Shovels went into the ground on the new Patient Support Centre at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto on October 22.

The launch of construction on the facility marks the beginning of the first of three stages of development, dubbed Project Horizon, that will last approximately 10 years and invest billions of dollars in construction.

Project Horizon will result in the renewal or renovation of virtually all clinical care and support areas of the hospital.

"Today we celebrated with our SickKids 'Catalyst' and 'Groundbreakers' donors – those who have put a stake in the ground with a commitment of over $1 million towards building a new SickKids," said Ted Garrard, Chief Executive Officer, SickKids Foundation. "These bold, forward-thinking individuals and organizations give our campaign momentum and inspire others to join the fight. Together, with their extraordinary support, a new SickKids will rise."

Construction of the Patient Support Centre (PSC) is being led by PCL Constructors. Once complete, the building will house SickKids Learning Institute, which supports over 1,000 world-class trainees, students and learners annually; a Simulation Centre for hands-on teaching; bright, modern workspace for professionals, management and support staff, as well as a variety of collaboration and activity spaces accessible to all staff from across the campus. The building itself will stand 22-storeys, and construction is expected to be completed in 2022.

According to architects B+H, the PSC will be the first project to comply with Toronto’s ­Tier 2 Building Standards. It will feature terraced green roofs contribute to the building’s sustainability and offer physicians and hospital staff further opportunities to engage with the city.

“The design of the new Patient Support Centre provides an important architectural framework for a workplace environment designed to transform the way SickKids works,” said Patrick Fejér, project lead and senior design principal at B+H in a statement. “The PSC is being designed to create an inspiring environment that supports the needs of health-care providers, fosters collaboration and helps to accelerate innovation.”

Phase two of the project is the Peter Gilgan Family Patient Care Tower: a new acute-care hospital tower that will feature 144 new patient beds, 120 new critical care beds built as single-patient rooms, a new blood and marrow transplant unit with specialized ventilation systems, approximately 19 new operating suites, and a new, emergency department featuring 51 treatment spaces. Construction of that facility is expected to finish in 2029.

The final phase of Project Horizon will feature renovations to the atrium hospital building to support new and renovated outpatient clinics.

"We're truly thrilled to have reached this significant milestone in our campus transformation. Moments like these are not possible without the vision and support of our dedicated staff, government partners, donors and the community," says Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of SickKids at the groundbreaking. "As we build a new SickKids, we are defining a new approach to paediatric medicine using precision child health to diagnose and then treat our individual patients. Today, we celebrate a major step forward in our journey to transform care delivery for children."

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has offered a series of recommendations to the new federal government after Monday’s election.

As the voice of the Canadian green building industry, the CaGBC is committed to advancing high-performance green building practices. Given Canada’s building stock contributes up to 17 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the industry can help the new government reduce carbon, create jobs, spur economic growth, deliver cost savings and better quality of life for Canadians.

A low-carbon building sector in Canada will require higher standards for new buildings and a commitment to retrofit existing ones. The council says it is pleased to see that the Liberal government pledged to invest $100 million in skills training for energy audits, retrofits and net-zero construction, and to make large commercial buildings more energy efficient with a national competition to create four $100-million long-term funds. This will help attract private capital that can be used for deep retrofits of large buildings. The plan also promised incentives for home owners to undertake retrofits and purchase zero emission homes.

The CaGBC’s recommendations are as follows.

Invest in Canada’s low carbon workforce transition

As Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy, it needs to develop a robust construction workforce with the capacity to develop, construct and manage high-performing smart green homes and offices.

Use the Canada Infrastructure Bank to stimulate the retrofit economy

Over 80 percent of existing buildings will still be in operation by 2030. CaGBC research shows retrofitting these buildings can reduce energy consumption, emissions and operating costs. However, these improvements require incentives to complement private sector financing. To build the confidence of lenders, the CaGBC introduced the Investor Confidence Project to de-risk investments in retrofits.

The CaGBC recommends that the government instruct the Canada Infrastructure Bank to include building retrofits as part of their infrastructure investment strategies by issuing the four $100-million long-term funds to support deep retrofits. This will further catalyze investor confidence and stimulate the economy while significantly lowering its GHG emissions.

Show leadership and innovation with zero-carbon buildings

Research by CaGBC demonstrates that zero-carbon buildings are not only technologically feasible, but they are also financially viable. On average, zero-carbon buildings can achieve a positive financial return over a 25-year lifecycle, inclusive of carbon pricing. CaGBC encourages the federal government to continue constructing and operating new buildings as zero-carbon, by adopting CaGBC’s Zero-Carbon Building Standard for all new federal buildings, along with an updated LEED Platinum policy.

CaGBC believes that Zero Carbon Buildings will be an important contributor to reach the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 set by the Liberal Party. The price on carbon will help to make these buildings even more affordable compared to business-as-usual homes.

Develop national building benchmarking and disclosure requirements

The lack of publicly available data on building performance is often a barrier to energy efficiency improvements. Open access data as demonstrated in CaGBC’s Disclosure Challenge can inform investment decisions resulting in both energy savings and billions of dollars in economic opportunity.

CaGBC recommends that the government of Canada should develop national building disclosure and benchmarking requirement guidelines, informed by industry and best practices or provide a nationally-based program that provinces or territories can join.

“We believe that Canada can compete in the global economy while re-affirming its commitment to lowering GHG emissions,” the council said in a release. “Canada’s retrofit economy is well-positioned to provide significant new sources of carbon reduction in addition to wealth generation and job creation over the medium-term. But to get there, we need the right workforce and fiscal incentives in place for the private and public sectors to help the retrofit economy realize its full potential. As Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy, government must prioritize actions that can prepare Canadians to capitalize on this opportunity.”

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