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NEW from ICBA's Jock Finlayson & @KenPeacock14: B.C.'s private sector has shed 59K jobs this year — a 3.1% ⬇️. That's the largest (non-COVID) 3-month drop since the late 1990s — worse than the 2008-09 global financial crisis. icba.ca/economics-blog…

Alberta's construction sector grew 19.4% from 2021 to 2025. B.C.'s grew just 5.2%. Residential construction tells the real story — Alberta UP 18.9%, B.C. DOWN 13.4%. ICBA Chief Economist Jock Finlayson on why he's more optimistic about Alberta than B.C. over the next two years: na3.hubs.ly/y0syH80

Imagine blowing through reserves, seeing costs 🚀, draining a surplus and seeing fees go to 3rd-highest in Canada. WorkSafeBC: another NDP dumpster fire in the making. Unbelievably, the Minister says premiums are "a bargain for employers, frankly." icba.ca/bc-blog/icba.c…

For the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, B.C. is losing more businesses than it's creating. 25K+ businesses exited in 2023 — up 11% from 2017. Private-sector GDP growth has crashed to just 1%. New from ICBA's Jock Finlayson & Ken Peacock: biv.com/news/commentar…

Leading a hybrid team is harder than leading a co-located one. ICBA's Leading Hybrid Teams workshop with Kwela gives managers the tools to fix communication, trust & accountability gaps. 📅 May 13, 8:30 AM PDT | 3.5 hrs | Member rate $285+GST icbatraining.arlo.co/w/courses/864-…

Sounds like Mark Carney's new fund quietly gives unionized contractors an unfair bidding advantage. That shuts 75% of Canada's construction workforce out of projects their own taxes pay for — and 85% of B.C. tradespeople. NEW from ICBA's Chris Gardner: canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/labou…

The Carney Government just put $6 BILLION on the table for skilled trades training. The catch? A whack of $ flows only through the building trades unions, shutting out 85% of B.C. and 88% of Alberta's trades workforce. This needs fixing: icba.ca/bc-blog/icba-t…

And a Bill Reid story? This really is peak Langley/Cloverdale/political/construction/commonsense nerdery. And we're along for the voyage.

NEW from ICBA Chief Economist Jock Finlayson: 🔴 $25B for Carney's "Canada Strong Fund" 🔴 Every dollar borrowed 🔴 Federal deficits every year since 2015 Stacking new programs on a decade of fiscal failure won't fix Canada's economy. Tax & regulatory reform will. energynow.ca/2026/04/commen…

Your best tradespeople became foremen because they were great at the work. This course helps them become great at leading people. Lead to Succeed: Leadership Skills for Foremen — May 12–13 | Member: $399 + FREE coaching sessions included. 🔗icbatraining.arlo.co/w/courses/214-…

25 years of trying to reduce U.S. trade dependence barely moved the needle. @FraserInstitute research from ICBA's Jock Finlayson shows Canada's export ties to the U.S. are deeply "sticky" — and the current push to diversify will be no different without serious structural change. fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/…

BC's OHS Regulation just changed — Parts 8 & 31 have been amended. Do you know what it means for your sites? Free 1-hour webinar with Jeff Weaver of InUnison breaks it all down. April 30 | 8:30 AM | Free 🔗 icbatraining.arlo.co/w/courses/875-…

We’re stepping up again at ICBA. 💙🏗️ Another $500,000 committed to the ICBA Foundation on top of last year’s $3M endowment. Supporting: 🧠 Mental health 🎓 Training access through bursaries & scholarships 👷 The next generation of trades This is about legacy. Impact. The future of our industry. Get involved: icbafoundation.ca

Yesterday ICBA helped slay Metro Vancouver's regional DCC dragon. Today we're asking Kelowna Council: go bold. Cut DCCs by 50%, not 20%. You can't collect development charges on homes that never get built. 🏗️ icba.ca/bc-blog/kelown…

ICBA Regional VP Mike Davis on the steps of the BC Legislature Monday: 85% of BC's construction workers are locked out of public projects by NDP union-only rules. $17 billion in cost overruns. 158 years of delays. It's time for fair and open tendering, not sweetheart deals. Proud to support @KielGiddens' bill to Build BC Fair.

NEW: B.C. may already be in a recession. 40K jobs lost in Feb + March — record losses outside the pandemic. All private sector. Meanwhile, public sector hiring keeps growing. Housing starts heading for "nuclear winter" — dropping from 44K to ~30K. Finlayson & Peacock in @BIVnews biv.com/news/commentar…

Metro Vancouver votes Wednesday on DCC relief. Staff are pushing directors to leave the 2026 hike in place and call it a win. It's not. ICBA President Chris Gardner is calling on the Board to ROLL BACK AND REDUCE — and build the homes BC needs. 👉 icba.ca/bc-blog/metro-…

🏚️🔽 B.C.’s residential investment slump just hit year 3. Adjusted for inflation, housing investment has been falling since 2022 — and ICBA Economics says it’s not turning around in 2026-27. Meanwhile, Alberta’s up nearly 40%. New from Jock Finlayson: icba.ca/economics-blog…

BC's Heritage Conservation Act "reform" removes consent on one page — then enables "joint or consent-based decision-making agreements" two pages later. DRIPA is being baked into the HCA before the government's own promised DRIPA fixes are released. Read our latest letter at icba.ca/bc-blog/on-ndp…

There's no shortage of management advice. The problem is knowing what actually works on a job site. ICBA Training's Effective Tools, Techniques & Models for Project Management cuts through the noise. May 11–13 | 2 Gold Seal Credits 🔗 icbatraining.arlo.co/w/courses/817-…