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

 

Tony Gore with children Naomi (left) and Wyatt (right). Tony and his sister, Jill Hall, started sounding the alarm about radon after he found alarming levels of the radioactive gas in Naomi’s second-floor bedroom. Naomi is seen here holding a home radon test. (submitted photo)

Chilliwack brother and sister wage war against radon

Jill Hall’s push for radon awareness has found allies with the City of Chilliwack and FVRD

 

From left, Langley MLA Megan Dykeman, Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming, Cloverdale-Langley City MP John Aldag, and Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward were at the groundbreaking ceremony last week for the replacement of the Glover Road highway overpass. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

Work begins to replace battered Glover Road overpass

Change is part of new highway upgrades to six lanes from current four

From left, Langley MLA Megan Dykeman, Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming, Cloverdale-Langley City MP John Aldag, and Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward were at the groundbreaking ceremony last week for the replacement of the Glover Road highway overpass. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
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)
Pitt Meadows mayor Bill Dingwall was one of the speakers at the Oct. 4 new fire hall sneak peek press conference. (Brandon Tucker/The News)

New Pitt Meadows Fire Hall opens its doors for a sneak peek

Mayor Dingwall and other government officials spoke at the Oct. 4 event

Pitt Meadows mayor Bill Dingwall was one of the speakers at the Oct. 4 new fire hall sneak peek press conference. (Brandon Tucker/The News)
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)
Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project construction in the back field at Vedder Middle School in Chilliwack on July 29, 2022. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

September looms for Trans Mountain pipeline expansion work in Chilliwack school fields

Pipeline runs through sports fields at Vedder Middle and Watson Elementary in Sardis

Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project construction in the back field at Vedder Middle School in Chilliwack on July 29, 2022. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
Abernethy Way from 230 Street to 232 Street is to be expanded to four lanes. (Colleen Flanagan/The News)

Maple Ridge council approves $6 million for Abernethy Way improvements

Work to start at the end of August

Abernethy Way from 230 Street to 232 Street is to be expanded to four lanes. (Colleen Flanagan/The News)
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 few hundred people turned out for the launch of the first phase of Kanaka Springs, a large new development in East Maple Ridge. (Oliver Rathonyi-Reusz/Special to The News)

PHOTOS: Ribbon spliced on new master-plan community

Show homes unveiled in new East Maple Ridge neighbourhood of single-family and town homes

A few hundred people turned out for the launch of the first phase of Kanaka Springs, a large new development in East Maple Ridge. (Oliver Rathonyi-Reusz/Special to The News)
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)
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)
This Brookswood home is part of a $2.5-million prize package. It comes complete with a two-bedroom legal basement suite and much more. (Hometown Heroes Lottery/Special to Langley Advance Times)

PHOTOS: Langley smart house part of Hometown Heroes Lottery

A Lower Mainland prize home is the primary part of $2.5-M package currently up for grabs

This Brookswood home is part of a $2.5-million prize package. It comes complete with a two-bedroom legal basement suite and much more. (Hometown Heroes Lottery/Special to Langley Advance Times)
Jared Webster, B.C. sales manager for Trouw Nutrition Canada, at the construction site of the new feed mill in Chilliwack, May 10, 2022. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress) Jared Webster, B.C. sales manager for Trouw Nutrition Canada, at the construction site of the new feed mill in Chilliwack, May 10, 2022. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress)

New multi-million-dollar feed mill under construction in Chilliwack

‘95 per cent of feed produced is consumed within 50-km radius,’ says Trouw official

Jared Webster, B.C. sales manager for Trouw Nutrition Canada, at the construction site of the new feed mill in Chilliwack, May 10, 2022. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress) Jared Webster, B.C. sales manager for Trouw Nutrition Canada, at the construction site of the new feed mill in Chilliwack, May 10, 2022. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress)
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)
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)
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
City Hall said there has not been interest in constructing wood buildings larger than six storeys in Maple Ridge so far. (The News files)

Will 12-storey wood buildings come to Maple Ridge?

City building six storeys, not part of province’s Tall Wood initiative

City Hall said there has not been interest in constructing wood buildings larger than six storeys in Maple Ridge so far. (The News files)
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