Work has begun on a pedestrian tunnel connecting Toronto’s island airport with the mainland. Engineering firm Arup will design the $82.5 million privately funded project to create a 244-m (800-ft) long tunnel providing a route to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. (Currently, the only access to the island is via ferry.) The watertight tunnel will be 10 m (33 ft) wide and 40 m (130 ft) below the surface of Lake Ontario.

A new international survey suggests inadequate government leadership and private-sector initiative are the two major factors holding back infrastructure development.

Around 80 per cent of respondents to KPMG LLP’s “Global Construction Survey” said they believe their governments showed a lack of leadership when it came to infrastructure development.

The demand for new home construction in Canada will be slowing down over the next two years, predicts the Conference Board of Canada.

“The industry is coming in for a soft landing,” said Maxim Armstrong, the board’s senior economist. “Slow job growth, still-weak consumer confidence, and high household debt loads are slowing demand for new homes.

A World Plumbing Day survey reveals more education work needs to be done when it comes to water consumption. More than a third of Canadians leave the water running while brushing their teeth, and half of Canadians choose high-pressure showerheads over ones with high efficiency, according to the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH) and research company Ipsos Reid.

A football training centre, an elementary school, and a fire hall were three of the winning projects in this year’s Wood Works! B.C. Wood Design Awards.

“We are proud to congratulate the winners and nominees of the 2012 Wood Design Awards who have all explored the potential of wood and showcased its outstanding qualities such as strength, beauty, versatility, and cost-effectiveness,” said the organization’s Mary Tracey.

Ryerson University is adding another residence to its campus in downtown Toronto.

Construction of the new building is expected to begin in 2014, and it is slated to open for the 2016 school year. The proposed 23-storey building—developed by the MPI Group and designed by IBI Group Architects—will include a two-storey podium at grade offering a mix of services such as cafés, retail, and a service outlet.

For the construction industry alone, Canadian investment into electricity infrastructure is expected to yield an average of $3.8 billion and 61,000 jobs annually over the next two decades. Spending in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution would also mean approximately $10.9 billion per year to real gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Conference Board of Canada.

The importance of building a design firm through alliances was the theme of the third annual educational event sponsored by Toronto accounting firm Shimmerman Penn. Held last month, the event drew architects and engineers to hear speakers such as Ryerson University’s president, Sheldon Levy, and many of the city’s top architects.

Architects, engineers, and specifiers are aware of building information modelling’s (BIM’s) slow adoption process and are looking to the regulatory authorities to advance it, according to the results of a national survey.

Conducted by the Institute for BIM in Canada (IBC), the survey examined the perceptions, challenges, and uses of BIM across the country’s architectural/engineering/construction (AEC) sectors.

Designed to stand 78 storeys and include 985 residential units, Aura, by Canadian firm Graziani + Corazza Architects, will be the country’s largest residential tower.

The 273-m (896-ft) tall building, developed by Canderel Stoneridge Equity Group, will stand on the northwest corner of Toronto’s Yonge and Gerrard Streets.