NEWS BRIEFS
Advanced construction technolo-
gies and modern mass timber prod-
ucts are making building tall with
wood a viable option that is gaining
traction and appeal from design and
construction communities who face
growing pressures to reduce the car-
bon footprint of buildings. Wood prod-
uct based construction remains a
great solution to these challenges as it
is a renewable building material, origi-
nating from sustainably managed
forests in Canada.
Poor economy drags
Quebec construction
workers’ vacation pay
A poor economy is dragging the
construction industry down with it and
is being blamed for another decline in
the annual vacation pay for construc-
tion workers, says the Commission de
la construction du Québec, the Mon-
treal Gazette has reported.
The CCQ (Commission de la con-
struction de Quebec) reported that va-
cation pay is down three per cent
compared to figures for last year, mak-
ing it the third annual decline.
Approximately 147,000 vacation
pay cheques have been issued for a
total of approximately $364 million.
The two-week construction holiday
this year runs from July 24 to Aug. 6.
NEW BRUNSWICK
Construction has started
on Irving Oil Ltd.’s new
11-storey headquarters in
uptown Saint John
The start came a little over a month
after Saint John Council pushed
through the changes to the city’s Her-
itage Development bylaw, CBC re-
ports. Irving Oil president Ian Whitcomb
said in a news release that the new
home office project was an invest-
ment in the community and people.
“As our company continues to grow
in a very competitive industry, it be-
comes more and more important for
our people to be able to work together
in a modern and collaborative work en-
vironment.” CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA
The changes came after neighbour-
ing property owner Jim Bezanson ap-
pealed the company’s plans to the
province’s assessment and planning
appeal board in early April.
The Saint John heritage architect
and contractor took issue with the
building’s height and its positioning,
which didn’t comply with the city’s
heritage conservation area bylaws.
Despite it being too tall and too far
back from the sidewalk, the city’s Her-
itage Development Board approved
the plans for the company’s headquar-
ters. The exemption was given, in part,
because the board felt the plans fit the
King’s Square location where it would
be built.
Following the launch of the appeal,
Saint John city council fast tracked the
change to the bylaw after city resi-
dents and businesses rallied to sup-
port the Irving project.
After a three-week process, council
passed the changes on May 2.
The new building will bring 1,000
employees under one roof.
Toronto based B + H Architects
and landscape architect Alex Novell
designed the project. Irving Oil would
not disclose its costs, and none of the
published material outlines if the com-
pany has selected a general contractor
or is building it with its own resources.
Irving executive vice president
Sarah Irving said the support from the
community “has meant a lot to every-
one at our company.”
Federal government
allocates $38 million for
Base Gagetown training
centre construction
22 – September 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Defence minister Harjit Sajjan has
announced $38 million in federal fund-
ing to establish a training facility for
dealing with improvised explosive de-
vices, as well as other upgrades on the
military base.
A National Defence press release
says the bulk of the funding, up to $36
million, will go to Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia based contractor Maxim Con-
struction to build the facilities.
Another $2.3 million is being set
aside to improve infrastructure at the
base. That money will be used to re-
pair roads throughout the base that are
washed out, and to upgrade the
base’s airfield and its facilities.
“The major construction work that
is soon to begin will create new jobs
for residents, and will create growth
opportunities for businesses through-
out the Atlantic region,” said Sajjan.
The minister said that all work
should be completed by November,
2017. NOVA SCOTIA
Class action lawyers initiate
legal action about Halifax
Nova Centre construction
Several downtown business own-
ers—one of whom also happens to be
running for mayor—are taking legal ac-
tion over disruptions caused by the
Nova Centre’s construction, The Coast
reports. The Carleton, Attica and the
Wooden Monkey are “negotiating pro-
ceedings” against the municipal,
provincial and federal governments in
an effort to recover financial losses
they say were incurred from the hotel
and convention centre’s four years of
construction. “They were supposed to be done in
September 2015,” says Wooden Mon-
key co-owner Christine Bower. “It’s re-
ally changed, the timeline, and people
don’t know what it takes to stay open,
and pay your bills and keep your staff
employed.” Halifax’s Wagners law firm is repre-
senting the businesses in their notice,
which also names the Halifax Conven-
tion Centre Corporation, Argyle Devel-
opments and
Argyle’s parent
company, Rank Inc. as defendants.
“After years of unfruitful communi-
cations with the Nova Centre stake-
holders to make them aware of the
negative impact, some frustrated busi-
nesses have now decided to take legal
action,” says a press release from
Wagners. There isn’t a precise compensation
amount the group is looking for, says
Wagner’s Erin Gillis in an email, “but
it’s likely in the range of hundreds of
thousands of dollars per business.”
Halifax Regional Municipality says
its legal team had reviewed the docu-
mentation it received from Wagners
Law Firm, and concluded they “do not
believe a claim of injurious affection
under the Expropriation Act applies to
the municipality in this instance,”
spokesperson Tiffany Chase wrote in
an email to reporters.
The email outlines the legal team’s
interpretation of the act, saying injuri-
ous affection only applies if “the gov-
ernment expropriates the land,” or if
“the government is undertaking the
construction activity.”
“Neither scenario applies in this
case, therefore we see no basis for a
claim of injurious affection against the
municipality,” Chase wrote.
However, lawyer Ray Wagner says
he believes all three levels of govern-
ment are responsible for making sure
that the development doesn’t have a
negative effect on business in the
downtown core because they’re all in-
vesting in the project.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
$65 million Cornwall
Bypass gets go-ahead
Premier Wade MacLauchlan has an-
nounced that his government has
made a formal application to the fed-
eral government’s Build Canada Fund
to begin the $65 million Cornwall by-
pass project this summer, The
Guardian reports.
The proposed new highway, com-
ing from New Haven, would cut across
the Baltic Rd. and Bannockburn Rd. to
Clyde River Rd., across Cornwall Rd.,
rejoining the Trans-Canada Highway
through a roundabout at the intersec-
tion of Warren Grove Rd. The province
says the new highway will be three
minutes shorter than the current route
through Cornwall.
The cost will be shared 50-50 by the
P.E.I. and federal governments.
The premier said the province’s
$32.5 million share will come out of
next year’s capital budget.
“It would be (spread) over three
years and it would come out of our
capital budgets,’’ MacLauchlan told
The Guardian following the news con-
ference. “We’ll be bringing forward a
new capital budget in the fall.’’
NUNAVUT $10 million Cape Dorset
project wins boost with
$4.5 million funding
from Canada’s Heritage
Department A campaign to build a new $10 mil-
lion art centre and print shop in Cape
Dorset, Nunavut, has received an ad-
ditional $4.5 million funding boost
from Canada’s heritage department,
CBC has reported.
Construction on the proposed
Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print
Shop is scheduled to begin in the fall.
The facility will include permanent and
temporary exhibition galleries and
space for Cape Dorset print artists.
The federal government had previ-
ously pledged $2 million in funding
from Infrastructure Canada. An addi-
tional $3 million is to be privately
funded. NEWFOUNDLAND
AND LABRADOR
Contractor wins
$6.9 million St. John’s
school construction
project after long debate
YUKON Magna Contracting and Manage-
ment Inc. has been awarded a $6.9
million contract to build a new Virginia
Park School in St. John’s.
The 40-year-old school in the city’s
east end has been the subject of a
long debate, as parents in the area
have lobbied for years for a replace-
ment to the building.
The reconstruction faced several
delays, including one which may have
been caused by the fact that the site
was used as a dumping ground by the
American military, CBC reported.
Construction crews found an old
airplane fuselage on the site.
The land has been remediated. The
school has 2017 move in date.
Feds to flow $52.3 million in
infrastructure funding
The federal government has un-
veiled an agreement with the Yukon
government that will allow almost
$52.3 million in infrastructure money
to flow to 22 projects in the Yukon this
year and next.
The deal will cover $890,000 for
transit work in Whitehorse and green
infrastructure work on water and
wastewater systems, including a
$5.25 million water project in the vil-
lage of Mayo, Canadian Press reports.
Only two of the 22 projects will
have shovels in the ground this year,
with the remainder beginning in 2017,
said Currie Dixon, Yukon’s minister of
community services. The territory will
spend money this year on engineering
and design work, he said.
The Canadian Design and Construction Report — September 2016 – 23