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Together with

Good morning! 🍻 The next station is… ice cold beer. Metro Vancouver’s TransLink has released its own limited edition brew: Platform Pilsner. Officials say sales will support local brewing partners and help fund critical transit activities

⏰ Today’s read: 6 minutes

MARKETS

Economy: The Canadian government is imposing new trade restrictions to curb the dumping of cheap foreign steel, targeting countries without free-trade agreements such as China, India, and Turkey. Imports from these nations will be capped at 2024 levels, with a 50% tariff applied to excess shipments.

TOGETHER WITH SOL

4 solar lighting myths get busted

Solar lighting just got a major upgrade. Sol by Sunna Design has revealed its new EverGen 3 system — built for reliability, efficiency, and performance in even the harshest environments. With decades of global experience, Sol customizes lighting solutions for whatever your situation may be. We spoke with the experts at Sol to get to the bottom of solar lighting myths and misconceptions. Check out the full piece below.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🚀 Concrete actions: Amrize has officially launched as an independent, publicly traded company following its spin-off from Holcim Ltd., debuting on the NYSE and SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker “AMRZ.” Headquartered in North America, the construction solutions provider operates over 1,000 sites with 19,000 employees across the U.S. and Canada.

🛎️ Checking in: Calgary has completed its first office-to-hotel conversion under the city’s downtown revitalization plan, opening the 226-room Element Calgary Downtown hotel in a former office tower. This milestone marks a key step in diversifying the downtown core, which has long struggled with high office vacancy rates following the 2015 oil crash and the COVID-19 pandemic.

⚡ Electrification: The Province of B.C. and BC Hydro have launched a pilot project in Vancouver aimed at enabling housing densification without major electrical service upgrades by using a smart panel developed by Burnaby-based Evectrix. Installed in a six-unit development on Chestnut Street, the panel manages real-time energy use—eliminating the need to upgrade from 200-amp to 400-amp service—even with full suite electrification and multiple high-demand loads.

🎯 New target: Canada’s national housing agency says it is no longer realistic to restore housing affordability to 2004 levels and will instead use 2019 as a benchmark, reflecting the lasting impact of the pandemic on home prices and living patterns. 

THE BIG STORY

Pain points: Developers struggle in challenging market

Vancouver developer Wesgroup has laid off 12% of its staff and announced it was delaying several projects. The reason: the condo market has stalled, and the cost of building has climbed to “unsustainable” levels.

“We’re in a cost-of-delivery crisis,” Wesgroup president Beau Jarvis said. “We’ve been taking it on the chin for the last 24 months, and it’s not sustainable anymore.”

Dire data: They aren’t the only ones. Rennie Group has laid of roughly a quarter of its staff. The broader picture is this: New condo sales in the Greater Toronto Area dropped by nearly 65% last year and in Vancouver, unsold condo inventory has reached decade-high levels. Over 28 condo projects across the country, representing nearly 6,000 units, have been paused or cancelled in the past year. 

How we got here: Interest rate hikes have made mortgages and development financing vastly more expensive, labour and material costs have skyrocketed, squeezing already-thin margins, uncertain returns have scared off investors, long and unpredictable approval processes make timing and budgeting difficult.

Outside the box: To avoid cancelling projects, many are offering deep buyer incentives, pivoting to rental models, seeking government partnerships or grants to offset costs or delaying launches in hopes of better market conditions.

Bottom line: Experts expect Canada’s condo market to remain weak this year, with persistent oversupply, slow sales, and falling prices. However, some developers are pivoting to purpose-built rental housing, though this transition has its challenges. While the near-term outlook is difficult, those able to adapt may benefit from a future supply crunch if demand rebounds.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Water park

The Taza Park Water Reservoir was constructed for Canderel Land Development Corp to support the Taza Park Development on the Tsuut’ina Nation near Calgary—one of North America’s largest First Nation-led projects. Built using collaborative and pull-planning construction methods, the reservoir provides essential potable water while incorporating sustainable features like demand-matched pump systems and glulam structural elements to reduce carbon and energy use.

PROJECT UPDATES

LNG Canada achieves first production of gas

Pattullo Bridge replacement project nears completion

Ontario pledges $70M for reactor servicing centre

Teck Resources receives certificate to extend B.C. copper mine

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

PHOTOS: 🚢 Cedar LNG’s floating vessel under construction in Korea

VIDEO: 🏠 How a mid-century modern home harnesses the sun

PHOTOS: 🏗️ Museum displays Ontario man’s epic LEGO build 

READ: 🚔 Construction extortion scheme linked to notorious gang

READ: 🚆 Maritime trains still chugging in Chile

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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.