👷Talent Thursdays: Agenda drop

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Good morning! ⚾ Seventeen years ago, a Red Sox fan secretly buried a David Ortiz jersey in the concrete of the new Yankee Stadium—sparking fears of a curse. Turner Construction, alerted to the prank, quickly mobilized. Using a demolition hammer late one night, they successfully extracted it.

📈 LABOUR BY THE NUMBERS

The 2025–2034 BuildForce Canada forecast anticipates steady growth in both residential and non-residential construction sectors across the country. While residential construction saw a dip since its 2021 peak, it is expected to rebound by 2026, initially led by renewed new-home builds and later sustained by strong renovation demand. Non-residential activity has been rising since 2020, projected to peak in 2027 due to major engineering and institutional projects nationwide, before moderating into 2030 and picking up slightly in the final years.

TOGETHER WITH GARDAWORLD SECURITY SYSTEMS

SiteSummit: How GardaWorld secures sites with AI

GardaWorld Security Systems is excited to be an exhibitor at SiteSummit, where we’ll be showcasing our highly anticipated Pro Solar+ Mobile Surveillance Unit (MSU). Designed to tackle the growing challenges of construction site theft and vandalism, our MSU features AI-powered cameras that provide real-time detection and proactive threat prevention—helping you secure your site like never before. As a proudly Canadian company, we’re continuing to expand and bring innovative security solutions to construction sites from coast to coast. See this technology in action and meet our team from Stealth Monitoring, the industry leader in live video surveillance and remote monitoring, recently acquired by GardaWorld. Learn how AI-driven surveillance can help you reduce losses, improve safety, and keep your projects on track.

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Markus Kritzler is now Chief Revenue Officer at Carbon Upcycling. With over 20 years of strategy and executive experience, Kritzler joins Carbon Upcycling at a pivotal time as the company advances toward its flagship commercial-scale project at one of Canada’s largest cement plants.

Adam Hill is now Chief Financial Officer at Metric Civil Contractors. Hill is a CPA with over a decade of finance leadership across construction, manufacturing, and insurance.

Mario Baker has joined the Americas Economic Data team at Bloomberg News as Economic Data Editor. Previously, Baker spent four years at the Canadian Construction Association as its Senior Analyst, Economics and Policy. 

Gabrielle Saine and Shlomo Benarroch have joined Avison Young as Principals. Both bring 17 years of dedicated commercial real estate experience and complementary expertise deeply rooted in the Montréal market.

Owen Moore is now General Manager at Steel Wings Industrial Limited. 

Brian Maksymetz, Lead Consultant and Owner of Better Projects, has been appointed to the National Advisory Council for Civil Infrastructure by the Canadian Construction Association. 

Ritu Ahuja is now Director of Lean Integration at Kinetic.

📆 EVENTS

SiteSummit speaker list + agenda goes live

The biggest names in construction are descending upon North Vancouver for the groundbreaking SiteSummit! Discover an action-packed two-day agenda (now live) designed to equip you with tangible strategies for talent attraction, invaluable developer insights, the latest in mass timber tech, a strategic CEO roundtable, practical tools for boosting productivity, real solutions for conquering the housing crisis, and much more – the complete agenda is now available! Our epic lineup of speakers promises to inspire, and we have even more industry-titans to be announced in the coming days. Don't delay – secure your tickets today before they're gone!

📍 Where: The Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver, B.C. 

⌚ When: May 26-27

🗞 HEADLINES

Relief package: 💰 Ontario has announced a $11B support package to help workers and businesses navigate the impact of U.S. tariffs. Key measures include a six-month tax deferral program covering business-focused taxes, providing up to $9B in cash flow relief to about 80,000 businesses from April 1 to October 1, 2025, without interest or penalties. They also introduced a second $2B WSIB surplus rebate for safe employers. Additional support includes eliminating the Certificate of Qualification exam fee for first-time apprentices and committing $400 million to WSIB-developed health and safety programs.

Boots to fill: 🥾 Support Ontario Youth has wrapped up another season of its Tools in the Trades Boot Camp, engaging 1,089 participants in hands-on skilled trades training and industry networking. The program, aimed at helping individuals explore career paths in the trades, reported high satisfaction (94%) and notable outcomes, including 71 participants securing employment. High interest was seen in trades like Residential Air Conditioning Systems Mechanic and Construction and Maintenance Electrician, both exceeding participation targets.

Starting line: ⚒️ St. Lawrence College has launched the Skills Start program in Cornwall, supported by a $100,000 donation from the RBC Foundation, to address the skilled trades shortage in Eastern Ontario. Offered at no cost to participants, the program provides 15 trainees with nine weeks of in-class Millwright instruction, followed by an eight-week paid placement, along with essential tools, safety gear, and wraparound supports like childcare subsidies. The initiative aims to help fill the projected gap of 700,000 tradespeople retiring by 2028.

🧠 LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• The rise of the critical thinking generalist

• A better way to view your business competitors

• Why is it so hard to mass-produce housing? 

• What builders should know about the upcoming election

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."

— Peter Drucker, Management Consultant

🔥HOT JOBS

Energy Manager - Vancouver, B.C. - Bosa Properties

Electrical Project Manager - Dartmouth, N.S. - Black & McDonald

Construction Project Manager, Transportation - Edmonton, Alta. - ISL

Team Leader, Construction Services - Esquimalt, B.C. - Defence Construction Canada

Check out all roles up for grabs right now at SiteNews Jobs or put your job post in front of tens of thousands of construction professionals here.

Struggling to fill a role? send us an email at [email protected] to connect with one of our specialized recruitment experts.

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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