Construction

Most PPE in B.C. is only made with men in mind, creating one more barrier for women looking to enter the trades.(Credit: Pixabay)

From hardhats to boots: PPE is keeping women from the trades

Virtually all personal protective gear is designed only for men, creating barriers and safety risks

  • Jan 22, 2023

 

Liz Barrett had hoped to return to her electrician apprenticeship after a year of maternity leave. Now her kids are nearly two years-old, but she can’t go back to work due to the lack of childcare spaces. (Courtesy of Liz Barrett)

Child care, benefits, stigma among barriers fuelling labour shortages in B.C. trades

Canada will face a shortage of at least 10,000 workers in every recognized trade in the next 5 years

 

Emcon Services Inc. is reminding motorists to slow down and move over as crews work to repair delineators on the Trans-Canada Highway on Thursday (Nov. 10). (Courtesy Emcon Services/Twitter)

Slow down and move over, Emcon reminding motorists to keep crews safe

Crews are working on the West Shore along the Trans-Canada Highway repairing delineators

 

An LNG Canada employee shows off a model of what the natural gas company’s massive terminal in Kitimat will look like once complete. (Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Terrace Standard)

Changes to Kitimat skyline on the horizon as LNG terminal comes online

Residents can expect the sight of natural gas being flared off into the atmosphere

An LNG Canada employee shows off a model of what the natural gas company’s massive terminal in Kitimat will look like once complete. (Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Terrace Standard)
Crews install a cantilever along Hwy. 4 in August 2022. (BC Ministry of transportation and infrastructure photo)

West Coast highway closures resume as lengthy improvement project hits home stretch

Ministry says $53.96 million project is roughly 90% complete

Crews install a cantilever along Hwy. 4 in August 2022. (BC Ministry of transportation and infrastructure photo)
WorkSafeBC has issued fines to two Greater Victoria companies after safety violations were discovered. (Google Street View image)

Vancouver Island companies fined for high-risk safety violations

WorkSafeBC issued administrative penalties for confined space, elevated work area violations

WorkSafeBC has issued fines to two Greater Victoria companies after safety violations were discovered. (Google Street View image)
Minister of Seniors Kamal Khera speaks at a funding announcement for $21 million from the federal government to increase the number of trades apprentices in the province. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)

Feds announce $21 million in funding to hire more than 2,100 apprentices in B.C.

B.C. Construction Association to administer project focused on increasing, diversifying workforce

Minister of Seniors Kamal Khera speaks at a funding announcement for $21 million from the federal government to increase the number of trades apprentices in the province. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)
Crews work at the Othello Bridge on the Coquihalla on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)

Permanent repairs coming for Othello stretch of Coquihalla Highway

Work is expected to begin in early August and be completed sometime in the fall

Crews work at the Othello Bridge on the Coquihalla on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
A memorial was held on the one year anniversary of a crane collapse that killed five at a construction site in downtown Kelowna July 12, 2021 (Brittany Webster - Capital News)

VIDEO: Memorial marks one year since deadly crane collapse shook Kelowna

Five horn blasts were aired to mark the one year anniversary

A memorial was held on the one year anniversary of a crane collapse that killed five at a construction site in downtown Kelowna July 12, 2021 (Brittany Webster - Capital News)
Mural depicts Charlie Abbott walking through the Hermit Trail he created. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Hermit’s Trails not destroyed in construction

Area cleared for subdivision storm and sewer connections

Mural depicts Charlie Abbott walking through the Hermit Trail he created. (Photo by Don Bodger)
Kicking Horse Canyon extended closures are back, with a one month closure that comes into effect on April 19 and will last until the May long weekend. (MOTI photo)

Fourth round of extended Highway 1 closures announced east of Golden

It’s a part of Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon Project

Kicking Horse Canyon extended closures are back, with a one month closure that comes into effect on April 19 and will last until the May long weekend. (MOTI photo)
An excavator operator was hospitalized with serious injuries Wednesday morning after an excavator rolled down a 50-foot cliff at a construction site in Langford. (Courtesy of Peter Milburn)

Island operator hospitalized after excavator tumbles down a 50-foot cliff

Worker taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries Wednesday morning

An excavator operator was hospitalized with serious injuries Wednesday morning after an excavator rolled down a 50-foot cliff at a construction site in Langford. (Courtesy of Peter Milburn)
Danielle Pritchett was supported by friends and family as she spoke in Kelowna’s Ben Lee Park on April 28, 2022 about her son Cailen Vilness, a victim of the July 2021 Kelowna crane collapse (Brittany Webster)

Mom of man killed in Kelowna crane collapse speaks out on workplace Day of Mourning

161 work related deaths were reported in B.C. in 2021

Danielle Pritchett was supported by friends and family as she spoke in Kelowna’s Ben Lee Park on April 28, 2022 about her son Cailen Vilness, a victim of the July 2021 Kelowna crane collapse (Brittany Webster)
B.C. announced a new Mass Timber Action Plan April 7, with an initial invesment of $1.2 million into four structures. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. investing in future of mass timber with 4 new structures, long-term action plan

Province looks to be leading producer in carbon-capturing material

B.C. announced a new Mass Timber Action Plan April 7, with an initial invesment of $1.2 million into four structures. (Black Press Media file photo)
Nanaimo's Atlas Engineered products announced this week the acquisition of Lantzville's Hi-Tec Industries for $5.8 million, plus $3.25 million for Hi-Tec's land and buildings. (News Bulletin photo)

Nanaimo roofing truss manufacturer acquires Lantzville-based competitor

Nanaimo-based Atlas Engineered Products buys Hi-Tec Industries in $9 million deal

Nanaimo's Atlas Engineered products announced this week the acquisition of Lantzville's Hi-Tec Industries for $5.8 million, plus $3.25 million for Hi-Tec's land and buildings. (News Bulletin photo)
Commuters wait at the Kennedy Hill construction zone between Tofino-Ucluelet and Port Alberni. (Westerly file photo)

End in sight soon for daytime closures on Tofino-Ucluelet highway

Mid-day closures to facilitate $53.96 million Kennedy Hill improvement project end March 11

Commuters wait at the Kennedy Hill construction zone between Tofino-Ucluelet and Port Alberni. (Westerly file photo)
Demand for construction and skilled trades workers is higher than ever, but there aren’t enough workers to meet the demand. (Pixabay photo)

Labour shortage hampers B.C. construction industry amid high demand for work

Survey from Independent Contractors and Businesses Association finds 75% of companies are short-staffed

Demand for construction and skilled trades workers is higher than ever, but there aren’t enough workers to meet the demand. (Pixabay photo)
The structural engineer for the troubled Danbrook One rental building in Langford’s downtown core was unqualified for the job, according to an order issued by Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. (Black Press Media file photo)

Engineer on troubled Langford building unqualified: regulatory body

Brian McClure ‘erroneously believed that his prior experience qualified him to design Danbrook One’

The structural engineer for the troubled Danbrook One rental building in Langford’s downtown core was unqualified for the job, according to an order issued by Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. (Black Press Media file photo)
Ann Squires Ferguson of Western Design + Build. Lia Crowe photography

Secrets and Lives with CEO Ann Squires Ferguson

Reshaping the construction and design industries

  • Oct 15, 2021
Ann Squires Ferguson of Western Design + Build. Lia Crowe photography
Doug Howson loads lumber onto a forklift at Haney Builders Supplies, in Maple Ridge, B.C., on June 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Do-it-yourself-ers benefit from lower prices in aftermath of lumber correction

A two-by-four inch piece of framing lumber that cost $12.65 on June 1 is now selling for $3.95

Doug Howson loads lumber onto a forklift at Haney Builders Supplies, in Maple Ridge, B.C., on June 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck