First Notice: Ottawa affordable housing; construction hiring intentions; Proptech summit

Governments support Anglican Diocese housing project

The federal and provincial governments today announced a contribution of $4 million to help create new affordable housing in the Bells Corners community of Ottawa. The announcement took place at 3865 Old Richmond Rd., where the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa is building a 35-unit affordable housing complex. The new development will replace a rectory at that location with a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units.

PropTech Summit set for Nov. 19

Watch for the IoT PropTech Summit scheduled for Nov. 19. It’s a one-day free webinar intended to explore Internet of Things technologies in the growing proptech sector. The Toronto Construction Association is a partner.

Buildings Show featured on The Construction Record podcast

Today the 98th episode of the Construction Record podcast goes live. This week, Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce national managing editor Vince Versace talks about Buildings Week, the virtual conference happening from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 covering architecture, construction, design and real estate. Quang Trong of architecture, engineering and construction tech startup Polytechnica, HVAC expert Wade Conlan of Hanson Professional Services and Alex Crandall of the HIDI Group consultancy spoke to digital media editor Warren Frey.

Seven per cent of construction firms expected to hire in short term

This morning Statistics Canada released the results of its latest Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, based on information collected mid-September to late October. Although almost two-fifths of businesses had laid off staff since the start of the pandemic, around three-quarters expected to retain the same number of employees over the next three months, and had the cash or liquid assets required to operate. In construction, 7.2 per cent of businesses expected their staffing levels would increase over the next three months; 66.9 per cent said they would remain the same; 14.5 per cent said they would decrease; and 11.3 per cent said they did not know.