🏗️ Nation building

Good morning!  🏗️ More than four years after a wildfire destroyed 90% of Lytton, B.C. the village marked a major milestone Friday with the ribbon-cutting of its new public works building — the first municipal property rebuilt since the disaster.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 minutes

MARKETS

Economy: According to Economist Jock Finlayson, Canada’s labour market is softening, with construction among the hardest-hit sectors. Nationally, 40,000 jobs were lost between June and July, including 7,600 construction jobs in B.C. alone, while Alberta also saw steep declines. Although both provinces posted modest year-over-year job gains, the recent downturn underscores growing strain in construction amid broader economic stagnation. Longer-term data shows public sector hiring has far outpaced private sector growth since 2019, leaving construction and other private industries struggling to keep pace.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🏠 Exited: Vancouver-based developer Westbank has sold its entire ownership stake in the first two phases of the Sen̓áḵw housing development to OPTrust, the Canadian pension fund manager. As a result, the Squamish Nation and OPTrust now share equal ownership of Phases 1 and 2, while the Nation has secured full (100%) ownership of Phases 3 and 4—marking a significant advancement in the Nation’s path toward financial independence and control over the project.

🖥️ AI innovation: Procore Technologies has entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services to co-invest in AI-driven product innovation—leveraging Amazon Bedrock large language models—and has made its construction management platform available through the AWS Marketplace to enhance efficiency, analytics and risk reduction in the building industry.

🚃 Leaving the station: Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have awarded the Stations, Rail and Systems package of the 9.2-kilometre Eglinton Crosstown West Extension to Trillium Rail Partners under a development and master construction agreement, enabling the consortium to begin early works, finalize design scope and pricing collaboratively, and deliver seven new stations along with rail and systems infrastructure.

💰 Local impact: Ottawa is providing over $326 million to British Columbia this year through the Canada Community-Building Fund to support infrastructure upgrades ranging from transit and water systems to parks and sports facilities. The funding aims to ease growth pressures, improve livability, and link housing development with essential infrastructure, with projects like Surrey’s Tamanawis Park upgrades highlighting its impact.

THE BIG STORY

Nation building: Major Projects Office launches

Ottawa has launched a new Major Projects Office (MPO), based in Calgary and led by former Trans Mountain CEO Dawn Farrell. Its mandate: speed up approvals for “national interest” builds like mines, power lines and ports, capping federal reviews at two years.

How it used to work: Proponents faced a maze of overlapping reviews across multiple federal departments. Ottawa’s old Major Projects Management Office helped coordinate but lacked authority. 

The new normal: The MPO will deliver one project, one review, align federal and provincial processes, and issue a single set of conditions. It will also coordinate financing through the Infrastructure Bank, Growth Fund and Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. An Indigenous advisory council will guide the work.

Leading the charge: Farrell is no stranger to megaprojects. She previously ran Trans Mountain Corporation, overseeing the controversial pipeline expansion, and before that led TransAlta and held senior roles at BC Hydro. Farrell’s mix of utility, regulatory and project delivery experience makes her a seasoned pick to run Ottawa’s new fast-track shop.

Setting sail: Prime Minister Mark Carney signaled this week that new port infrastructure in Churchill, Man., and Montreal could be among the first projects that get attention. The Churchill port is North America’s only deepwater Arctic Ocean port with rail access, opening up major LNG opportunities. 

The impact: It’s easy to see why changes were made. Major project completions fell 37% between 2015 and 2023, those that proceed (like Trans Mountain or Site C) face delays and overruns, critical mineral output has dropped by double digits since 2018, and new mines now take an average of 18 years from discovery to production.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Tall timber

BCIT has opened its new 12-storey Tall Timber student residence at the Burnaby campus, adding 469 beds and more than doubling on-campus housing for the first time in 40 years. Built with mass timber and designed to meet high sustainability standards, including CaGBC Net Zero certification, the $129-million project was funded by the B.C. government with additional donor support.

PROJECT UPDATES

Calgary breaks ground on new indoor soccer dome

Construction paused on Canada’s largest service dog training centre

$82M Indigenous owned solar project begins

Edmonton Coliseum demolition begins next summer

Ontario commits $77M for Uxbridge aquatic centre

Energy minister: TMX optimization not in national interest

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

PHOTOS: 🦫 Building the world’s tallest dam

VIDEO: 🏗️1,200-ton crane demolished in Campbell River

READ: 🔥 Why Saskatchewan is refurbishing coal plants

VIDEO: 🏗️ NYC keeps building empty skyscrapers

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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