🏡 Below the green belt

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Good morning!  🍗 Construction workers’s bellies are empty. A recent study found that 87% of workers felt hungry during the workday and half of workers worried it could impact their tasks. Respondents cited cost, lack of time and limited access to food options as the culprit.

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MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 11:30PM ET August 14th, 2023.

Economy: Alarm bells are ringing as economic experts worry that the impacts of an intensifying property sector cash crunch in China could spread to global markets. The latest warning sign was China’s largest private real estate developer Country Garden asking to delay payment on a private onshore bond for the first time ever.

THE BIG STORY

Ontario’s Greenbelt comes undone

A bombshell report dropped this month in Ontario, alleging government officials were biased towards favoured developers when removing 3,000 hectares from the region’s protected Greenbelt.

Following the fallout:

• Premier Doug Ford denies the process was corrupt but admitted the process could have been “a lot better”.

• Ontario is forming a dedicated working group to (sort of) implement the report’s recommendations.

• Some officials are calling on Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark to resign or be fired.

• Ontario’s integrity commissioner is reviewing Ford’s request to open an investigation into Clark's chief of staff, Ryan Amato.

Audit recommendations:

• Clarify the roles and responsibilities of officials in the decision make process.

• Limit the use of confidentiality agreements.

• Restrict use of personal email accounts for government business.

• Re-evaluate the 2022 decision to change the Greenbelt boundaries.

The bottom line: Ford has admitted the process could have been better and committed to make changes. But there is one he won’t do: revisit the 2022 decision to go through the process in a more transparent, thorough way.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

☀️ The province of Ontario is proposing new regulations to keep construction workers safe during summer heat. The proposed regulations include heat stress exposure limits, requiring employers to identify and implement plans to control heat exposure, and requiring access to cold drinking water. Data shows there were 350 lost time claims for heat exhaustion for construction workers alone between 2006 and 2015.

🏠 New data from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association revealed that 67% of home builders and developers in the association’s network say that they’re building fewer units and 22% stated that they have cancelled projects entirely. The group concluded that achieving sustainable progress towards closing Canada’s 5.8 million gap in housing supply remains “incompatible with current financing conditions”.

🏗️ A B.C. crane company has been barred from operating its cranes too close to a Kelowna apartment building. Stober Construction is in a legal battle with Witmar Holdings, which argued that it did not want the company’s crane near its building due to the deadly crane collapse that occurred in the city in 2021.

⛏️ Construction work has halted at Canada’s second busiest airport after crews found Indigenous artifacts. The objects are being assessed by experts, but it is believed that they are related to Musqueam Indian Band. As part of an ongoing sustainability and friendship agreement, Musqueam and YVR have agreed to identify and protect archeological resources.

TOGETHER WITH SITEPARTNERS

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Collège Sainte-Anne campus project

Schooled: It pays to be green. This academic project recently took home a Zero Carbon Design Award from the Canada Green Building Council’s annual awards. Work included the construction of two new pavilions and the complete renovation of the pavilion of an existing primary school. Energy modelling was performed throughout the integrated design process to optimize the buildings’ overall performance. The project achieved a reduction of 42.3% in its energy consumption compared to the National Building Code’s reference building.

PROJECT UPDATES

Vancouver church upgrade project wins heritage award

Calgary construction supplier embarks on $53 million facility expansion

Crews start precast concrete erection for the Thunder Bay Correctional Complex

Officials say Eglington Crosstown LRT’s opening day will soon be revealed 

Lawsuit says Grosvenor’s 39-storey Pacific condo tower has dozens of defects 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

LIST: 🛡️ 10 Canadian steel companies forging our future

PHOTOS: 🪵 Architecture firms are putting leftover CLT to good use

READ: 👷‍♀️ B.C. students are learning how to deconstruct a sawmill

VIDEO: ♻️ Real-life LEGOs? Indian scientists make bricks from plastic waste

READ: 💵 U.S. proposes changing laws to give 1 million construction workers a raise

HOT JOBS

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

• Vice President, Operations - London, Ont. - Convertus Group

• Senior Estimator - Vancouver, B.C. - Wesgroup Properties

• Project Manager, Transportation Engineering - Toronto, Ont. - IBI Group

• Senior Procurement Manager - North Vancouver, B.C. - Seaspan

• Public Affairs Manager - Winnipeg, Man. - CN Rail

• Project Manager, Civil Earthworks - Sudbury, Ont. - Klohn Crippen Berger

• Mineral Land Negotiator - Calgary, Alta. - West Lake Energy Corp.

• Bid Manager - Vancouver, B.C. - Aecon Group

• Director of Civil Construction - Victoria, B.C. - Milner Group

Check out all roles at SiteNews Jobs or put your job post in front of tens of thousands of construction professionals here. . Hurry up before our free trial ends!

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!