CCA Weekly - June 6, 2012

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Canada Announces Beginning of Roundtable Discussions and Releases Summary Documents from the Building Canada Plan

To help guide the development of a new long-term plan for public infrastructure beyond 2014, the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the start of roundtables with provincial, territorial and municipal partners and key stakeholders. Read more

As well, Infrastructure Canada has also released two series of publications titled Building for Prosperity and Infrastructure Spotlights, which take stock of the accomplishments derived from the Building Canada Plan. Read more

Canada's cities and communities at a tipping point facing financial uncertainty, says new FCM report

Despite recent gains, Canada's cities and communities are facing growing financial uncertainty according to a new annual report released today by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) titled The State of Canada's Cities and Communities 2012. "Canada is at a tipping point. Either we continue moving forward with rebuilding our cities and communities or Canada will fall behind as crumbling roads, traffic gridlock and sky-high housing prices cost our economy jobs and investment." said FCM President Berry Vrbanovic. Read more

Labour

How Military Skills Transfer to Construction

With the selection of Retired Brigadier-General Gregory Matte as executive director of the Helmets to Hardhats program in Canada, the Daily Commercial News examines the program following its official kick-off on May 23, 2012. Read more

Public-Private Partnerships

Government support makes Canada a P3 leader

Government commitment is a major reason why Canada is seen as a public-private partnership leader throughout the world, noted a panel of experts in a recent Export Development Canada webinar. Panelists of “Lessons Learned: Succeeding with Canadian Public Private Partnerships” pointed to a cultural shift in the P3 landscape. Read more

Innovation and Technology

The Hunt for Sustainable Cement

With cement production responsible for five per cent of the world's man-made carbon dioxide emissions, the search for new, environmentally friendly cement has been a preoccupation for manufacturers for more than a decade now. Columnist Korky Koroluk explores two lines of research that are emerging to address the topic. Read more

Green Building  

Update on LEED Certification Streamlining

Since announcing plans to streamline the LEED Canada certification process the CaGBC has made significant progress on a number of fronts. The CaGBC LEED staff and subject matter experts will outline all streamlining measures at the CaGBC National Conference & Expo. Amongst the most anticipated measures are two new certification options. Having formed a cross-disciplinary Task Force to examine the implementation of the new options, the CaGBC is now working on the communications and tools required to launch these new options in July. Read more