🇨🇦 More big cities?

Together with

Good morning! Dam construction skills are being passed on to a new generation. The B.C. Wildlife Federation is restoring watersheds by mimicking beavers' natural dam-building techniques. Using low-tech, process-based restoration, they build Beaver Dam Analogs from branches and mud to restore habitat and increase resilience.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 minutes

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 7:30 PM ET Jan. 27, 2025.

Economy: The latest interest rate decision this week is shrouded in uncertainty due to mixed economic indicators and the looming threat of 25% tariffs. Economists from Canada’s major banks largely anticipate a 25-basis-point rate cut, citing factors like soft labor markets, inflation near the Bank ofCanada’s target, and trade uncertainties. 

TOGETHER WITH ORION CONSTRUCTION

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NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

Full steam ahead: 💨 Ontario has authorized Ontario Power Generation to sign contracts, valued at over $1 billion, with BWXT Canada to manufacture steam generators for the refurbishment of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, and the reactor pressure vessel for the first small modular reactor (SMR) in the G7 at Darlington.

Transit funding:🚃 The federal government has announced an investment of more than $663 million in transit funding to improve Metro Vancouver’s public transit infrastructure, providing predictable and long-term funding, tied to greater density near transit.

Power play:⚡ Graham Power Services, in partnership with 42 West Constructors Ltd., plans to acquire the powerline construction and maintenance assets of Rokstad Power Ltd. and affiliates. Graham intends to assume and maintain all existing agreements and relationships between impacted First Nations to perform work designated with BC Hydro.

School building: 🍎 The Ontario government is allocating $1.3 billion to build 30 new schools and expand 15 others, creating over 25,000 new student spaces and 1,600 licensed child care spaces to address critical needs in growing communities.

THE BIG STORY

Sprawled out: Secondary cities could boost housing

We can’t build our way out of the housing crisis only focusing on existing big cities, new research from the C.D. Howe Institute shows. Academics believe that a unique focus on increasing supply in these cities is unlikely to do very much to improve affordability. 

Broad growth: The authors instead argued the emergence of new cities to rival existing ones can help the problem. They believe that what is needed is a comprehensive approach to increasing supply in Canada that puts the emphasis on both big cities and smaller cities.

Secondary cities: To boost these new big cities, the research suggests subsidizing infrastructure and funding world-class research at universities. However, housing supply must also continue in major urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver. If done right, this could reduce in-migration into big cities, mitigating price pressures there, and help lower costs for everyone.

Meanwhile, elsewhere: Canada isn’t the first to come to this conclusion. In 2015, India launched the Smart Cities Mission with the goal of transforming 100 cities across the nation into modern urban centres. With high costs and overcrowding, Europe is seeing more attention from investors in lesser known locales. Japan, China, Thailand and many others have also followed suit. 

Where to start: the study specifically highlighted Kamloops and the Kitchener/Waterloo region as examples of excellent secondary cities ripe for growth. Kamloops is already one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Canada and Kitchener/Waterloo is poised for major transit connections. 

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Monument to remember

The National Holocaust Monument commemorates the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust, and the millions of other victims of Nazi Germany and its collaborators. The cast-in-place, exposed concrete monument is conceived as an experiential environment comprising six triangular, concrete volumes configured to create the points of a star. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017.

PROJECT UPDATES

Burnaby looks to scrap park redevelopment

$50M for Montreal’s largest residential rental project

EllisDon completes Cambridge Memorial Hospital upgrades

Industra selected to build Burnaby sewage project

Hazel McCallion Line to be tunnelled into downtown Brampton

Get our full breakdown of the week’s project updates in the link below

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

WATCH: ☀️ Solar energy is cheaper than you think

LEGAL: 🐢 Habitat destruction in construction could have a new legal precedent

READ: ⚡ Industry groups react to Quebec power hike

PHOTOS: 🐟 Steelhead fishing after visiting site

READ: 🏗️Abolish the right to demolish?

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

Disclaimer: SiteNews is an independently-operated news website. Views expressed are that of the editorial team and are based on publicly available information unless otherwise noted through sponsored content.