FALL 2025 MAGAZINE BUILDFORCE Meaningfully connecting with Gen Z and Gen Alpha Demographic challenges and opportunities Innovation and productivity: Construction’s road to growth Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661BUILDFORCE MAGAZINE // Fall 2025 5 CONTENTS GREETINGS 9A Message from the Chair of BuildForce Canada 11A Message from the Executive Director of BuildForce Canada FEATURES 14Where have all the trades gone? By Klayton Gonçalves, BuildForce Canada As Canada’s construction industry navigates an historic retirement wave, it must redefine productivity not as a race against time but as a strategy of preservation and renewal. 16Bill C-5 is a win for the construction industry By Sean Strickland, Executive Director, Canada’s Building Trades Unions Bill C-5 is more than just legislation — it’s a landmark win for Canada’s skilled trades. By tying faster project approvals to strong labour standards and good union jobs, it’s paving the way for a stronger, more resilient future. 18The connection between mental health and workplace productivity By Michael Bach, IDEA consultant to BuildForce Canada A mentally healthy workforce is a productive workforce. Positive mental health enhances creativity, communication, and collaboration while reducing absenteeism; conversely, tight deadlines, excessive workloads, and lack of support can lead to burnout and low productivity. 20Designing a future with Gen Z By Shaily Allison, BuildForce Canada The construction industry has an opportunity to connect with workers from Gen Z and Gen Alpha in meaningful ways, but that will likely mean changing long-standing processes that don’t always match younger workers’ expectations and ambitions. 22Improving productivity should be a national priority By Paul de Jong, Progressive Contractors Association of Canada The challenge of making construction more competitive, efficient, and attractive to investors is a shared responsibility that requires a multi-faceted approach in partnership with government, unions, and other stakeholders. 29Enhancing workforce opportunities through a multi-ticketed approach By Curtis Haugan, CLAC The solution to construction’s skilled labour shortage demands many different ideas and considerations. The simplest approach may be to upskill workers through dual ticketing and multi-skilling. 33Building smarter: Innovation and the future of construction By Chris Gardner, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association In an era defined by the shortage of people, material price volatility, productivity challenges, and fierce competition for capital, the construction industry must innovate to survive – and thrive. 36 Wellness as a catalyst for productivity By James Raiswell, BuildForce Canada The connection between mental wellness, innovation, and productivity is clear. NewGate 180 is part of a growing movement of organizations that believe construction workplaces can unlock significant gains in both productivity and innovation by prioritizing mental health and supporting pathways to addiction recovery. Continued... FALL 2025BUILDFORCE MAGAZINE // Fall 2025 7 Published For: BUILDFORCE CANADA 280 Albert Street, Suite 700 Ottawa, ON K1P 5G8 Contact: Bill Ferreira, Executive Director Tel: (613) 569-5552, ext. 2220 info@buildforce.ca | www.buildforce.ca To update your mailing details, email info@buildforce.ca. Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Return all undeliverable addresses to: 309 Youville Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R2H 2S9 Tel: (866) 999-1299 sales@matrixgroupinc.net | www.matrixgroupinc.net Canada Post Mail Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 President & CEO Jack Andress Operations Manager Shoshana Weinberg sweinberg@matrixgroupinc.net Senior Publisher Jessica Potter jpotter@matrixgroupinc.net Publishers Julie Welsh, Christine Scarisbrick Editor-in-Chief Shannon Savory ssavory@matrixgroupinc.net Editors/Writers/Social Media Managers Jenna Collignon, Paul Adair, Kaitlin Vitt Finance/Administration Lloyd Weinberg, Nathan Redekop accounting@matrixgroupinc.net Director of Circulation & Distribution Lloyd Weinberg distribution@matrixgroupinc.net Sales Manager Jeff Cash Sales Team Leader Andrew Lee Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Account Executives Ana Baez, Colleen Bell, Jackie Casburn, Chandler Cousins, Rich Cowan, Paolo Cruz, Rob Gibson, Wilma Gray-Rose, Jim Hamilton, Craig Hornell, Frank Kenyeres, Brendan Kidney, Sandra Kirby, Andrew Lee, Ian MacGregor, Brian MacIntyre, Chad Morris, Lynn Murphy, Monique Simons Advertising Design James Robinson Layout & Design Cody Chomiak ©2025 Matrix Group Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Printed in Canada. FALL 2025 CONTENTS FEATURES 40Clearing the way for Canada’s next construction boom By Rodrigue Gilbert, Canadian Construction Association With $50 billion on the table, Canada is entering a new era of nation-building. The construction industry is ready to deliver, but unlocking this historic opportunity will take more than money. It requires the removal of systemic bottlenecks and a modernization of how we plan, procure, and build. 42The industrialization of home building By Kevin Lee, Canadian Home Builders’ Association How can Canada unlock the full potential of home building innovation? At least part of the answer lies in factory-built construction. 44From stick-built to smart-built By Paul Adair, staff writer At the University of New Brunswick, the Off-site Construction Research Centre (OCRC) is leading Canada’s transformation from traditional on-site construction to smarter, factory-based building methods. Through cutting-edge research, national collaboration, and a clear industry focus, OCRC is helping accelerate the shift to more efficient, sustainable, and innovative ways of building. 47Reversing course By Paul Adair, staff writer For years, headlines have lamented construction’s worsening productivity – but what if the story isn’t so simple? New insights from a Canadian researcher suggest that, thanks to emerging technologies and smarter metrics, the industry may actually be on the upswing. 50Reinventing apprenticeships By Paul Adair, staff writer As Alberta braces for an unprecedented wave of construction projects and skilled trades shortages, NAIT is responding with bold solutions. From reinvented apprenticeship pathways to the creation of a cutting-edge Advanced Skills Centre, the institute is reshaping how trades education meets real-world demand. 53Building with purpose By Paul Adair, staff writer From humble beginnings in a St. John’s basement, The Cahill Group has grown into one of Canada’s largest multi-disciplinary construction companies – driven by a deep commitment to people, progress, and integrity. With a strong focus on safety, wellness, community giving, and Indigenous engagement, Cahill is proving that how you build is just as important as what you build. GET TO KNOW BUILDFORCE 57BuildForce Board of Directors 59BuildForce Partnerships 62 INDEX TO ADVERTISERSBUILDFORCE MAGAZINE // Fall 2025 9 Construction is a complex business at the best of times, and given today’s uncertain and volatile economic climate, it is arguably more so today. Various domestic factors continue to exert pressures on our industry’s ability to deliver complex infrastructure and in-demand residential and non-residential projects at a high level. Chief among these are the recruitment and development of skilled trades workers, and the lingering inflationary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our work today is further complicated by the ongoing trade dispute between Canada and the United States, the effects of which – immediate and lasting – are, to say the least, uncertain. The good news is, even complex challenges such as these present new opportunities. Our industry has the potential now to reconsider its traditional approaches to the obstacles it faces, and to adopt new solutions that can enable it to innovate and to make better use of the tools currently at its disposal – to be more productive, in other words. Several of our contributors to this issue of BUILDFORCE MAGAZINE speak to exactly these kinds of approaches. They discuss implementing new procurement methodologies that prioritize long-term value over lowest cost, eliminating interprovincial barriers that hamper the smooth flow of labour and materials, and making greater commitments to adopting off-site construction processes that promise to deliver projects faster and more safely. Equally good news is that among all the uncertainty our industry faces, BuildForce Canada continues to produce its suite of labour market information (LMI) products. As someone who not only sits on the Board of Directors of this organization, but has also been an active participant on the Saskatchewan LMI committee for over a decade, I can speak directly to the importance of the comprehensive and collaborative approach that BuildForce takes to generate these reports. Each LMI product is created with direct input from stakeholders across our industry: construction purchasers, labour groups, employer representatives, officials from local and provincial construction associations, as well as provincial and federal government representatives. The data provided in these reports is generated based on economic trends, and is validated by committees of experts who understand the local realities in play. It is this stakeholder involvement in the process that sets the BuildForce Canada LMI model apart from other labour market forecasting models. I would like to acknowledge and thank all of the individuals and organizations who have contributed to our LMI reports over the years and continue to do so. Over the past number of years, clients who are contemplating significant capital investments are now recognizing the importance of reliable LMI as labour availability has increased in profile and importance for successful project execution. In uncertain times such as these, when construction demands have reached their highest levels in years – and in some cases, ever – and economic conditions are fluid, the importance of data-driven, industry validated LMI reports provided by BuildForce Canada can help stakeholders across our industry better understand the challenges and opportunities before them. While LMI is key for the industry, BuildForce Canada also offers top-notch online training through our partner vendor network. Whether it is continuing education in the field, training future front-line leaders, learning about Construction Contract Essentials or Construction Law, or creating Respectful and Inclusive Workplaces, BuildForce Canada supplies our partners with a dozen different online training courses that are tailored to the Canadian construction industry in both official languages. I invite you to learn more about them at www.buildforce.ca. In conclusion, I would like to thank all of our contributors and advertisers for helping us deliver this publication. I would also like to thank the team at BuildForce for all of their contributions in helping the industry and stakeholders understand our complex issues and helping us to be more innovative and productive. WARREN DOUGLAS Chair, BuildForce Canada THE IMPORTANCE OF LMI DATA IN A COMPLEX AND RAPIDLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF BUILDFORCE CANADANext >