CHBA - Alberta Meets with Minister of Education
Minister of Education Ron Liepert and MLA for Calgary Shaw Cindy Ady met Monday with President Ralph Hutchinson and a delegation from CHBA - Alberta, which included Director of Human Resources Development Mary Kenny and Director of Government Relations Kathy Watson.
The purpose of the meeting was to inform the Minister about OVOI and CHBA - Alberta's plan for future residential construction sector involvement in high school mentorship and work experience programs.
Construction Sub-strategy Finalizes Framework Document
CHBA - Alberta provides residential construction representation on the Province's Construction Sub-Strategy working group that has been meeting over the past several months. This is one of several sectoral committees established under the Province of Alberta's 10-year labour force strategy - Building and Educating Tomorrow's Workforce - with the objective to ensure that Alberta has "more workers, better trained people and innovative workplaces”. On May 10th, the construction representatives provided final input to the development of a publication that is intended to provide the framework for identifying and collaborating on labour force development projects and initiatives. The strategy document is anticipated for public release by early summer.
CMHC Latest Housing Starts
For likely the first time since Don Getty was Premier of Alberta, Edmonton has a clear lead over Calgary in the number of housing starts four months into the year. Recent numbers from CMHC show Edmonton with 5,068 new homes under construction by the end of April, while Calgary had 4,144. There's almost a 30% difference in activity in the two markets compared to last year, with Calgary down by 19% and Edmonton ahead by 10%. Calgary's single family market continues do perform well, but multi-family starts are behind Edmonton's total. Other Alberta markets continue to do well, especially Lethbridge, which is up by 87% this year over last. Grande Prairie is hanging on to third place for the number of starts to date, just ahead of Red Deer. Both of those markets are showing sizeable gains over last year. Despite all the movement, the number of new homes being built in Alberta is virtually unchanged from a year ago at this time.
CMHC released their provincial figures which forecasts 47,000 housing starts for Alberta in 2007 and 44,500 in 2008. For complete information, click here.
Important Survey for AB Employment, Industry and Immigration
Alberta Employment, Industry and Immigration is considering whether any greenhouse gas reducing sector, in Alberta, may benefit from a technology roadmapping exercise. Please take a few minutes to complete the online survey.
Funded by C3 EnviroTech Solutions; Alberta Employment, Industry and Immigration; and Climate Change Central, this questionnaire is a scoping exercise. The questionnaire results will provide insight on whether a roadmap for different GHG reducing business sectors would be appropriate and effective.
The questionnaire will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and your input will be valuable to the climate change sector and the Alberta Government. Questionnaires are due May 25th. A final report will be sent to all who have responded to this questionnaire.
Any information you provide during this study will be aggregated and in no way associated with your business or name. All information collected during our study will be maintained in a secure location.
EnerVision a Finalist for an Emerald Award
A joint submission made by EnerVision, Built Green™ and SAIT Polytechnic has been selected as an Emerald Award finalist in the Not-for-Profit Association category. It faces two other finalists at the 2007 awards ceremony in Calgary on Wednesday, June 6th. The joint application highlights the innovative partnership that has helped Alberta to achieve measurable industry transformation and environmental awareness through education, innovation, R&D and environmentally responsible development recognition initiatives. The Alberta Emerald Foundation for Environmental Excellence was founded to recognize initiative and leadership Albertans are demonstrating on environmental issues.
Noteworthy Donations
Trico Homes has committed to donate $1.5 million over the next 10 years to update the Family Leisure Centre in Calgary, which will become the Trico Centre for Family Wellness. Their donation also allows Trico staff the opportunity to use the services and facilities at the centre which Trico believes will create a better and healthier work place for staff.
Jayman MasterBUILT aslo recognizes the importance of giving back to the community. Three generations of Jay Westman's family have been impacted by neurological or autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis. That first-hand experience was part of the motivation behind a $1-million donation from Jayman MasterBUILT Inc. to Reach!, the joint fundraising initiative of the University of Calgary and the Calgary Health Region.
