👀 Talent Thursdays: Crack showing

Good morning! 👀 Is some crack showing? Flying AI-equipped robots can see it. Researchers at Concordia University have developed a new Segment-Any-Crack model that combines drone camera technology with image-based artificial intelligence to automate, accelerate, and improve the accuracy of infrastructure crack detection.

📈 BY THE NUMBERS

According to Statistics Canada's latest business survey, 61.8% of construction firms anticipate the cost of raw materials to be a primary business obstacle. This significantly outpaces the national cross-industry benchmark of 49.4% by 12.4 percentage points. Similarly, 58.3% of construction companies expect the cost of labour to squeeze operations. Fuel overheads are also an elevated concern, with 48.1% of companies flagging the cost of energy as a near-term hurdle.

EVENTS

The robots are already on the job

One of Canada’s biggest nuclear industry partners isn’t even human.

Byron House, Senior Director - Major Projects at Bruce Power, will join us at SiteSummit 2026 for Tech 201: Robotics, Automation & Innovation At The Edge Of What’s Possible, discussing what it actually means to integrate transformative technology into the nation’s ambitious nuclear program.

This is just one of the many can’t-miss conversations that’ll be taking place June 23-24 at George Brown’s Waterfront Campus in Toronto. Don’t miss out.

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Kelly Trice has joined AtkinsRéalis as Executive Vice-President, Global Services, Nuclear. He will lead the growth of the company's nuclear services business across the U.S. and EMEA regions.

Chris Bardell has been appointed Vice President, Alberta at ITC Construction Group. With more than 25 years of construction industry experience, Bardell will focus on client relationships, business development, and strategic growth across the region.

Megan Fielding has joined Capital Power as Vice President, Corporate Relations, following a year of consulting for global clients.

Ezequiel Machabanski has been promoted to Senior Vice President, AI and Digital Solutions at EllisDon. 

Gary Thompson is transitioning from CFO/COO of Wesgroup Properties to Chief Financial Officer of Wesgroup Contracting Ltd. Wesgroup Properties is launching an external search for a new Chief Financial Officer.

Aecon Group announces two leadership appointments: Scott Ryan has been appointed Senior Vice President, Canadian Nuclear Operations and Sam Bambino joins as Senior Vice President, U.S. Nuclear Operations

Andrew Hall has joined Allnorth Consultants as Project Development Manager, strengthening the company's technical leadership and execution capabilities in the pulp and paper sector.

Lucas Beck has joined Brookfield Properties as Vice President, Leasing, bringing over ten years of commercial real estate experience from his previous role in Calgary.

Denise Flemming has been promoted to Vice President at EllisDon, leading the Furniture, Equipment and Design (FED) division.

Aaron Latimer has started a new position as Development Manager, Canada with Bird Construction's Mission Critical Data Centre group based in Calgary.

Buildots welcomes Greg Dunkle, COO of STO Building Group, and Tim Coldwell, CEO of Énska, to its advisory board.

Anthony Liang has been appointed Senior Vice President at Colliers.

Grosvenor Property Canada has named a new executive leadership team, promoting Graham Drexel to COO and CFO, Jane Goode to EVP People and Performance, Robert Duteau to EVP Investment, and Michael Ward to EVP Development. 

Bruce Nelligan has stepped down from his role as President & CEO at WATT Consulting after leading the firm through significant growth and development of its professional team.

Crystal MacDonald, Director of Special Projects at Buttcon, has been appointed Chair of the company’s Women in Construction Committee.

Desiree Norwegian, CPA, Sr. Manager, Indigenous Relations at Aecon Nuclear, has been appointed as the incoming Chair of the Indigenous Relations Council at the Canadian Nuclear Association.

Leonardo Bonilla has joined WSP Canada's Marketing Team.

🗞 HEADLINES

🤝 LNG deal: Canada and Germany have signed a landmark 20-year agreement starting in the early 2030s to ship one million tons of liquified natural gas (LNG) annually from B.C. proposed Ksi Lisims project to Germany.

🪖 Top gun: AECOM has secured the top ranking on Defence Construction Canada’s (DCC) National Architecture and Engineering Source List for a multi-year procurement program with a total potential value of up to $270 million, marking the largest source list in DCC's history.

🍾 Breaking bottlenecks: Winnipeg is proposing a new cost-recovery system that allows developers who pay upfront for mandatory sewer and water upgrades to reclaim a proportional share of those costs from future neighboring projects that benefit from the added capacity. 

⛏️ Going underground: The Montreal Metro Blue Line extension project has reached a major milestone with the launch of its tunnel boring machine, named "Lisette" in honor of the subway network's first female operator, to begin horizontal mass excavation for 4.6 km of the 6 km tunnel extension.

AWARDS

Self-nomination isn’t just allowed … it's encouraged.

If you're under 40 and doing exceptional work in construction (or anywhere else in the industrial ecosystem), this program was made for people like you. 

40 Under 40 Industrial Leaders. Nominations are officially open. They close July 10.

🧠 INSIGHTS AND LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• Thinking outside the tee box in Canada’s north

• RAIC gives its thoughts on AI in architecture 

• How the blame game kills construction productivity

• Great leaders aren't cheerleaders or critics

• How an electrician pro curates their toolkit

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I feel like British Columbia is throwing the ball up and it's giving the federal government a chance to take that alley-oop and dunk it." - David Eby on the Ksi Lisims LNG agreement with Germany

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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