expected to be in service in the early-2030s.

💵 Record sale: QuadReal has sold The Post, its 1.1-million-sq.-ft. Amazon-anchored redevelopment of Vancouver’s 1958 Main Post Office, in what observers call the largest office transaction in the city’s history at about $1.1 billion, with Spanish family office Pontegadea reported as the buyer, while QuadReal retains property management of the heritage-protected complex.

THE BIG STORY

Just a DASH: B.C.’s new digital tool

Ready. Set. DASH!

B.C.’s new DASH platform aims to turn mid-rise rental from bespoke design work into a standardized, software-driven product — and pull prefab deeper into the mainstream.

Targeted approach: Officials want more rental housing fast. The tool, Built by BC Housing with input from the industry, is a free, open digital tool aimed squarely at one piece of the housing puzzle: three- to six-storey wood-frame buildings, the bread-and-butter of B.C.’s rental stock. 

How it works: Users plug in a site, basic constraints and local zoning and DASH generates site-specific massing and layouts in minutes. Those designs are tied to BIM-based, permit-ready templates that can be adapted but don’t need to be redrawn. The platform then breaks buildings into a “kit of parts” and links them to prefabrication suppliers.

Looking ahead: Officials want to nudge the industry further toward industrialized construction where homebuilding can really take off. B.C. already has a cluster of modular and panelized manufacturers, but much of their work has been project-specific. DASH gives them a standardized digital “language” in the form of repeatable building types and component kits. 

A different path: The Victoria Residential Builders Association questioned the approach, arguing that the real bottlenecks lie in inconsistent municipal rules. They believe that rather than relying on DASH, the government should streamline and unify permitting processes and reduce municipal and regional fees, 

What to watch: The real test will be whether cities actually wire their zoning into DASH and whether early projects hit their cost and schedule marks. If a few non-profit and municipal pilots land cleanly, pressure will build for wider adoption — and for other provinces to copy the model. 

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Staying local

Renovations at Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts are progressing on schedule and on budget, transforming the former library space into a more accessible, community-focused facility set to open next year. Led largely by local trades, the project includes lowering the floor to street level to strengthen its connection to Victoria Row and enhance pedestrian flow. The design comes from Halifax-based architecture firm Abbott Brown. Brighton Construction is carrying out construction management activities.

PROJECT UPDATES

Saint John building goes up like LEGO

$20M home project breaks ground in Winnipeg’s Chinatown 

Abbotsford nearing flood project milestone

Ottawa eastern LRT extension could open in early 2026

Hydro One selected to build transmission line in GTA

Nova Scotia approves54-turbine wind project

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

LISTEN: 🎙️ SiteNews staff weigh in on DASH

WATCH: 💣 How to bomb-proof a building

READ: 🥾 Check out these made-in-Canada work boots

READ: 🏗️ High-stakes rescue from Calgary crane

WATCH: ⌚ West Van defies B.C.’s housing rezoning deadline

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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.