👀 Talent Thursdays: Suspects

Good morning! 👀 Have you seen these people? Police are looking to identify two individuals suspected of planting a bomb at the office of B.C.’s Minister of Infrastructure, Bowinn Ma on June 27. The homemade device caused minor damage and thankfully nobody was injured.  

What’s in the newsletter:

✍🏼 Study on stress

⚒️ WorkBC changes

👷‍♀️ Cape Breton strike

📈 LABOUR BY THE NUMBERS

The Conference Board of Canada forecasts that wage growth will accelerate in the coming years as slower population growth leads to tighter labour markets. While hiring demand is expected to remain subdued through 2025 due to trade uncertainty and weak business confidence, the federal government's efforts to limit immigration are already impacting labour supply. This shift is expected to create worker shortages, increasing competition for talent and driving wages above inflation. The report predicts unemployment will gradually fall to 5.8 per cent by 2027, despite ongoing challenges in housing, trade, and business investment linked to tensions with the United States.

👷‍♀️ PEOPLE MOVES

Craig Watters has been named COO of Concert Properties.

Denis Dubois has been appointed as President and CEO of Desjardins Group.

Colin Kehoe has joined Colliers' Development Advisory team in Vancouver as VP of Development, after six years at QuadReal.

Blaine Collett has joined the First Nations Major Projects Coalition as Senior Advisor of Project Development, bringing over two decades of experience in Indigenous-led project development and energy infrastructure.

Barry Charnish, Principal at Entuitive, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC).

Kathy Kadziela has been appointed as Director, Development, at Crozier, a leading engineering and consulting firm in the land development and building industry.

Paraic Treacy has joined Cascadia Green Development as Manager of Finance.

Grant Balacko has joined Anthem Properties as Senior Site Superintendent.

Marcio Teixeira da Silva has been promoted to Senior Development Manager, Private Partnerships at BC Builds.

Susan Thompson has been promoted to Director of Research at Colliers.

Barbara Oliveira has been promoted to Director Human Resources at Reliance Construction.

🗞 HEADLINES

🖥️ Tech swap: Hammad Chaudhry, former head of innovation at EllisDon, made a notable career shift from a senior role at the Tier 1 contractor to join construction tech startup Timescapes, driven by a desire to build products from within rather than just evaluate them from the outside. We spoke with Hammad to get the inside story behind his major move. 

📈 High stress: A new survey of over 1,000 construction workers in Nova Scotia reveals high levels of workplace stress, with more than 36% reporting high or very high stress and 40% considering leaving their jobs because of it. Conducted by Construction Safety Nova Scotia and WorkInsights, the study found stress is often linked to poor manager relationships and a persistent stigma around mental health, with many workers feeling uncomfortable discussing their struggles.

🛑 On strike: Unionized construction workers in Cape Breton have gone on strike, demanding wage increases after making concessions during the pandemic to keep projects moving. The strike affects major sites including hospitals, a university medical building, and roadwork projects, all of which have now halted. The unions say previous wage concessions were made with the understanding they would be addressed in future negotiations.

🧠 LEADERSHIP

Resources for professional development

• General contractor coach reveals biggest lessons

• Calculating project duration using the Takt Time formula 

• Breaking a corporate culture of overwork and burnout

• How to build a business that runs itself

• What AI agents are and how to harness them

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

When I was just starting out, a mentor gave me advice I’ll never forget: ‘If you’re doing your job right, you’re training your replacement.’ - Josh Gaglardi, President, Orion Construction

🔥HOT JOBS

Senior Project Coordinator - Pickering, Ont. - Bird Construction 

Senior Estimator - Aurora, Ont. - Matheson Constructors

Senior Environmental Project Manager - Burnaby, B.C. - FLINT Corp. 

Senior Financial Analyst - Mississauga, Ont. - Maple Reinders Group 

Senior Project Manager - Vancouver, B.C. - Urban One Builders

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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