🖨️ Talent Thursdays: Home printer

Good morning! 🪜 Noticing fewer and fewer rungs on the corporate ladder? Small and mid-sized businesses are increasingly embracing the “Great Flattening,” doubling the number of individual contributors per manager from about three in 2019 to six in 2024. Driven largely by rising labor costs and unfilled vacancies as managers retire or move on, experts warn this shift reduces hierarchy but risks weakening mentorship, team development, and productivity.

What’s in the newsletter:

🖨️ Indigenous housing

👷 $13M for green construction training

 💨 Air quality concerns

📈 LABOUR BY THE NUMBERS

A recent Anagram survey of 500 full-time employees found that 78% use AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or CoPilot at work—often without clear employer policies—and 45% admitted to using banned tools, with over a quarter doing so in the past week. Many workers knowingly risk violating company rules, with 40% willing to break policy to complete tasks faster and 58% having entered sensitive data into AI systems.

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Nick Milestone is now Chief Operating Officer at Mercer Mass Timber.

Paris Lavan has joined Beedie as Director of Leasing for their Industrial team, bringing over a decade of experience in landlord and tenant representation from her previous brokerage career.

Danish Javed has stepped into the role of Director of Construction Systems & VDC at Lundy Construction Inc.

Aldo Porra is now Preconstruction Manager at Aecon Group Inc.

Trevor E. has been promoted to Field Operations Manager at Mission Group.

Jennifer Fraser has left her role as Project Executive with the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit after 17 years.

Michael Brimer has been appointed as Vice President of Construction at Townline Group of Companies, bringing over 25 years of experience in large-scale commercial construction projects across North America.

Scott Armstrong has joined Entuitive as a senior associate in the firm's building envelope and sustainability team, based in Toronto.

Laura Samson, a former 40 Under 40 in Canadian Construction Winner, has started a new role as Director, Airport Operations at Calgary Airports. 

Sam Fuller has been promoted to President of Thomas Fuller Construction Co. 

Brad Quartel is now Vice President at Thompson Construction Group. 

🗞 HEADLINES

🏠 Printed housing: McMaster University and Horizon Legacy have launched a multi-year collaboration, supported by an NSERC Alliance Advantage Grant, to advance the use of 3D concrete printing for multi-story residential construction. Partnering with Two Row Architect on the Eh ni da se project—the world’s largest Indigenous housing initiative using onsite robotics.

📚 Free knowledge: George Brown College has launched a free, government-funded training program for newcomers and immigrants with construction or engineering backgrounds to address Ontario’s “critical” shortage of building code officials. Developed with the Ontario Building Officials Association, the program will accept 50 students this fall.

⚡ Recharge: Canada has announced over $13 million in funding to strengthen the skilled trades workforce and advance green construction. Speaking at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers conference, officials detailed nearly $10 million for the Western Joint Electrical Training Society. The funding will benefit about 17,350 workers, helping them gain or upgrade skills to meet Canada’s net-zero, housing, and productivity goals.

🔥 Air quality: The Ontario Federation of Labour is calling for stronger worker protections against extreme heat and poor air quality, citing increased wildfire smoke and climate change impacts on job conditions. Working with the provincial NDP, the federation plans to present data this fall from heat, humidity, and air quality monitoring in workplaces across Ontario to push for updated regulations, as current laws only address cold weather.

🧠 LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• Pricing secrets for savvy contractors

• Feeling imposter syndrome? Lean into it

• It’s time to stop solving your team’s problems

• What being a great CEO requires 

• Missing this contract line cost $200K

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Why does affordable housing need to look affordable?” - Daniel Ling, a principal at Montgomery Sisam

🔥HOT JOBS

Modular Construction Superintendent - Atlantic/Ontario - 720 Modular

Senior Project Manager - Toronto, Ont. - Pomerleau

Wood Frame Superintendent - Vancouver, B.C. - Marcon

Project Manager, Real Estate - Edmonton, Alta. - Turner & Townsend

Construction Senior Superintendent - Edmonton, Alta. - 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.

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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