A Winnipeg-based, family-run company has launched an upgraded quality assurance (QA) program for the construction industry.

The QA, certification, training, and consulting company, Building Professionals, has built on standard developments from the 1980s that focus on energy efficiency in residential applications within the historic QAP 2.O program.

Paint manufacturer Benjamin Moore is revitalizing Main Streets in North America through its largest ever consumer-drive initiative.

As part of the “Main Street Matters” campaign, the paint manufacturer will provide supplies for façades and exterior building trim to revamp the 20 communities who receive the most votes across Canada and the United States.

Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) line is progressing with tunnelling beginning at the eastern and western points of the track.

After an online contest to name the tunnel-boring machines, they were dubbed Dennis and Lea (to represent the Mount Dennis and Leaside neighbourhoods) and Don and Humber (for the nearby rivers).

After a downward trend in Canadian building permits starting late last year, April was the fourth consecutive month of increasing building plans in the country.

April’s 10.5 per cent increase over March was boosted by multi-family dwelling plans in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec.

A proposed ASTM International standard will determine the drying behaviour of new and existing concrete mix quantities.

Part of the overarching ASTM Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates, Subcommittee C09.66 on Concrete’s Resistance to Fluid Penetration is developing ASTM WK37029, Test Method for Measurement of Mass Loss Versus Time for One-Dimensional Drying of Saturated Concretes.

Three winners of this year’s Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards were honoured with a total of $75,000 for home efficiency designs and products.

The EcoLiving program aims to help Canadians reduce energy bills by using more efficient systems. This year’s awards program received 78 entries from across the country—an increase of 28 per cent from 2012.

Construction has begun on Saskatoon’s Remai Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, which will act as a cultural gathering place as well as attribute to the community’s revitalization plans.

Designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB), and prime architect Smith Carter, the new $71-million, 11,519-m²The Remai Art Gallery in Saskatoon will provide the community with a much larger gallery space that will include 7000 pieces of artwork. (124,000-sf) facility will be approximately three times the size of the previous Mendal gallery.

Last month, the City of Toronto introduced a new set of guidelines for the evaluation of all tall building developments.

Tall Buildings Design Guidelines replaces 2006’s Design Criteria for the Review of Tall Building Proposals and consolidates the information from the more recent Downtown Tall Buildings Vision and Performance Standards Design Guidelines, released in 2012.

At the CSC National Conference in Calgary last month, the association reaffirmed its relationship with Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), ratifying the alliance with its U.S. counterpart.

On May 25, CSC’s then-president Claude Giguère and CSI president Gregory J. Markling—along with respective executive directors Nick Franjic and Walt Marlowe—signed a five-year agreement.

For Canadian housing starts, seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) continued their upward trend.

Overall, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHA) reported SAAR totalled 200,178 starts in May, which is up from 175,922 in April.