🏗️ Fast track

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Good morning! 🧑‍🚒 A 19-person construction crew working in Northwestern Ontario is safe after hiding from a fast-moving wildfire inside shipping containers before fleeing for their lives as flames closed in. Their near-death experience highlights the urgency of Canada’s worsening wildfire crisis, with more than 220 fires burning nationwide.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 minutes

MARKETS

Economy: Canada has condemned 50% steel and aluminum tariffs as "unjustified" and "illegal," but has yet to announce specific retaliatory measures, opting instead for continued negotiations with U.S. officials. While political and industry leaders called for immediate counter-tariffs to protect domestic jobs and production, federal ministers emphasized the need for strategic, potentially targeted responses.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

⚡ Powered up: Canada is advancing a $2-billion-plus proposal to connect Yukon’s electricity grid to B.C’s. The 1,000-kilometre high-voltage transmission line would connect Yukon to the North American grid for the first time, enabling clean power flows, supporting critical minerals development, and reducing northern communities’ reliance on diesel

✍🏼 New strategy: Winnipeg’s newly released Transportation 2050 strategy outlines a $4.7-billion, 25-year plan to modernize the city’s transportation system by enhancing goods movement, expanding public transit, and promoting active transportation. Key proposals include testing autonomous buses, building designated truck lanes, reducing arterial parking, and redeveloping Graham Avenue into a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly corridor.

🏗️ Speed bump: Construction on the $160-million Nisutlin Bay Bridge replacement project in Yukon, one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the region’s history, has been halted due to concerns about soil conditions on the bridge’s north side, prompting a precautionary pause for geotechnical investigation. Originally set for completion in 2026, the 483-metre bridge replaces a 70-year-old structure but now faces potential timeline delays.

⛽ Lined up: The Environmental Assessment Office has confirmed that the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline project has been "substantially started" allowing its 2014 environmental certificate to remain valid indefinitely. Originally approved to run 900 km from Hudson’s Hope to Lelu Island, the pipeline is now owned by the Nisga’a Nation and Western LNG and is intended to supply the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG facility. 

THE BIG STORY

Bill C‑5: Shortcut or smokescreen for canada’s big builds?

A new federal bill promises to fast-track major projects and open up labour mobility—but critics wonder if it’s a smart detour or a dangerous shortcut.

The context: Bill C‑5 introduces the Building Canada Act, allowing Ottawa to declare certain “national interest projects” that bypass parts of the federal approvals process. It also enacts the Free Trade and Labour Mobility Act, removing internal trade barriers and accelerating credential recognition across provinces.

The tension: The goal is speed—but only for some. While industry groups applaud faster timelines, critics argue the bill picks winners and losers. A project deemed “national interest” could leapfrog others, even if it's less urgent, less viable, or politically convenient. Meanwhile, regular projects still face the same red tape. Some fear this erodes environmental and Indigenous safeguards. Others worry the changes are too narrow—“a Band-Aid when we need surgery.”

The nuance: Supporters say this is a targeted fix that finally gets shovels in the ground faster. But skeptics ask: If the regulatory wall is the problem, why not tear it down for everyone? Others note that provincial and municipal permits are still required—federal streamlining is just one piece of the puzzle.

The bottom line: Bill C‑5 may help some megaprojects break ground faster. But for most average builders, the old delays remain. And it can’t sidestep provincial approvals. Whether it’s a path forward or a political workaround depends on what—and where—you’re building. 

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

The height of health

Scheduled to open in 2028, UHN’s new $1-billion, 15-storey surgical tower at Toronto Western Hospital is set to transform patient care and surgical innovation in Ontario. Featuring 20 advanced operating rooms, 82 private digital patient rooms, and a 16-bed ICU, the tower will boost surgical capacity by up to 50% and support complex procedures with cutting-edge technology like surgical robots, real-time imaging, and AI.

PROJECT UPDATES

Canada Square office towers getting revamped

Construction underway ‘deeply affordable’ Kensington Market project

Major work begins on Somerset House

Manitoba to start work on $1B cancer centre next year

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

WATCH: ⛰️ SiteSummit has its moment

AWARDS: 🏆 72 hours left to nominate construction’s ‘Most Influential’

READ: 🚘 Hamilton has Canada’s worst road (again)

PHOTOS: 🐍 Serpent sculpture combines Japanese, Squamish art

WATCH: 🛥️ Vancouver’s iconic Granville Island is at a crossroads

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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