Build Your Roadmap

Chris Varcoe - Calgary Herald - March 15, 2023

The city will offer grants to approved property owners to tear down 'inefficient and end-of-life buildings that negatively impact downtown vibrancy'. Calgary has a partial solution to the problem of decrepit downtown office buildings languishing in the city’s core. 

It seems like a counterintuitive suggestion: blow something up to make things better. Yet, it’s one new piece in a broader strategy to eliminate six million square feet of vacant office space from the area by 2031. On Tuesday evening, city council approved the terms of reference for the Downtown Office Demolition Incentive Program.

 ACA admin- Feb 17, 2023

At ACA’s Annual General Meeting at the end of January new Chair Trevor Doucette (Graham Construction) was elected as John Winter (Cooper Concrete) moved into the Past Chair role. Joining them on the management committee is Jason Portas (PCL) and Jen Hancock (Chandos) formerly the Edmonton Construction Association representative on the board. Trevor joined ACA’s management committee in 2 years ago. Trevor has been chair of Edmonton Construction Association and serves on the Canadian Construction Association board.

CTV News Calgary- February 2, 2023

The province will pump $5 million into the revitalization of Calgary’s downtown core.

Announced Tuesday, $4 million of the Government of Alberta’s money will go to the City of Calgary and $1 million will go to the Calgary Downtown Association.

According to the province, the injection of dollars is meant to build on Calgary’s recent momentum.

“The renewed Alberta Advantage continues to attract more companies to set up shop, which creates jobs and opportunities in our province,” said Brian Jean, minister of jobs, economy and northern development.

Timm Brunch - CTV News - Jan 19, 2023

A shortage of skilled construction workers is causing concern in Calgary. The city's population and demand for new builds is only growing, but many sites are having a tough time supplying the staff. The Calgary Construction Association estimates there could be as many as 4,000 staffing vacancies in the city. It says the shortage is largely rooted in supply and demand. "The industry is kind of in the middle of a perfect storm," association president Bill Black told CTV News.

"There's a lot of people retiring and few coming in to (replace) them. For our city to continue to grow, our industry needs to be able to staff up at the levels that we want so we can respond." Demand for builds – many complex – is only increasing.

 ACA admin- Nov 16, 2022

Premier Danielle Smith’s direction to Ministers is a solid step towards addressing long standing and emerging issues of Alberta’s construction industry.  Ministerial mandate letters across Government address key issues for Alberta’s contractors. 

 Highlights include:

• Sustained infrastructure investment including trade corridors to support Albertan’s quality of life and economic prosperity
• Best value procurement and standardized contracts to reduce risk
• Extending prompt payment provisions to Government of Alberta contracts

Calgary - November 2, 2022

Calgary’s construction industry continues its upward trend for the third quarter of the year. With 5,101 building permits issued, the total construction value for Q3 2022 is $1.43 billion, up 38 per cent from last quarter.

“The high construction volumes of 2014 are reminiscent of Calgary’s booming past, however, the values we are experiencing now are significant for a different reason,” says Ulrik Seward, Manager of Business and Building Safety Approvals, Development, Business & Building Services. “In spite of the global challenges we have collectively experienced in the last two years, investment in Calgary’s future continues to remain a priority for our construction industry and development remains a driving force in our community.”