👵Senior moment

Together with

Good morning! 🚀 Space is the final jobsite frontier and Chinese scientists are learning how to conquer it. They have launched prototype bricks to the Tiangong orbiting space station to learn how they perform in harsh space conditions. The ultimate goal is to build a base on the moon.

⏰ Today’s read: 5 minutes

MARKETS

Economy:  Canadian natural gas producers are hopeful as LNG Canada’s export facility, set to launch in 2025, promises to boost exports by 20% and narrow the price gap with U.S. benchmarks. However, challenges remain, including political uncertainty in British Columbia, strict CleanBC emissions rules, and limited BC Hydro electricity infrastructure. While future projects like Ksi Lisims LNG face significant hurdles, LNG Canada’s demand is expected to drive a recovery in gas prices and create new opportunities for producers and Indigenous-led ventures.

THE BIG STORY

Aging demo: Canada’s seniors require specialized facilities

This year, Canada’s first ever “dementia village” opened in Comox, B.C. The innovative approach to housing seniors highlights a growing demographic in the country and the specialized facilities that could be needed to care for them. 

Booming seniors: The number of Canadians aged 85 and older more than doubled between 2001 and 2021, currently representing 2.3% of the population. With more seniors now living to 85 and beyond, the need for appropriate housing options and support services becomes more profound.

Larger trend: Geopolitical expert and author Peter Zeihan highlights that Canada is one of many industrialized countries facing significant demographic challenges. These include a low fertility rate (far below the replacement rate of 2.1) an aging population, and the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. This has resulted in an "inverted demographic pyramid" where the number of working-age individuals is shrinking relative to the number of dependents (children and seniors). 

What seniors want: 95% of Canadians say being able to age in place would allow them to maintain their independence, comfort, and dignity as they get older. Over three quarters would only consider moving into an assisted living facility if they couldn’t afford in-home care.

Ahead of the curve: Some Canadian businesses are riding the trend. BuildAble is a nurse-managed accessibility construction company that specializes in designing homes and planning renovations for persons with disabilities and seniors wanting to age in place. Company officials say the approach seemed risky at first but soon found the market to be large. For those willing to move in this direction, the opportunity could be immense. 

Golden opportunity: Others could do the same. The Canadian senior living market has drawn significant investor interest, boosting capital flows and construction in senior housing and long-term care. Investment surged in 2020, with transaction volumes nearly doubling in the year's latter half. Demand is rising, driven by a focus on health, well-being, and a rapidly aging population—a trend expected to grow.

TOGETHER WITH HOYLU

Clearing up the complex construction process

Why are construction giants like EllisDon and Chandos using Hoylu? Originally designed as a high-tech whiteboarding tool, the project management platform has transformed into a game-changing solution for the construction industry. With its intuitive interface and user-centric design, Hoylu has rapidly scaled to more than 30,000 users. Learn more about the origins of Hoylu and how they are simplifying complex projects in our recent interview with their team. 

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

Growth spurt: 🏗️ Toronto City Council is set to review a new policy allowing midrise buildings up to 11 storeys along major avenues to address the city’s housing shortage. The proposal aims to streamline planning rules and boost housing density, potentially creating nearly 61,000 new units compared to the 21,500 allowed under current rules.

Highway work: 🚧 Ontario celebrated the completion of critical highway infrastructure improvements in the Greenstone area in Northern Ontario. These highway upgrades at the gateway to the Ring of Fire region will improve connections to the provincial highway network for First Nations in the Greenstone area while also supporting work to unlock the economic potential of Ontario’s critical minerals in partnership with First Nations.

Breaking ground: 🚘 Asahi Kasei is building a $1.7 billion lithium-ion battery separator plant in Port Colborne, marking Canada’s first facility of this kind. This significant investment is aimed at enhancing Ontario’s end-to-end electric vehicle (EV) and battery supply chain.

Pipe investigation: 🔎 A preliminary report on Calgary's Bearspaw South Feeder Main failure in June, which triggered citywide water restrictions, reveals no single cause but highlights contributing factors such as microcracking of the pipe's protective mortar layer, high soil chloride levels, and wire corrosion linked to hydrogen embrittlement.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Higher education

Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the new $91-million Marpole Community Centre in South Vancouver is progressing, with long-span steel beams being installed for its doubly curved cantilever roof. The building features a gravity system primarily composed of timber, with cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels supported by glulam beams and columns forming the floors and terraces. The curved roof integrates steel beams with CLT panels, while light-wood shear walls embedded in architectural partitions ensure lateral stability with minimal interior disruption.

PROJECT UPDATES

Sault Ste. Marie sells former hospital site 

Collapsed buildings fully demolished in Hamilton

Tower crane installed at 1071 King West

Saskatchewan’s Bekevar Wind Energy Facility now online

Ottawa reaches $92 million housing deal with Quebec

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

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

PHOTOS: 🚒 98-year-old fire hall crosses UBC campus

READ: 🏠 Could the mortgage renewal 'Wall' be smaller than anticipated?

RESEARCH: 💰 Survey highlights the ripples effect of the housing crisis

READ: 🏗️ Smog risk prompts construction ban in India

LIST: 👷‍♀️ 16 of Canada’s best industrial employers

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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.