💪 Power move

Together with

Good morning! 🖥️ No data in my backyard! Monterey Park, California has made history as the first North American municipality to completely ban data centers, following a majority vote on a resident-driven referendum measure.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 minutes

MARKETS

Economy: Canada’s economy rebounded sharply in May by adding 87,800 full-time jobs—outpacing analyst expectations and dropping the unemployment rate to 6.6%. This was led by a strong resurgence in the construction sector, which added 27,000 positions to offset losses. Despite this hiring surge, experts noted Canada still faces persistent headwinds from U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions that are driving up energy prices.

TOGETHER WITH NUFRAME

The best time to solve a problem is before it happens

Ask anyone who's been in the trade long enough and they'll tell you the same thing: forming mistakes don't stay in forming. 

Instead, they show up weeks later, eating up precious time (and taking big bites out of budgets). 

Nuframe's forming division is built around making sure this doesn’t happen. Schedules account for the full project, not just a slice of it. A carefully crafted forming-to-framing handoff closes the gap other companies leave open — sometimes by weeks. And the team has the tenure to back it all up.

We spoke with company leadership about how they do it.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🖥️ Buffering: Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has blocked a massive, multi-megawatt AI data centre proposed near Ile des Chênes by Jet.AI and Consensus Core Technologies, citing a "people-first" approach that rejects hyperscale operations with heavy environmental impacts and minimal economic benefits. 

🚃 Along the line: The proposed Toronto Rail Yards mega-project is set to deliver nearly 4,000 new homes within a transit-oriented community built atop a new 6.3-acre deck over the downtown rail corridor. Launched by Fengate Asset Management and the LiUNA Pension Fund, the phased development features seven residential towers up to 70 storeys high, an office tower, and a public park

🚪 Open the gates: Aecon Group and the Indigenous and community-owned Arctic Gateway Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on critical infrastructure development at the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway.

🪙 Minted: Bitdeer has broken ground on a $214M vertically integrated energy and computing facility near Fox Creek, Alberta, which will pair a 101 MW natural gas power plant with a 100 MW data center initially dedicated to Bitcoin mining with future AI capabilities.

EVENTS

Canada Infrastructure Bank CEO at SiteSummit

How does Canada aim to support infrastructure building across the nation? 

Find out at SiteSummit where attendees will hear directly from Ehren Cory, CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB).

Cory is a leader in sustainable finance and infrastructure investing. He joined the CIB in 2020 with a focus on accelerating new infrastructure investment through partnerships with the private and public sectors. 

Don’t miss your chance to see  him in person in Toronto this month.

THE BIG STORY

Canada’s nuclear builders did it again

Canada’s nuclear industry just delivered another major project ahead of time and under budget. At this point, it’s not just luck. 

Powerful finish: Bruce Power has returned Unit 3 to service more than seven months early and $150M under budget, a major victory for Canada's infrastructure sector. In an era where global energy megaprojects are routinely plagued by multi-year delays and cascading cost overruns, Ontario’s nuclear refurbishment model keeps winning. 

Not a fluke: This spring, Ontario Power Generation completed the Darlington Unit 4 refurbishment months ahead of schedule and $150 million under budget. This followed OPG’s completion of Darlington Unit 1 five months early in late 2024 and Unit 3 nearly six months ahead of schedule in 2023.

How they did it: The speed was driven by technological breakthroughs on the construction floor. The project marked the first time in global history that robotic tools were deployed directly on a reactor face to rebuild a CANDU reactor, drastically optimizing precision and workforce safety timelines. 

Global outlier: Earlier this year, the UK’s flagship Hinkley Point C reactor was delayed to 2030, pushing costs $64B USD against its original 2025 target. This mirrors the United States' recent Plant Vogtle expansion, which suffered a seven-year delay as budgets more than doubled to over $30B, and Finland’s Olkiluoto 3, which took nearly two decades to complete. 

Made-in-Canada: Beyond the immediate grid benefits, the project validates the immense economic resilience of a highly specialized, localized supply chain. Unlike other infrastructure sectors currently reliant on volatile foreign components and fractured global logistics, over 90% of Bruce Power's refurbishment spend is stamped "Made in Canada."

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Amped up

The Freedom Mobile Arch at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) has officially opened as Vancouver's newest live entertainment venue. The amphitheatre was designed by Revery Architecture, engineered by Fast + Epp, and built by EllisDon (along with Walters Group handling the heavy timber and steel installation). PNE officials project that the structure will attract hundreds of thousands of annual visitors, generating enough ticket revenue over the next 15 to 18 years to fully cover the investment and revitalize the historic fairgrounds.

PROJECT UPDATES

Capital Crossing Constructors awarded $79M bridge contract

Yonge North Subway extension shortlists 11 teams

Crews break ground on 100MW Saskatchewan solar project

Agriculture sector calls for review of Alto project 

Gordie Howe bridge nears opening

Ottawa considers legal action over$352M library project

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

🏗️ PHOTOS: 400-year-old Austrian farmhouse transported to B.C.

🔥 READ: 40-year-old arsonist has been charged with string of Edmonton site fires

⌛ VIDEO: Replacing an overpass in 48 hours

🍁 VIDEO: Oh Canada! A sneak peek of Centre Block progress

ADVERTISE WITH SITENEWS

Get your message and brand in front of Canada’s construction leaders and decision-makers by advertising in our newsletter. Learn how to partner with us here.

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.