🚃 Leaving the station

Together with

Good morning! 🏃🏽‍♂️ Let’s get moving. Massive transportation projects are underway in Canada, including tunnels, roads and bridges. But this week we are zooming in on trains. With more than 46,000 km of track, Canada’s rail transport industry generates $10 billion per year. Keep reading to see how it’s about to get a lot bigger.

⏰ Today's reading time is 5 minutes.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 6:00 PM ET July 24th, 2023.

Economy: The roller coaster of the North American lumber market continues. West Fraser Timber’s share price has perked up significantly due to unexpected U.S. homebuilding activity and optimism around the economy. Experts say U.S. homebuilding has a big influence on lumber pricing and B.C. forestry stocks.

THE BIG STORY

Now boarding: Ottawa lays track for the future

Procurement is well under way for a high-frequency passenger line between Quebec City and Toronto. Ottawa has released a short list of private-sector bidders to build the line which could include high-speed service and launch in the mid-2030s. While the project doesn’t yet have a price tag, officials say it would be the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history.

It’s not the only ambitious rail project in the country. Here’s some other efforts to get Canadians on track:

TransPod - This team is hoping to break ground next year on an ultra-high-speed tube train route planned for between Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. But first, the province must amend legislation to recognize the hyperloop technology.

Prairie Link - EllisDon and AECOM are proposing high-speed train service that would connect Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton. It has an estimated cost of $9 billion.

Cascadia Rail - Other projects pale in size and complexity to this one. Washington State, Oregon and B.C. are teaming up to obtain $500 million in funding to make a Vancouver-through-Seattle-to-Portland ultra-high speed rail line shovel ready.

Why it matters: Research shows rail is among the most energy efficient modes of transport for freight and passengers. It is also capable of being completely electrified. As urban areas are growing and demand for fast, sustainable transportation increases, this could be a major piece of the puzzle.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🏥 After more than a decade of planning, shovels are in the ground for the $3.6-billion South Niagara Hospital in Niagara Falls, Ont. The 12-storey, 1.3-million square foot South Niagara Hospital will have 469 beds, eight operating suites, 42 hemodialysis stations and two MRI machines. It is set to open in 2028.

🏠 Home building is getting sluggish in the prairies. According to Statistics Canada, investment in residential building construction decreased 1.7% month over month to $14.0 billion in May. The decline in May brought Alberta down to its lowest level since December 2020. This was also the province's ninth consecutive monthly decrease.

✈️ Frequent flyers could soon have another way to get to and from YYC. The province is working with the city of Calgary to investigate an optimal rail alignment between the downtown core and the airport.

🎻 A professional violinist fleeing the war in Ukraine has found a home at Canada’s largest general contractor. Antonina Bazhan enrolled in a special program by the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades for Ukrainian immigrants and she soon found work with PCL. So far, the program has helped more than 200 refugees from the conflict.

💰 Some investment experts are sounding the alarm on the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project’s financial health. Investment insight firm Morningstar says the project will likely lose as much as $20 billion. Much of this is due to COVID-19-related reasons as well as labor and weather issues. The project is 80% complete.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

307 Lake Shore Boulevard East

Triangulating success: Reminiscent of New York City’s iconic Flatiron building shape, 307 Lake Shore Boulevard East wants to leave a bold impression on Toronto’s skyline near Lake Ontario. The 49-storey tower is a lattice of offset triangular balconies wrapping the building. Progressive sustainable design will also push the building to achieve a net zero carbon future. BDP Quadrangle’s design won it the Future Project award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

PROJECT UPDATES

N.W.T.'s Great Bear River bridge construction pushed back a year

Work on 199 Church Street tower nears 39 storeys in Toronto

Emil Anderson wins $128M Highway 1 contract for Shuswap

Nova Scotia crews prepare to open $364M twinning of Highway 104

Alberta approves $1.2B biofuels project near Calgary

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

LIST: ☀️ These are the 11 most innovative solar projects in Canada

READ: 🐝 Lafarge Canada sweetens its operations with bees

VIDEO: 🧱 Mexico is making bricks from invasive seaweed

PHOTOS: 💻 JAKES construction rolls out new look to celebrate 30 years

VIDEO: 🥁 Road builder drums in the middle of the Port Mann Bridge

HOT JOBS

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

• Senior Project Manager - Vancouver, B.C. - PCL

• Project Manager (Linear, Water) - Vaughn, Ont. - TYLin Group

• Director of Special Projects - Vancouver, B.C. - Bird Construction

• Solid Waste Project Manager - Winnipeg, Man.- KGS Group

• Project Manager, Land Development - Hamilton, Ont. - RJ Burnside and Associates

• Senior Construction Site Manager - Vancouver, B.C. - Govan Brown

• Operations Manager, Civil - Sudbury, Ont. - Ledcor

• Senior Project Manager - Richmond Hill, Ont. - Arcadis

• Project Manager, Minerals and Metals - Vancouver, B.C. - Ausenco

• Sustainability and Resiliency Lead - Vancouver, B.C. - HDR

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!