🌵 Talent Thursdays: Dehydrated

Good morning! 🫡 Lead the way? No thanks. Deloitte’s latest Gen Z and Millennial Survey reveals that only 6% of young workers aspire to traditional leadership roles. However, they remain highly ambitious, prioritizing continuous learning, mentorship, and purpose over corporate climbing.

📈 BY THE NUMBERS

Canada saw meaningful housing supply gains in 2025, with construction rising 6% to 259,000 units, driven largely by record rental starts and a 10% increase in "missing middle" housing like multiplexes and row homes — trends that helped ease rent growth and raise vacancy rates. However, the ownership market, particularly condos, faces serious challenges: presales collapsed, unsold inventory surged, and developers are struggling to secure financing, putting future supply — especially in Toronto and Vancouver — at risk.

EVENTS

CALIBRATED: only 1 day left for early bird tickets

CALIBRATED, landing in Vancouver on May 13, is a one-day leadership experience for women in industrial, infrastructure, and technical roles who navigate high-stakes, high-pressure environments every day.

More than a motivational conference, you’ll gain practical tools to regulate stress, sharpen focus, and build executive presence, all tailored to the realities of male-dominated industries. 

Through workshops, panels, and hands-on exercise, you’ll leave with a 90-day leadership action plan you can actually use.

Early bird pricing is available for just one more day so use the link below to secure your tickets now. 

*Presented by SiteMedia x Shauna Moran

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Trevor Doucette of the Synergy Group of Companies has been elected Chair of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Construction Association's 2026-2027 term, succeeding Francis Roy of Humaco Group.

Jeff Lyash has been appointed to Aecon's Board of Directors, effective immediately. With four decades of nuclear and power industry experience, Lyash will stand for election as a Director at the company's Annual General Meeting on June 1.

Leslie Mihalik has been appointed President of Ashco and the Associated Engineering group of companies, effective June 27, 2026. He brings over 35 years of engineering experience, including 25 years with Associated Engineering.

Nicole Vincent is now Vice President at Turnbull Construction Project Managers Ltd.

Ken Devlin has been promoted to Vice President of Construction at Astra Group. In this role, he will lead the company's office-to-residential conversions and adaptive reuse projects contributing to the revitalization of Downtown Calgary.

Chris Jakul has accepted the role of CEO at JL Filtration.

Cayley Van Hemmen has been promoted to Business Manager of Turner Construction Company's Vancouver Business Unit, effective March 11th upon her return from maternity leave.

George Wadsworth has been appointed President of Pitbull Energy Services. Wadsworth brings over three decades of leadership experience in the energy services sector, with previous roles including President and CEO of Canary Biofuels and Executive Vice President of Drilling and Production Services at SECURE Energy Services.

🗞 HEADLINES

✈️ Out of runway: Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that the province will take over control of Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Island from the City of Toronto, calling it a "crown jewel" and economic driver. The city will be compensated for the land value and roughly $5 million in annual lost revenue. Ford's move is tied to his push to extend the runway and allow jets at the downtown airport.

⌚ Halftime: Burnaby is more than halfway through the largest capital construction program in its history — a $900 million-plus initiative spanning four major projects: the Burnaby Lake Recreation Complex, the Cameron Community Centre and Library, the James Cowan Theatre replacement at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts , and a new Community Safety Building. 

💧 Dehydrated: Calgary has shut down the Bearspaw South Feeder Main for four weeks of reinforcement work, during which crews will construct exterior steel cages and pour concrete around nine pipe segments. This means more water restrictions for residents. The repairs are a stopgap measure while a permanent replacement pipe is being built — with phase one already underway using microtunnelling and phase two set to begin in May.

🎥 Showtime: The Canadian Construction Association is launching an 11-episode national docuseries called the Construction for Canadians Tour, beginning filming in June. The series will visit 21 active and completed construction sites across all 10 provinces, aiming to pull back the curtain on the planning, skilled trades, and coordination behind major infrastructure projects.

🧠 INSIGHTS AND LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• Promoting your best worker is a big mistake

• Enough talk: Making jobsites welcoming for women

• Get ruthless: make more, do less in construction

• The only career advantage that actually compounds

• The challenges of construction administration travel

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“When I get up, I love going to work. I really like running cranes. I know a lot of people don’t feel that way, but I’ve never felt this way about a job before. I’m passionate about it. It’s very serious, there’s a lot of accountability, and I think I like that. I like being held accountable, I like having responsibility, and at the same time, it’s also kind of fun. You kind of feel like a magician.” - Crane Operator Manuela Preis

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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