The Grand Valley Construction Association (GVCA) will host its first-ever BOLD Awards next January.

Presented in conjunction with the association’s Leaders in Construction (LinC) group, and scheduled for January 23, the awards recognize those workers aged 40 and under who have made significant headway in their careers in the local construction industry.

For GVCA president Martha George, the awards are more than just a way of celebrating the best and brightest young industry talent. They’re a tool for encouraging employee retention in a highly competitive talent marketplace.

“The best way to recruit and retain excellent people is to recognize them and their achievements,” she says. “GVCA and our LinC committee are excited to announce the launch of the BOLD Awards – recognizing some of our brightest and best young professionals.

Nominations are open to anyone born in 1979 or later, and span seven categories:

• The Craft Award recognizes a skilled tradesperson who demonstrates an excellent standard of their craft to the industry through quality, leadership, customer service, skills and work performance.
• The Safety Award recognizes an individual who is a safety practitioner or professional, or someone with a designated safety role who demonstrates a true commitment to the continuous improvement of workplace health and safety.
• The Onsite Award recognizes that employee who brings outstanding interpersonal skills to the jobsite.
• The Leadership Award recognizes the individual who displays professionalism and ethical behaviour in the workplace.
• The Spirit Award is presented to the person who inspires others, and who actively works towards making their workplace or job site a more friendly, safe and pleasurable place to work.
• The Customer Service Excellence Award recognizes an individual for his or her customer service excellence which includes going above and beyond the call of duty with little or no concern for financial gain.
• The Outstanding Apprentice Award recognizes an individual who is highly skilled in their trade, who demonstrates an enduring desire to learn and a passion for the construction trades, and who makes safety a workplace priority.

Nominations for the awards are open until December 15. Anyone can nominate an individual who is an employee or owner of a GVCA member firm in good standing, and that meets the age requirement, and nominations can be provided through recommendations of employers, suppliers, colleagues or through self-nomination.

Learn more at gvca.org/bold.

Published Date: October 23, 2019

Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx announced on September 21 that the contract for the Hurontario LRT project has been awarded to the Mobilinx Hurontario General Partnership group. The project is worth approximately $4.6 billion, and will require the Mobilinx team will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the LRT for a 30-year term. 

The Hurontario LRT is an 18-kilometre, 19-stop light rail transit system that runs along Hurontario Street from Port Credit in Mississauga to Gateway Terminal in south Brampton. The LRT will operate in a separated guideway with traffic priority throughout most of the corridor.  

Members of the successful project consortium include:

• Applicant Lead: John Laing Investments Limited, Astaldi Canada Enterprises Inc., Hitachi Rail STS S.p.A., Transdev North America Inc., Amico Concessions Inc., Salini Impregilo Canada Holding Inc.
• Construction: Astaldi Canada Design & Construction Inc., Hitachi Rail STS Canada Inc., Amico Infrastructures Inc., Bot Infrastructure Ltd., Salini Impregilo Civil Works Inc.
• Design: IBI Group Professional Services (Canada) Inc., Hitachi Rail STS S.p.A., Morrison Hershfield, Arcadis Canada Inc., Daoust Lestage Inc., Exp Services Inc.
• Operation Maintenance & Rehabilitation Provider: Transdev Services Canada Inc., Hitachi Rail STS Canada Inc., Astaldi Canada Enterprises Inc., Salini Impregilo S.p.A.
• Financial Advisor: National Bank, HSBC

At the peak of construction, Mobilinx estimates that approximately 800 jobs will be created.

Design work will begin immediately with construction to follow. Mobilinx anticipates completion of the LRT in Fall 2024.

Within the consortium, Transdev will be responsible for operations, maintenance and rehabilitation. Throughout the construction and mobilization phase, Transdev will support its partners and advise them on all system operability aspects.

"We are proud of Infrastructure Ontario's and Metrolinx's confidence in our consortium", said Yann Leriche, CEO of Transdev North America. “This first Transdev light rail operations and maintenance contract in Canada confirms our leading position in the field, now in ten countries, and strengthens our belief in the value of public-private partnerships for the long-term success of major infrastructure projects

Published: October 22, 2019

Statistics Canada reported yesterday that the value of investments in building construction across the country rose by 1.4 percent in August. Gains in both the residential and non-residential sectors helped bring the total value of investments to $15.5 billion.

Investment in residential building construction rose 1.8 percent to $10.6 billion. The multi-unit component edged up 0.4 percent to $5.3 billion. Investment in single-unit construction increased 3.2 percent to $5.4 billion, slightly exceeding multi-unit residential investment.

Non-residential investment was up 0.5 percent to $4.9 billion. Both the commercial (+0.8 percent to $2.8 billion) and institutional (+0.2 percent to $1.1 billion) components edged up. The industrial component (-0.4 percent to $905.4 million) edged down in August.

Here in Ontario, building construction investment totaled $7.2 billion in August, an increase of slightly less than 8 percent. Investment in residential construction increased by 9.2 percent to $5.4 billion, while investment in the non-residential sector rose by 4.5 percent to $1.8 billion.