🔥 Early finish

Together with

Good morning! 👻 Is a B.C. ghost town about to come back from the dead? An entrepreneur who bought the long-abandoned mining town of Kitsault, B.C. about 20 years ago for nearly $10 million is reviving efforts to pitch it as a major energy hub—this time proposing pipelines from Alberta to a coastal terminal.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 minutes

MARKETS

Economy: The Bank of Canada held its policy interest rate at 2.25% in its first announcement of 2026, aligning with expectations after a series of rate cuts in 2025. In its Monetary Policy Report, the Bank said the global and domestic outlook is largely unchanged but remains vulnerable to U.S. trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks, with global growth projected at about 3%.

TOGETHER WITH NUFRAME GROUP

Nuframe doubles down on Western Canada with key acquisition

Construction leader Nuframe Group just announced the strategic acquisition of AJ Construction, increasing its team to over 250 employees and establishing a significant presence in Kamloops and Kelowna. 

Learn how this move — rooted in the company’s "people + process = performance" philosophy — doesn’t just expand Nuframe’s geographical footprint, but enhances the team’s “start-to-finish” services, enabling them to fulfill projects from formwork all the way to the roof.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🧊 Arctic port: Canada has approved construction of the Steensby Railway and port on Baffin Island, a $3-billion project enabling expansion of Baffinland’s Mary River iron ore mine—one of the world’s northernmost and highest-grade direct-ship iron ore developments.

🏠 New neighbourhood: Mattamy Homes and Truman have finalized a deal to develop a 253-acre master-planned community on the south edge of Alberta’s Chestermere Lake, delivering roughly 1,900 homes over 13 years. Mattamy will serve as managing partner, co-managing with Truman, which has been active in the community since 1988. 

⚡ Limited power: B.C. has officially launched a competitive selection process for AI and data-centre projects seeking clean electricity. Successful applicants will be announced in September. The process will allocate up to 400 MW over two years to projects offering the greatest long-term economic, community, and environmental benefits.

🚔 Home theft: Construction theft in Calgary’s new communities is increasingly burdening builders and pushing up home prices, as criminals strip job sites of lumber, house wrap, copper wiring and even appliances. Trico Homes says the problem has intensified over the past 3 years, forcing builders to absorb disruptions, invest in tracking tools like Apple AirTags, and build in contingency costs that add up to 5% to home prices. 

THE BIG STORY

Darlington delivers: A massive nuclear rebuild just made history

Nuclear projects used to be cautionary tales. This week, Darlington flipped the script. The $12.8‑billion refurbishment of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station wrapped up months early and about $150 million under budget.

Naysayers: When the refurbishment was announced in 2016, critics warned history would repeat itself. Past nuclear builds in Ontario had ballooned to two‑and‑a‑half times their original budgets, leaving billions in legacy debt. Environmental groups urged the province to abandon the plan entirely and import power from Quebec.

Crushing goals: Instead, the four‑unit overhaul extended the life of Darlington to at least 2055, securing roughly one‑fifth of Ontario’s electricity supply — enough power for about 3.5 million homes. The final reactor entered testing months ahead of schedule, completing what was the world’s largest nuclear refurbishment.

Planning to succeed: This wasn’t luck. Ontario Power Generation spent nearly a decade planning before construction began. Engineering was completed up front. Scope was locked early. The utility treated refurbishment as a repeatable industrial process, not a one‑off megaproject.

Lessons learned: OPG was a student of history, carefully analyzing errors from the Pickering A refurbishment. Full‑scale reactor mock‑ups were built so trades could practise every task before entering radioactive vaults. Parts were procured for all units at once, insulating the project from pandemic‑era supply shocks. And work sequences were redesigned unit by unit.

Being realistic: The project also acknowledged constraints like labour shortages, retirements, regulatory risk, and global disruptions. OPG physically separated refurbishment crews from operations staff, coordinated trades with Bruce Power’s concurrent refurb, and shut down work immediately when safety issues emerged — regrouping rather than pushing through.

Blueprint for the future: For Ontario and Canada, Darlington is now a credibility asset. Energy Minister Stephen Lecce called it proof that Canada can deliver world‑class nuclear projects — a claim that underpins plans for new reactors and SMRs. 

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Tunnel rehab

The Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine Tunnel in Montreal is undergoing a $2.5B rehabilitation through a P3 project. Built in 1967, the tunnel is receiving major structural repairs, modernized operating systems, upgraded service corridors, fire protection, and pavement repairs. The project is led by MTMD with design, engineering, and construction handled by a consortium including Parsons, Tetra Tech, WSP-Hatch, and Renouveau La Fontaine. Work is expected to wrap this year.

PROJECT UPDATES

Former church approved for housing, commercial redevelopment

Companies invited to bid on Windsor-Essex hospital project

New RCMP office coming for Flin Flon

Sask. announces $78M to go towards bridge construction

Tender issued for Wasaga Beach high school

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

🤝 READ: Construction’s biggest business news

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📐 WATCH: Does this new theory explain the pyramids?

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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