☕️ Talent Thursdays: Slow drip

Good morning! 🎮 Grab a cup of coffee while moving some dirt in Nova Scotia. Digger’s Café lets customers operate remote-controlled construction equipment in a giant sandbox, from excavators and bulldozers to dump trucks. Owner Jon Keddy says the concept is designed for all ages, offering a way to relax through play.

📈 BY THE NUMBERS

A recent survey of nearly 400 Canadian organizations found that businesses are projecting average salary increases of 3% this year, slightly below last summer’s 3.1% expectation for non-unionized employees. Amid ongoing economic and trade uncertainties, most organizations are maintaining cautious, gradual salary budgets, with nearly three-quarters keeping their original projections, 16% reducing them, and 10% planning increases.

🥂 EVENTS

Construction’s Best, Celebrated (...With Limited Seats Remaining)

Hundreds of nominations. Eight categories. The top 1% of talent.

ICYMI (but we know you didn’t), we’ve officially announced the 2026 Site Service Awards finalists. And now, the industry is set to gather and raise a glass to the people who power Canada’s built environment.

Taking over the Vancouver Urban Winery on February 26, the Site Service Awards are more than an awards night. They’re a celebration of leadership, craftsmanship, and the individuals shaping construction from the ground up.

Think: high-level networking, a curated family-style dinner, wine and beer tastings, and the live, on-stage reveal of one winner per category. In short, it’ll be a night to remember. 

Public tickets are extremely limited, but a small number remain, and one of them could be yours.

To secure your seat, click here, and use promo code INSIDER for 15% off while supplies last.

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Brian Spilak has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer at Cooper Equipment Rentals Limited, effective March 1, 2026. Doug Dougherty is transitioning to Executive Chair of the Board of Directors.

Robert Horvath has been appointed President of Metro-Can Construction. 

Khristian McGrath has been promoted to Special Projects Manager for PCL Atlantic Canada. McGrath has been with PCL for over 20 years, most recently serving as Construction Manager.

Aisha Ali has been appointed as the new President of Premier Construction Software.

Brad McGrath is now Manager, Operations for Synergy Projects’ Calgary district. He previously spent nearly 20 years with Ledcor.

McElhanney has hired Darcy Chattell as Vice President of People and Culture. Chattell brings more than 20 years of HR leadership experience.

Dallas Miles has been promoted to Project Director at Durwest.

Pamela Schroeder, CHRP has joined PCL's Atlantic Canada team as HR/PD Manager. She brings nearly nine years of experience with PCL, most recently serving as District HR/PD Advisor in Ottawa.

Farah Benjamin has been appointed Director, Project Controls at Clark Builders.

Santosh Mohanan has been promoted to Executive Vice President at Canstar Restorations.

Sy Selick has been promoted to Senior Principal at Stantec after 17 years with the firm.

Max von Kleist is starting a new position as Stakeholder Engagement Lead - Cross Fraser Partnership (Fraser River Tunnel Project) at Bouygues Construction Canada.

Andrea Rawas has joined Bird Construction as Manager, Internal Communications.

Tianna Sarra has joined SitePartners as a Social Media Coordinator. 

🗞 HEADLINES

🤝 Reconciliation: B.C. Premier David Eby plans to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) to clarify that reconciliation should not be decided by court decisions. The move follows recent rulings which have raised concerns about private property rights. Eby emphasized that Indigenous land claims predate DRIPA and that repealing the legislation would increase conflict and slow projects, while amendments would reinforce cooperative frameworks with First Nations.

🔥 Bridge danger: A fire in a vacant industrial building at the foot of Montreal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge forced the full closure of the major crossing Wednesday due to heavy smoke and concerns the structure could collapse onto the bridge’s pillars. Firefighters were called late Tuesday night after the blaze spread through the three-storey building, prompting the federal bridge authority to shut down the span early Wednesday morning. 

💰 Critical work: The federal and Quebec governments have signed a memorandum of understanding and housing infrastructure agreement that will see nearly $1B in federal funding flow through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate residential construction and expand affordable housing across Quebec.

🏅Order of Canada: Mandy Rennehan, a self-made construction entrepreneur from Nova Scotia, was named an officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her impact on the skilled trades and her advocacy for women and under-represented groups. She founded Freshco at 19, building it into a multi-million-dollar maintenance and reconstruction firm serving Fortune 500 companies. By 27 she was a millionaire

🧠 INSIGHTS AND LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• Hiring in Ontario? These new laws impact you 

• Don’t BEAT your rivals. Learn from them

• The new rules of LinkedIn (and how harness them)

• Manage your time like a top CEO

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“What is our only hope if this Greenland stuff continues? Churchill. Canada has a lot of great plans for the future, but there’s only one port and one rail line that feeds the Arctic and that would be absolutely essential for us to maintain sovereignty in Canada’s Arctic.” - Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew on expanding the province’s infrastructure

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!

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