J.L. Richards & Associates Limited (JLR) was selected from a field of hundreds of other applicants to win a 2013 Canada’s Best Managed Companies award.

The prestigious national award is sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post, Queen’s School of Business and MacKay CEO Forums.

“This award is in recognition of the skills and dedication of our employees to the success of the firm and to our clients,” stated JLR President Guy Cormier.

JLR is a mid-sized architectural, engineering and planning firm offering high quality, integrated, multidisciplinary services across a broad range of sectors and geographic regions. The firm’s head office is in Ottawa, Ontario.

JLR’s core services are building science, offering multidisciplinary teams of architects and all the requisite engineering disciplines – structural, mechanical and electrical; civil municipal engineering; mining/industrial engineering; and municipal planning.

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Cineplex Entertainment plans to open one of Canada’s most luxurious and technically advanced movie theatres in Lansdowne, Ottawa.

The 10 screen theatre will be opened late this year. It will feature three VIP Cinema auditoriums, an UltraAVX auditorium and six traditional auditoriums. Cineplex Cinemas Lansdowne and VIP will seat more than 1,700 guests and provide entertainment for all age groups.

The theatre will also be home to an XSCAPE Entertainment Centre, which offers the latest in redemptive video and interactive games. Redemption gaming rewards guests with tickets, which they can redeem for great prizes.

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“As major projects gear up and wind down, building a new and mobile workforce is an industry priority,” said Rosemary Sparks, executive director of BuildForce Canada. “This will help fill the skills gap, as up to one-quarter of the construction workforce retires over the next decade.”

The 2014–2023 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward forecast released by BuildForce Canada shows strong labour demands continue in the West as some markets slow in the East. As a result, more workers from other provinces and countries are needed, especially during peak periods.

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The announcement was made by the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada and the Hon. Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs.

“Federal infrastructure investment has been the catalyst leading national infrastructure renewal efforts for the past ten years,” said Michael Atkinson, President of CCA. “We are pleased that the Building Canada Fund will remain a key driver for this continued effort ensuring pan-Canadian leadership in the development of the trade-enabling infrastructure Canada will require to remain globally competitive for the next fifty years.”

“Our members welcome the news that the government will begin accepting applications as of April 1st,” said John Gamble, ACEC President. “The certainty provided by today’s announcement permits provinces, territories and municipalities alike to initiate the important design and engineering work required for the application process.”

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“Sustained investment in infrastructure is critical to Canada’s long-term economic growth,” said Michael Atkinson, president of the Canadian Construction Association. “The additional federal commitments announced today, together with the earlier announced 10-year $53 billion Building Canada Plan effective April 1, 2014, will help governments across Canada continue the process of infrastructure renewal and set Canada on the path to a more globally competitive economy.”

The budget announced an additional $1.3 billion over two years in strategic investments in public infrastructure and transportation services, including $470 million over two years for procurement and project delivery costs associated with the Windsor-Detroit International Crossing.

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The government removed the detailed diagrams of the top-secret military spy operations centreon Leitrim Road in south Ottawa that had been posted online, reports The Ottawa Citizen.

The diagramsappeared online on Feb. 5 and were removed by the government on Feb. 7, according to the news report.

A dozen of the drawings of the command center at Canadian Forces Station Leitrim in Ottawa were posted as part of a construction tender by Public Works and Government Services Canada.

The Canadian Forces Station Leitrim, the country’s oldest signals intelligence listening post targeting foreign electronic communications, supports the cryptography operations of Communications Security Establishment Canada, the coding, decoding and analytics agency that provides the federal government with foreign intelligence and computer network security.

“Quite frankly I was startled to see the diagrams there, and the degree to which the detail was there,” said Tom Quiggin, who worked in military operations centres for 20 years and specializes in intelligence work, CBC News reports.

“If you layer the information that’s there, which is to say, look at the actual diagram of the ops centre itself — and it shows the number of chairs, the number of people, the positions they work at, et cetera — and then layer that over the wiring diagram, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and everything else, you can get a pretty good idea of what all is in there, how many people work there and how the workflow and procedures would go through.”

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The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), headquartered in Ottawa, is seeking nominees for the 2014 Leadership Award.

Each year, the CaGBC recognizes organizations and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the council’s mission and goals in advancing green building in Canada.

The Leadership Awards categories are: The Academic Leadership Award; The Emerging Green Builder Leadership Award; The Government Leadership Award; The Volunteer Leadership Award; The Chapter Leadership Award; The Green Building Champion Award; The Industry Leadership Award; and The Lifetime Achievement Award.

The deadline for nominations is January 31, 2014.

All nominations must be submitted via CaGBC online application process.

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The Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is seeking a contractor for major renovations to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge.

The estimated cost for the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge project is about $5 million. The Macdonald-Cartier Bridge is located between Gatineau, Quebec, and Ottawa, Ontario, according to a bid posted by PWGSC.

The project involves seismic retrofit of the bridge and the rehabilitation of deteriorating components, specifically the deck, sidewalks, lighting system, barriers, concrete surfaces of pillars and abutments. Work will be required to be completed within 104 weeks after contract award.

The successful bidder would be required to retain Quality Verification Engineers (QVE) throughout the contract period. QVE must be a professional engineer licensed in both Ontario and Quebec.

Bidding will close on Feb. 12.

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Dear editor:

Governments don’t create jobs. Former premier Mike Harris correctly pointed out in his Common Sense Revolution that it is a government’s responsibility and obligation to create a positive economic and investment climate to allow businesses to create jobs.

Right now the Ontario government has an opportunity to do just that, yet seems to be stalling.

Vaughan MPP Steven Del Duca’s Bill 69, Prompt Payment Act, 2013, would oblige construction developers to pay their contractors and sub-contractors within a reasonable timeframe after work has been completed. This is not a novel concept for anyone outside of the construction industry. Just ask anyone who has ever had a utility or their cable tv or telephone cut off for non-payment.

Money flows in the construction industry from developers to general contractors to trade and sub-contractors and so on down the line. It is the trade and sub-contractors at the bottom of the pyramid who hire employees to do the work, creating jobs and driving the economy forward. Unfortunately, a different set of standards seem to apply in construction that wouldn’t be tolerated in any other sector.

Late payment has become more the norm than the exception, which in turn prevents a small contractor from hiring new employees, paying their own bills and tax obligations, and in extreme cases, from meeting payroll.

As an example, just one residential drywall contractor has recently been reported in the media as having account receivables of $7.6 million, $6 million of which is more than 120 days past due.

One would think that in a minority government if you have a piece of legislation that all three parties support, and which would appear to be the morally right thing to do, and which would seem to make economic and common sense, that it should be a no-brainer. Yet that’s not what is happening.

Mr. Del Duca, a Liberal MPP, introduced his Private Member’s Bill last May, six months ago. It passed second reading with support from all three parties and was referred to a committee for public hearings. But nothing has so far been scheduled for the committee to deal with the bill and the Legislature will adjourn for its Christmas break in a few weeks, returning in February.

The Conservative party seems more supportive of this legislation than Mr. Del Duca’s own governing party.  PC labour critic Monte McNaughton has raised the issue in Question Period for the second time in less than a month. “Premier, is Bill 69 a priority for your Liberal government? And if so, when do you expect to move forward on this important piece of legislation?”

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s response was: “The bill will move through the normal course of the process in the Legislature. There will be an opportunity for debate and a vote.”

The only problem with that is, in the normal course of process, most private members bills never see the light of day.

Sincerely,

Jeff Koller, industry compliance officer

Ontario Construction Finishing Industries Alliance

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Ottawa Construction News staff writer

The provincial government is implementing a review of Ontario’s Development Charges Act and land use planning and appeal system at the request of Ontario’s municipalities, indicating the possibility of more onerous development charges, while municipal authorities seek greater power to review planning appeals before they reach the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

This consultation could be the first stage of a “quantum leap” in development charges and possibly a more onerous appeal/review processes, Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA) president Pierre Dufresene indicates.  Accordingly, he hopes members will join in a provincial initiative to speak up and respond to the consultation invitation.

“On both of these consultations, the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) has set up a consultation process and is coming to larger local associations to get members’ input,” Dufresne said.  “We want to provide feedback to these issues.  The message we want to send is one of fairness, equity and affordability.”

The issues, raised in a series of questions posed by provincial government officials, could have profound impact on the industry, especially if municipalities are able to levy development charges on formerly exempted projects, such as hospitals.

“Right now, municipalities can only charge for future projects based on historical service levels,” he said.  “There is no historical level for light rail in Ottawa.”  The province has allowed North York to levy these charges, “and we fear that it will set a precedent on the quantum of development charges now.”

“Municipalities are also asking for an elimination of the statutory 10 per cent municipal contribution for new projects,” Dufresne said.  “The current rule is in place to recognize that the overall municipality benefits from new development.”

The problem is that “the new home purchaser is a very small percentage of of the population at any time,” Dufresne says.  “These purchasers shouldn’t be burdened with unfair charges.  As well, for the population at large, as development charges increase, there is an artificial inflation in the value of existing dwellings, resulting in higher appraised values, causing people to pay more taxes.”

The second topic, relating to the appeals and approval process, will not impact on the Ontario Municipal Board’s authority, the provincial government says.

“It is somewhat encouraging to learn that the OMB operations are being excluded from the review and that it will focus on improving the appeal process,” says GOHBA executive director John Herbert.

However, questions arise about the process and “how are they going to make the OMB more responsive to community and local governments which make the decisions, and are already well-served,: Dufresne said.

“The OMB makes decisions based on already-approved municipal and provincial policy and ensure the integrity of policies implemented through the lower-level decisions.

“Very often, people promote intensification until they feel directly affected and local politicians, although supporting official plan objective,  oppose rezonings because of community push back.  We want any changes to the OMB to be open and transparent so that it is protected.”

Dufresne said he hopes as many members as possible “especially development lawyers and consultants who are involved in the development process” show up at the meeting.

“We need to express our situation in ottawa about how change should be affected in a positive fashion, and in order to do that, we need to participate and provide feedback.”

The Ottawa OHBA consultations are scheduled for Dec. 9 from 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at the Centurion Conference Centre.

“Following these internal consultations at local HBAs, there will be other opportunities for member engagement with the ad-hoc committee,” the OHBA announcement says.  The provincial association also invites members to communicate about the Planning Act with the OHBA’s director of policy, Mike Collins-Williams, at mi***@**ba.ca.  For more information about how to get involved with the Development Charges Act review, contact Stephen Hamilton at sh*******@**ba.ca.

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