CCA Wins 2016 Workplace Inclusion Leadership Award

Indigenous Works (formerly the Aboriginal Human Resource Council) announced the recipients of its 2016 Workplace Inclusion Leadership Awards. The awards recognize the importance of Indigenous workplace inclusion and honour employers who are striving to attract, support and develop Indigenous talent. The Performance Category recognizes exemplary inclusion strategies, practices and behaviours that resulted in positive outcomes for businesses and the Indigenous community. This year’s winners include Syncrude Canada for its achievements across the organization including employment, procurement, corporate social responsibility and leadership; Suncor Energy for its extensive Indigenous human resource systems review; and, the Canadian Construction Association and its board of directors for its first ever Indigenous Engagement Guide for industry. Read more or learn more about the Indigenous Engagement Guide

A Word From the Desk of Finn Poschmann: A 17th Century Solution to a 21st Century Challenge

As governments seek to find the right infrastructure projects to invest in — and the money to pay for them — APEC’s President and CEO, Finn Poschmann, suggests looking back several centuries for inspiration. Read more.

IO Unveils Vendor Performance Program for RFQ Phase

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) chose the recent Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP) conference in Toronto to unveil a new vendor performance program that could result in penalties that would affect contractors’ rankings at the RFQ stage of IO projects. Read more

Emerging Drone Applications in Heavy/Highway Construction

As industries across the United States and Canada rush to seize the exciting potential benefits provided by commercial drones, the construction sector appears poised to take advantage of drones to reduce costs, improve accuracy and drive efficiency. Read more

Seattle Bridge Designed to Bounce Back After Earthquakes

Infrastructure design imperatives have evolved from survivability to resilience as part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct project in Seattle, where a bridge at the south end of the tunnel is being touted as nearly earthquake-proof, according to KING 5.Read more

Dispelling Myths About Lean Construction

When I met John Shook, one of the world’s leading lean management experts in Boston at the Lean Construction Institute Congress in 2015, a colleague asked him how far the construction industry in the U.S. has come with lean construction after 17 years. He responded, “We’re still crawling.” Read more

Prepare for Cyber Threats to Infrastructure, Ridge Urges

Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge issued a stern warning to delegates at the recent Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP) conference in Toronto that cyber attacks could have profound consequences on critical infrastructure and urged them to consider cyber security as an integral part of builds rather than an afterthought. Read more

Sohi Tries to Dispel Fears About Private Investment In Public Infrastructure

The Trudeau government is trying to dispel fears about its plan to tap some of the world’s wealthiest institutional investors to help fund infrastructure projects in Canada. Read more

Canadian P3s Deliver Economic Boost, Finds CANCEA Report

Canadian public-private partnerships (P3) have generated an economic boost of nearly $12 billion from their current portfolio of projects indicates a report by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA). Read more