DCN Newswire

February 3, 2012

Caterpillar to close London, Ontario locomotive factory

Progress Rail Services Corp., a subsidiary of construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), is closing a London, Ontario locomotive factory.

February 3, 2012

Toronto employer fined over worker using metal pliers in electrical panel

An Ontario court has fined the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel and Conference Centre $70,000 for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act over a May, 2010 incident. A maintenance worker attempted to use metal pliers to remove a fuse from an electrical panel, resulting in an explosion and the worker suffered first, second and third-degree burns.

February 3, 2012

Bidding closes for Toronto 2015 Pan Am games venues

Bidding has closed on construction projects at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games. The consortia originally invited to bid include PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Bondfield Construction and Hunt Construction Group Inc.

February 3, 2012

Fisheries and Oceans Canada proposes harbour improvements in Fox Island River, Newfoundland

The Newfoundland and Labrador department of Environment and Conservation announced this week that a proposed harbour construction project on the west side of the island has been registered with the province by the federal department of fisheries and oceans.

February 3, 2012

Alberta Federation of Labour opposes Northern Gateway pipeline, wants refining jobs in Canada

The Alberta Federation of Labour is opposing construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to Kitimat, British Columbia on the grounds that the construction jobs would only be “transitory,” higher oil prices would result and jobs in refining would not be created in Canada.

February 3, 2012

York Region, Ontario approves subway construction expenditures

The Regional Municipality of York, which is the upper level of municipal government for cities and towns immediately north of Toronto, recently approved a capital budget that includes $332.2 million for rapid transit construction projects.

February 3, 2012

Montreal gas station designed by Mies van der Rohe converted to recreation centre

The Montreal borough of Verdun has officially opened La Station, a former Esso service station as a centre for youth aged 12-17 and adults 50 and over. Located on L’Ile-des-Soeurs, about a kilometre south of the Champlain Bridge over the St. Lawrence River, the former gas station was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe between 1967 and 1968, and was recognized as an historical monument after it was shut down in 2008.

January 31, 2012

Ottawa construction firm fined after worker receives electric shock

The Ministry of Labour announced that an Ontario court fined Marathon Drilling Co. Ltd. $65,000 over charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act relating to an incident in October, 2010. During a drilling project, a worker was holding chains attaching an auger to hook of a boom truck when the truck came into contact with an overhead electrical conductor. The worker received an electric shock and was seriously burned

January 31, 2012

Town of Mount Royal, Quebec launches library expansion project

The Town of Mount Royal (TMR), Quebec official launched construction of an expansion and renovation of the Reginald J. P. Dawson Library, about nine kilometers west of downtown Montreal.

January 30, 2012

Minto office building in Ottawa, Ontario gets environmental rating from Building Owners and Managers Association

Minto Group Inc. said its 180 Kent Street tower in Ottawa, Ontario attained Building Environmental Standards (BESt) Level 4 certification from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA). Minto is aiming platinum certification under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The building includes a rainwater harvesting system, green roof and heat recovery units.

January 30, 2012

Environmental assessment underway for Niagara, Ontario wastewater plant construction

The Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario announced a public information centre is scheduled February 8 for the possible construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

January 30, 2012

Ontario completes construction on Barrie Allandale GO Transit station

The Ontario government announced construction has finished on the Allandale GO Transit railway station in Barrie for commuter service to and from Toronto Union Station. Completed at a cost of $9.2 million, the project includes a snowmelt system for the platform, tunnel work and improvements to Gowan Street.

January 27, 2012

Construction scheduled for St. John’s, Newfoundland theatre complex

Empire Theatres Ltd. of Stellarton, Nova Scotia plans to build an eight-screen movie theatre in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Construction is scheduled to begin this year and the complex will open in 2013.

January 27, 2012

Thunder Bay, Ontario considers $40-million capital budget

Staff at the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario have submitted a proposed tax-supported capital budget for 2012 of $40.2349 million to City Council for review.

January 26, 2012

Canadian Building Trades applauds Harper’s regulatory reform pledge

The director of Canadian Affairs for Building and Construction Trades Department (BCDT) of the American Federation of Labour-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)is encouraged by remarks made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper about regulatory approval for construction projects. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Harper said the federal government plans to take action to ensure energy and mining projects are not subject to unnecessary regulatory delays.

January 26, 2012

Canadian Auto Workers to picket Caterpillar dealers, service centres

The Canadian Auto Workers plans to set up information pickets at equipment centres and dealers of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) construction products in Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton , Surrey, British Columbia, Chicoutimi, Quebec and in the Ontario cities of Windsor, St. Catharines, Sudbury, London and Concord (north of Toronto).

January 25, 2012

Ottawa City Council approves affordable housing capital projects

Ottawa City Council has endorsed a $42.9-million affordable rental housing program. Requests for proposals will be issued in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

January 25, 2012

National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada hosts webinar on stipulated price subcontract

National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada will host a webinar Feb. 13

January 25, 2012

Caterpillar workers to protest at London, Ontario Conservative fundraiser: Report

Workers who are locked out of a London, Ontario locomotive plant by a subsidiary of construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.(NYSE:CAT) plan to protest at a fundraiser dinner today for a local Conservative Member of Parliament, according to a published report.

January 25, 2012

London, Ontario Caterpillar labour dispute a factor in CAW-CEP union merger talks

The lockout of workers at a London, Ontario plant owned by Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is one factor in merger talks between the executive boards of the Canadian Auto Workers and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions. The organizations have tasked a committee tasked to report on whether a new union is feasible and desirable.