By Wendy Moir, CEO and Registrar, Home Construction Regulatory Authority Like any business, home construction can be done well, or it can be done poorly. And like most businesses, the secret to longevity and success is keeping your customers happy. Good builders know this and understand what it means to operate competently and ethically. Many local homebuilders’ associations have adopted a code of ethics for their members in recognition of the importance of professional conduct. However, regulations are designed to protect consumers from not-so-good or outright bad actors in any industry or pr ..read more

With Dean Leesui, Partner, MNP Digital Services Real estate and construction businesses are slowly embracing technology to improve operations, safety, revenue and more. This informative Q&A with MNP Digital Leader Dean Leesui talks about why and how you should keep going on the digitalization journey. Residential construction companies have relied on a strong, experienced team to execute manual, labour intensive processes across numerous tools and systems to maintain day-to-day operations. However, ongoing changes in market forces and technology continue to challenge their ability to keep ..read more

By Richard Lyall RESCON Although construction activity across Canada slowed in 2023, particularly in the homebuilding industry, there will be a need to recruit tens of thousands of workers over the next 10 years due to an anticipated uptick in work and increase in industry retirements of Baby Boomers. Demands in the next decade will require the construction labour force to expand by some 88,400 workers. Meanwhile, 263,400 individuals are expected to retire over the same time period, or 21 per cent of the workforce, bringing the hiring requirement to 351,800, according to the latest national su ..read more

By Jeremy Gladstone Gladstone Media In the vibrant heart of Toronto, a city renowned for its dynamic real estate market and iconic skyline, our team at Gladstone Media recently undertook a campaign that blurred the lines between reality and satire, while casting a spotlight on a critical urban issue: The Toronto housing crisis. “290 Bremner Blvd. – The residences of the CN Tower,” initially conceived as an April Fools’ prank, evolved into a compelling narrative to foster dialogue on the availability of quality, affordable housing in our beloved city. Vibrant brainstorming session The inception ..read more

By Leor Margulies Robins Appleby LLP The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with strikes and other unavoidable delay events over the last four years, has put the Unavoidable Delay provisions in the Addendum under a microscope and stretched the efforts of developers and lawyers to come to grip with a process that was never equipped for either a pandemic or multiple events, nor brought off to handle many other types of unavoidable delays that should be covered. I hope to give readers the benefit of some of my experiences on conciliations with Tarion, as well as disputes with purchasers looking to get o ..read more

By Emily Fielden, Policy and Communications Analyst, CHBA As Executive Vice-President of Urban Capital and President of Spotlight Development, Taya Cook and Sherry Larjani find themselves as part of only a few women sitting in top leadership positions in the residential development industry. Taya Cook (left) and Sherry Larjani Cook, who worked her way up the ranks at Urban Capital for 20 years, now oversees many of the company’s development projects from start-to-finish. Larjani founded Spotlight Development in 2010 with a vision to change the way development is done. Through partnerships with ..read more

By Evan Andrade, CHBA Economist Reaffirmed last September, CMHC estimates that Canada needs 5.8 million new housing units by 2030 to restore nation-wide affordability. The numerous barriers holding back construction must be overcome to accommodate the pace of residential construction required to approach this target. CHBA’s Housing Market Index (HMI) aims to help achieve a healthier supply balance by assessing the pulse of homebuilders over time and capturing builder views on various current issues facing the industry. It uses similar methodology to the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI for the US housing ..read more

By Natasha Rombough, Director of Marketing and Communications, CHBA Information comes fast at all of us, from multiple sources, and is often just as quickly forgotten. We’ve never had more outlets for reaching people, but cutting through the noise is increasingly a challenge – one that you no doubt also face in your business. How do you get through to people? How do you separate yourself from the masses? How do you make your company name not only recognizable, but one that people turn to when they need the services you deliver? One of the benefits of being a CHBA member is that your associatio ..read more

This year started off with a bang for CHBA. With Budget 2024 quickly approaching, CHBA government advocacy has been running at full tilt over the past few months. In February, at CHBA’s annual Day on the Hill, the very high number of MP meetings and presence of still more officials at the evening reception, including members of the Prime Minister’s office, showed how our issues are top issues for politicians. With more than 62 meetings, CHBA delegates reiterated the challenges the residential construction industry faces in getting more market-rate housing supply built, offering tangible soluti ..read more

SPONSORED CONTENT In today’s rapidly growing and evolving world, land development plays a crucial role in shaping the way we live as Canadians. For the past 40 years, DG Group, a Canadian vertically integrated development firm, has been dedicated to the creation of vibrant and sustainable communities. With a unique approach and a strong emphasis on Bringing Life to Land, DG Group has become a vanguard in the industry. DG Group sets itself apart by employing an innovative approach to land development. While other firms focus solely on design and construction, DG Group takes a more holistic appr ..read more