On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey has two interviews from the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) 2024 annual conference in Vancouver. The first interview is with Don Iveson, the former mayor of Edmonton and current executive advisor on climate investing and community resilience for Co-Operators Insurance. Iveson is also the co-chair for the Task Force for Housing and Climate and he spoke to the important ways both the current affordable housing crisis and the present and future climate change emergency are linked together and can be mitig ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with Nashville-based Brandon Mason, the president of BCMason Group about his work as a contractor on both community-based and large-scale projects in the city. Mason said he grew up around construction and after work across North America with other firms he set out on his own path, starting with projects in Nashville’s African-American neighbourhoods that reflect his commitment to giving back to his own community. He’s also worked on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the area at v ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with ConstructConnect chief economist Alex Carrick and senior economist Michael Guckes about how general contractors and others in the construction industry can diversify their work portfolios in terms of geography, new vs. renovation projects, strategic work in verticals and the comparison between public and private sector work. Alex pointed to demographic changes in both Canada and the United States as driving construction including Atlantic Canada’s dramatic growth and the southern United States see ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with Dream Unlimited executive vice-president Tsering Yangki about a new report from the Task Force for Housing and Climate titled “Blueprint for More and Better Housing.” Yangki went into detail about the reports recommendations for doubling the amount of housing stock in Canada by concentrating on not only modular and panelized construction but also emphasizing climate resilient construction to ensure housing can withstand a worsening climate crisis while still building at scale. The report recommend ..read more

On this episode of the Construction Record Podcast, digital media editor Warren Frey has three interviews from the LEAP conference, a collaboration between the Vancouver Regional Construction Association and Canadian Construction Women. The one-day conference held March 8 in Vancouver brought together women in the construction industry with thought leaders to push their careers further ahead and inspire them with new ways to navigate a male-dominated industry. The first interview is with VRCA president Jeannine Martin and CCW president Seema Lal about the origins of the conference and what the ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with Procore Technologies global technology evangelist Kris Lengieza about what new technology and innovation is headed for the construction industry in 2024. Kris explained how while artificial intelligence (AI) gained traction in 2023 in the construction industry, over the next year AI use will accelerate  as awareness of ChatGPT and other large-language models (LLM) spreads awareness of possible AI implementation for a number of different applications. LLMs will also allow for preservation of i ..read more

The Construction Record Podcast™ - Special: Black History Month with Bass Installation’s Natasha Callender-Wilson and Stephen Callender On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with Natasha Callender-Wilson and Stephen Callender of Bass Installation about their experiences as Black business owners and operators in the construction industry. Stephen explained how he came from Barbados to Toronto and worked his way up in the industry before founding his own company and was joined by his daughter Natasha who split time between higher education a ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with British Columbia Institute of Technology instructor Justin Perry about a new holistic approach to wildfire management. Perry recently spoke at TedX Abbotsford with a talk titled “Holistic Wildfire Management: Seeing Fire Through Multiple Lenses” (embedded below) which elaborated on ways in which we can change our perspective from a traditional approach of fighting every fire individually to shaping, cultivating and adapting the landscape to a new set of conditions as climate change creates stronger ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with ConstructConnect chief economist Alex Carrick and senior economist Michael Guckes in part one of a two-part series looking at the geopolitical situation across the globe and how it affects the construction industry and the pressing need for labour at a level never been seen before in either the Canadian or U.S. economies. Alex lays out the current economic situation by laying out the latest construction starts data and pointed to risks such as the ongoing situation in Ukraine and the Middle East ..read more

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with BC Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan (CIRP) executive director Vicky Waldron about its Opioid-Free Pain Clinic pilot program which approaches pain management after workplace injury without drug prescriptions. Waldron spoke to the importance of avoiding opioid use to mask pain and the clinic instead uses an innovative technique called myoActivation trigger point therapy which reduces pain without pharmacological intervention. She also said those who go through the therapy recover more quick ..read more