⛏️ Talent Thursdays: Excavated

Good morning! 🚧 An iconic excavator just got excavated. Heavy machinery that sank through the ice on Saskatchewan’s Quill Lakes has finally been removed after 11 years. The excavator fell in during a highway project, and while some locals saw it as a quirky monument, officials and residents welcomed the removal as a win for the environment in an ecologically important area for shorebirds.

What’s in the newsletter:

🐦 Bird’s latest acquisition

👷‍♂️Funding for Ontario training

🎙️New episode of our weekly podcast

📈 LABOUR BY THE NUMBERS

Workplace safety on B.C. construction sites has improved significantly over the past decades, with injury rates and WorkSafeBC assessment costs at record lows, though serious incidents still occur. Work-related deaths in the sector dropped to 25 in 2024, down from 54 in 2022, while injury rates fell to 3.3 per 100 workers compared to 7.3 in 1992. Industry leaders credit stronger training, enforcement, and safety culture, alongside union advocacy and employer investment in technology, though challenges remain in ensuring consistent standards across a diverse industry.

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Dawn Farrell, former head of Trans Mountain Corporation and TransAlta, has been appointed the Major Project Office’s first chief executive officer.

Beau Brooker has been chosen by Northcrest Developments to oversee construction work on the $30-billion redevelopment of the former Downsview Airport lands in Toronto. Brooker joined the company this sumer as Vice President of Construction. 

Hammad Chaudhry has started a new position as Principal, Strategic Ventures at Cupix. 

Nick McParland has been tapped as Hammersmith’s new Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. 

Rippan Bhattacharjee is starting a new position as Sustainability Lead - Rail & Transit at Parsons Corporation.

Alvin Tse has been promoted to Road Safety Lead at ISL where he has worked for over 12 years, contributing his expertise and leadership to advancing safer transportation systems across our communities.

Peter Macrae is now Director of Architecture at Omicron. A registered architect with 15 years of experience, Macrae brings expertise across a wide range of project types; from mixed use high-rise to boutique heritage infill, multi-modal transportation, community and institutional, and master planning.

Albert Chu has joined Omicron as its new Director of Construction. brings over 18 years of experience across the real estate, development, and construction industries.

Aldo Porra has joined Aecon as Preconstruction Manager. 

🎙️ PODCASTS

Check out the latest episode of Digging In

Stay on top of the biggest construction news stories with our weekly podcast. This week we break down the launch of the Major Projects Office, tech giants setting their sights on construction, huge news for Ontario projects and Westbank’s Sen̓áḵw exit.

🗞 HEADLINES

🐦 Sea bird: Bird Construction Inc. will acquire Fraser River Pile & Dredge (FRPD), Canada’s largest marine infrastructure and dredging firm, for $82.3 million in a deal set to close in late 2025 pending regulatory approval. Founded in 1911 and based in New Westminster, B.C., FRPD employs over 300 people and generates about $160 million in annual revenue, with expertise spanning marine construction, land foundations, dredging, and environmental remediation.

💰 Training funds: Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced more than $23 million in Skills Development Fund (SDF)  investments to train over 4,200 people in Mississauga and surrounding areas for jobs in high-demand sectors such as construction, health care, aerospace, and skilled trades. The funding will be distributed among 14 organizations offering hands-on programs ranging from masonry and electrical trades to health care, transportation, and youth mentorship. 

👷🏼‍♀️TFWs: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for an immediate shutdown of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, arguing it suppresses wages, shuts out Canadian youth from jobs, and primarily benefits large corporations. He proposed replacing it with a smaller, standalone program limited to agricultural labour that is “legitimately difficult-to-fill,” with a gradual phase-out in regions of low unemployment.

🏠 Homebuilding layoffs: Ontario’s home construction slowdown is beginning to cause widespread layoffs in the trades and planning sectors, raising concerns about the province’s economy and its housing targets. The Residential Construction Council of Ontario warns thousands of jobs are at risk as high-rise projects wrap up and new ones fail to launch due to financing challenges, rising costs from U.S. tariffs, and high interest rates. 

🧠 LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• CEO breaks down the new rules of B2B marketing

• Scale your construction business (and keep your freedom)

• Contractors, stop solving the wrong problems

• Embrace boredom: Put your phone down 

• Stop billing like an employee

• Retaining and upskilling your workforce

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We're in the process of laying off thousands of people right now. So, a year from now, give or take, those people that are working on all those high-rise projects that are getting finished are going to be unemployed, which is terrible." - Richard Lyall, CEO, RESCON

🔥HOT JOBS

Construction Supervisor - Atlantic/Ontario - 720 Modular

Director, VDC - Ottawa, Ont. - Modern Niagara

Project Manager - Edmonton, Alta. - EllisDon

Senior Project Manager - Calgary, Alta. - Bird Construction 

Project Manager, Electrical Construction - Surrey, B.C. - WPE

Senior Superintendent - Toronto, Ont. - Chandos

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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