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Good Morning! Is AI coming for your job? ChatGPT researchers generated a list of roles most likely to be impacted by the technology, including interpreters, poets, creative writers, public relations specialists, mathematicians, tax preparers, blockchain engineers, accountants, along with journalists (gulp 😅).

In the meantime, please keep reading to see the story our human staff generated on the $4 billion Ottawa is spending to accelerate home construction.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 10:00 PM ET March 20th, 2023.

The work to mitigate the damage done by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank continues around the globe. In the latest fallout from the collapse, Swiss authorities pushed UBS, the country’s biggest bank, to take over its troubled rival, Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse shares have nose dived, prompting fears it could fail. The merger highlights fears that the crisis that started with Silicon Valley Bank’s could undercut confidence throughout the global financial system.

THE BIG STORY

Feds offer $4 billion to turbocharge home building

Right now it’s too hard to build the housing we need.

That’s the message from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave last Friday. To address this, he announced the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), a $4 billion initiative to fast-track the creation of 100,000 new homes.

Who can apply: Local governments are invited to develop innovative action plans to remove home building barriers.

The fund will give support to projects that do the following:

• Grow housing supply faster than their historical average.

• Increase densification.

• Speed up approval times.

• Tackle NIMBYism and establish inclusive zoning bylaws

• Encourage public transit-oriented development.

Why it matters: A study released earlier this year on municipal building permit wait times showed it can take up to 32 months to get approval in parts of Toronto. The study also found the average cost of government charges levied by municipal governments on high-rise new housing development averages over $41,000/unit.

Too much too fast: While many homebuilding groups celebrated the announcement, some remain skeptical. Homebuilders Association Vancouver CEO Ron Rapp told reporters that it feels almost like too much coming too fast and worries if municipalities will be able to effectively apply the funds.

"You can throw all kinds of money at this stuff, but you have to have the mechanism by which to administer it," he said.

The application portal for the new fund is expected to open this June.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🏠 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts jumped 13% in February. The agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for the second month of the year was 243,959 units compared with 216,514 in January. The result came as the annual rate of urban starts bumped up 16% to 222,663 units in February.

👷 The Ontario government is doubling the number of economic immigrants it selects in 2025 to over 18,000 to help solve the province’s critical labour shortage. Officials stated that with nearly 300,000 jobs going unfilled daily, this will allow the province to select more of the workers needed to fill gaps in critical industries like the skilled trades, technology and health care.

⚡ The largest First Nations majority-owned infrastructure project in Canada, Cedar LNG, just received environmental approval from the province of B.C. A final investment decision for the project is anticipated in the third quarter of 2023. The $3.3-billion proposed floating liquified natural gas facility would be located on Haisla Nation-owned land in Kitimat, B.C.

🦺 WorkSafe Saskatchewan has released its new strategy to combat fatalities and serious injuries. Construction will be a major area of focus. According to the agency, 94% of occupational disease fatalities from 2010-2021 in the construction industry were asbestos-related. Work-place related motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of acute work-related fatalities in the construction industry from 2010-2021.

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

These homes were printed in 200 hours

Leaning into Leamington: Could 3D printing help Canada solve its affordable housing crisis? Nidus3D believes it can. The company partnered with Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex and the University of Windsor to deliver North America’s first residentially permitted multi-unit 3D printed building. The build includes four self-contained 560 square foot homes and was printed in 200 hours. Nidus believes Leamington serves as proof of concept and paves the path for quicker and more cost-effective homes for Canadian families. In an interview with SiteNews, one of Nidus3D’s founders said the company aims to rethink the construction process to be faster, smarter and more efficient.

PROJECT UPDATES

The $1.4 billion Blackwater mine is set to begin construction in B.C.

Work has begun on a water treatment plant for Biigtigong Nishnaabeg in Ontario

The Red Deer Justice Centre is expected to be completed later this year

B.C. to spend $65 million upgrading Prince Rupert’s aging water system

The new Pattullo Bridge could be open to traffic next year

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

WATCH: ⛷️ Skiing on top. Power generation below.

READ: 🪄 Mickey’s magic is back after a year of construction.

TWEET: 🔨 Indigenous youth learn woodworking basics

READ: 🚃 Here’s the 11 biggest projects in Ontario

WATCH: 🪵 How to build a wooden skyscraper

Here’s to a great rest of the week!