Peter Hemingway Aquatic Centre reopens with historic designation

The City of Edmonton has declared the Peter Hemingway Aquatic Centre a municipal historic resource. The facility reopened this week after a five-year renovation, marking another milestone in its history, which began in 1970 as Coronation Pool and continued with its renaming in 2005 to honour its architect.

Peter Hemingway earned the prestigious Massey Medal in architecture for its design. In 2012, the building received the Prix du XXe siècle from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, which recognizes significant Canadian architectural achievements of the 20th century.

Peter Hemingway was a visionary in his time, and his influence on architectural design in the city was significant,” said David Johnston, a heritage planner with the City’s Heritage Conservation section. “Hemingway used the beauty and sometimes harshness of the prairie to influence his designs. That’s reflected in the way Peter Hemingway Aquatic Centre blends into the landscape but also stands out as a unique structure.”

The pool building evokes the Expressionist style of modern architecture. Its sweeping roofline, reminiscent of a tent structure over the pool, reflects the transition from the Rocky Mountains to the prairies’ foothills and flatlands. The roof is clad in copper, and the interior structure is supported by a suspension cable system anchored to eight large concrete pillars on the north and south sides of the building.

The building closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 public health restrictions. Rehabilitation work began in fall 2021 and was completed in late 2025. The project included upgrades to its mechanical, structural and electrical systems, as well as the pool basin. The work also replaced the glass curtain wall and lighting, along with the addition of a cold plunge pool and an elevator.

On January 27, Hemingway’s children, Curtis and Mistaya, said the family is pleased the aquatic centre has reopened. “Thank you to all the people that stood for this building, cared for it, rebuilt it and brought it back. And thank you for honouring our father’s work by keeping it alive, not as a monument, but as a living place full of people, still fulfilling its original purpose as a civic swimming pool. Today we rededicate more than a building: we rededicate a civic belief that this city can be brave in what it builds, and generous in who it serves.”

The facility is the 195th heritage designation approved by Edmonton City Council since the program began in 1985. The City’s heritage planning team is developing a city-wide Heritage Places Strategy to replace the Historic Resource Management Plan, broaden Edmonton’s historical perspective, and address climate adaptation and heritage preservation.”

Kelowna airport opening new departures lounge

Kelowna International Airport (YLW) announced the new departures lounge and security screening checkpoint will open to travellers beginning Jan. 28. The expansion, which adds an additional 5,590 square metres of new space to the terminal building, marks a major milestone for YLW’s largest infrastructure project to date.

“This terminal expansion is an important milestone for Kelowna and the Okanagan,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas. “YLW is a critical gateway that supports jobs, tourism, and economic growth, and this investment will help ensure we can continue welcoming more visitors and connecting our community to opportunities across Canada and beyond.”

The new terminal expansion features:

Expanded Departures Lounge with new direct access to several gates for departing and arriving passengers
Expanded security screening area with new CT X-ray technology to support increased capacity and screening efficiencies
Improved food and beverage options, with the opening of the pre-security Ellison Field Taphouse and Vintners Exchange in the departures area
Improved wayfinding and upgraded digital displays throughout the terminal
Contemporary design featuring B.C. mass timber to showcase our region’s natural beauty, heritage and character, supported by a $500,000 grant from B.C.’s Mass Timber Demonstration Program

“I am proud to celebrate the opening of our expanded terminal and will raise the travel experience for our valued passengers,” said Sam Samaddar, CEO of Kelowna International Airport. “But this opening is really just the beginning. Over the next year, work will continue in areas of the existing terminal as we renovate 1,200 square metres, making improvements and adding new amenities to further benefit our passengers.”

The new lounge is part of the $108 million Airport Terminal Building (ATB) Expansion project, Phase 1, which is scheduled to be fully complete by the end of 2026. The project team includes PCL Construction and the Office of McFarlane Biggar Architects + Designers.

Retention is the secret weapon for cleaning excellence in 2026

If you ask facility managers what keeps them up at night, staffing challenges rank near the top. But here’s what many don’t realize: treating retention as a strategic priority, not just a staffing problem, is an operational game-changer that directly impacts whether your restrooms stay clean, your guests stay happy, and your bottom line stays healthy.

In 2026, the facilities that win on cleanliness won’t do so because they found the perfect cleaning staff. They’ll win because they invested in keeping the staff they have. That shift is within reach for any facility manager willing to rethink how they support their cleaning teams.

The hidden cost of turnover

Across Canada and globally, cleaning professionals face pressures that are often underestimated. A recent global survey of 1,000 cleaning staff revealed a sobering reality: 80 per cent report mental health issues as a result of their jobs. Dig deeper, and the picture becomes clearer. 70 per cent cite inadequate employer support, and 38 per cent have left cleaning positions entirely due to burnout and lack of recognition – reasons that have nothing to do with hourly wages.

For facilities, this turnover is expensive. Beyond the direct costs of recruitment, hiring, and onboarding, there’s a ripple effect on cleanliness itself. When your cleaning team is understaffed or constantly training newcomers, standards slip. Experienced staff who know your building’s quirks, traffic patterns, and priorities are irreplaceable. Lose them, and you don’t just lose people – you lose institutional knowledge, consistency, and the relationships that make restrooms feel truly cared for.

It’s clear that high-quality restrooms depend on stable, supported cleaning teams. So, the question for 2026 becomes: how do you build a workplace where cleaning staff feel valued, supported, and confident enough to stay?

The four steps to retention

The facilities winning on cleanliness in 2026 will consider these four retention principles:

Equip your team with tools that ease the physical burden. Many cleaning jobs are repetitive and physically demanding. Yet smart choices in dispensers, waste solutions, and restroom layouts can dramatically reduce strain. Look for high-capacity dispensers that minimize refilling trips, ergonomic designs that don’t require awkward reaches or forceful motions, and touch-free systems that reduce the need for manual contact with contaminated surfaces. When your team isn’t battling the design of the restroom itself, they have more energy and fewer injuries, and they’re more likely to stay.
Beyond hardware, data-driven solutions are game-changers. Connected systems that guide cleaning priorities – showing which areas need attention based on real traffic patterns rather than guesswork – make the work more strategic and less reactive. Staff feel heard when their expertise is combined with data that confirms their observations. They see their impact more clearly. And they’re not wasting time and energy on areas that don’t actually need attention.
Invest in training that builds competence and confidence. Cleaning is a skilled trade, yet it’s often treated as entry-level work with minimal support. Staff who receive structured training feel more capable and valued. Training also opens pathways for advancement and specialization, signaling that your facility sees cleaning as a career, not just a position to fill. Invest in training staff on topics like hygiene best practices, how to use new equipment, and how to respond to diverse user needs.
Build a culture that acknowledges and celebrates their work. Your cleaning staff are some of the guardians of the facility. Yet their work often goes unnoticed – or worse, is only mentioned when something goes wrong. In 2026, the competitive advantage belongs to facilities that make cleaning visible and celebrated. This might mean public signage that thanks your cleaning team by name, team meetings that highlight cleanliness wins, or recognition programs tied to performance metrics that matter. When staff feel seen and appreciated, they’re more compelled to stick around.

A pathway to your competitive advantage

The most compelling part of this shift is that it’s within your control. You can’t control external economic pressures, but you can control whether your cleaning staff feel supported, equipped, and valued in their roles.

Facilities that make these investments in 2026 will notice the benefits: cleaner restrooms, fewer complaints, lower staff turnover, and reduced hiring and training costs. More importantly, they’ll create an environment where people want to show up and do their best, and that shows in every detail.

As we head into the year ahead, the question isn’t whether your facility will invest in retention. It’s whether you’ll do it intentionally and strategically, or whether you’ll keep cycling through staff and wondering why cleanliness standards remain inconsistent. The facilities that choose the former will emerge as the clear winners on cleanliness – not because they found perfect people, but because they created the conditions for good people to succeed and stay.

Katrin “Kat” Ferge is the North American Regional Marketing Manager for Professional Hygiene – Commercial segment at Essity. In her role, she is focused on Essity’s professional hygiene brand Tork and helping businesses leverage better hygiene for better business performance. She has more than 15 years of experience in brand communications and marketing. Kat received her bachelor’s degree from Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society in Germany and later received her MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.

Team-based management reinvents condo staffing

One pressing factor contributing to condo manager burnout is how managers are staffed and assigned responsibilities. Today’s industry typically relies on a single-manager model, but this approach is revealing its weaknesses amid ongoing labour shortages and increasingly constrained budgets.

Addressing this challenge requires management companies to rethink how work is allocated across their client properties—shifting from a single-manager model to a more modern staffing structure: team-based management.

Single-manager model leads to burnout

In today’s condo industry, a single manager is typically assigned to and responsible for one or more properties. Despite receiving some support from back-office teams or on-site assistants, the individual manager is ultimately responsible for executing operational and reserve fund work for their corporation.

Given this level of accountability, managers must also figure out how to manage their workload. They choose from a variety of personal productivity tools—such as spreadsheets, calendars, or task trackers—and each develops their own system based on personal preferences and strategies for coping with the demands of condominium management. Even within the same management company, these systems can differ significantly from one manager to another.

These two characteristics of the single-manager model—namely, one individual manager being responsible for a property and each manager having their own system—leave condos and management companies vulnerable to changes in management personnel.

In the single-manager model, when a manager takes time off or leaves a property, their replacement often has little information about ongoing tasks or priorities. They may not understand the outgoing manager’s system, and even with access to the previous manager’s computer, emails, and tools, getting up to speed is extremely difficult using traditional methods.

As a result, incoming managers are often forced to react to issues rather than work proactively. This added pressure increases the risk of burnout. It can take several months—if not a full annual cycle—for a new manager to get up to speed and institute their own system so they can work proactively. In the meantime, they often face the stress caused by missed tasks and capital projects that steer off track during the transition period.

The condo industry’s ongoing manager shortage, combined with common budget shortfalls resulting from high inflation, leaves management companies and boards with no choice but to evolve and transition away from the traditional single-manager model.

How team-based management can alleviate pressure

Team-based management allocates work across a team rather than placing it entirely on the shoulders of one manager. When managers change, there is no lost productivity or added pressure on one person to keep the condo running smoothly.

In a team-based managed property, more than one management company professional is assigned to each property. This is separate from the back-office accounting and regional supervisors, who will remain involved.

The team does not need to consist solely of licensed managers. Administrative professionals, project managers, and operational specialists across various disciplines can—and should—participate, provided that licensed condo managers oversee any activities that fall within the scope of a manager’s license.

Staffing professionals in disciplines that complement property management is a natural extension of the current single-manager model. Professional engineers and lawyers have long played an active role in supporting management teams and boards.

In an environment with a shortage of managers, it makes sense to shift as much administrative and non-regulated work as possible off the manager’s plate. Project managers, for instance, can help keep reserve fund projects on track without inundating a manager who is already at capacity. Similarly, insurance professionals can help evaluate options when facing renewals or an insurable loss. Not every responsibility needs to rest on the shoulders of a condo manager.

Tracking and delegating tasks in a common system

In a team-based management model, members use a common system to track work and records. This eliminates the challenge in the single-manager model, where an incoming manager must decipher an outgoing manager’s personal system or recreate their own.

A common work management system also makes it easier to distribute responsibilities and provide coverage when someone takes time off or leaves the property.

A system designed to support team-based management should include the following capabilities:

An ability to assign responsibility and due dates across the team;
Provide easy access to see the status and history for each work item;
Let’s teammates quickly pick up an item with full context;
Provides calendar visibility for the entire team, with reminders;
Allows for sharing updates across the team asynchronously;
Allows work to be categorized by function so non-manager professionals aren’t providing services requiring a license; and
Gives boards visibility into the work to reduce micro-management and time spent on reporting.

Moreover, a common work management system should give management company supervisors and back-office personnel visibility into the team’s workload to ensure compliance tasks are completed and to help them support one another effectively.

Traditional tools such as emails, spreadsheets, and file folders fall short of meeting the needs of a team-based management model. They do not facilitate the rapid onboarding that team-based management requires.

For example, addressing a mechanical issue with the property’s boilers can feel cumbersome when staff must search through emails or file folders to piece together maintenance history. Similarly, tracking the next steps for a capital reserve fund project—so it can be properly reported to the board—can be frustrating when reviewing the project’s file folder, which contains a few quotes and a tender specification. Traditional tools are not very helpful when trying to piece together the story and lead the work to completion.

To be effective, a common work management system must serve as the single source of truth for all property history, consolidating both work and records in one accessible location.

Can team-based management transform condo work?

The condo industry faces persistent inflation and ongoing manager shortages. Boards and management companies must invest the time and resources to transition from a single-manager model to a team-based management approach in order to survive in the long term.

Team-based management aligns the right skills with the right tasks, protects managers from burnout, and preserves institutional memory. Most importantly, it directs every dollar where it matters and reduces waste without cutting corners.

This is how boards and managers can navigate today’s pressures and protect affordability: with a team, a system of record, and a steady rhythm that turns work into progress.

Salim Dharssi is the CEO and Founder of Toronto-based Managemate, a project management software platform that helps condo managers and boards share information, updates and stay on top of their work to save time and control costs. Salim volunteers on CCI‑Toronto’s Membership Committee, CCI‑National’s Events Committee, and CAI Canada’s Advocacy Committee.

Spring homebuyers gain edge over last year

Analysts expect Canada’s spring housing market activity to rise moderately as buyers respond to lower borrowing costs and improved affordability. After the fourth quarter of 2025, when the national aggregate home price fell 1.5 per cent year over year to $807,200 and declined 1.1 per cent from the previous quarter, the market is showing signs of a rebound, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Forecast.

Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage, said economic uncertainty weighed on consumer confidence and muted the traditionally active fall market. “That said, buyers heading into the spring market have a meaningful advantage over last year: lower borrowing costs, stable or lower property prices, and choice,” he added. “In an era where home inventory is chronically constrained, inventory levels are Goldilocks healthy. Together, these conditions are creating a genuine window of opportunity, particularly for first-time buyers in Canada’s most expensive markets.”

Condo prices fell 2.9 per cent year over year to $575,300, while single-family detached homes dropped to $849,100 in Q4. Both posted quarter-over-quarter declines of 1.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent, according to RPS Real Property Solutions. Toronto and Vancouver, the country’s most expensive metro markets, saw average home prices drop 5.7 per cent and 4.1 per cent, continuing a gradual four-year downward trend. Meanwhile, the Greater Montreal Area’s aggregate home price increased 4.5 per cent year over year.

Royal LePage predicts that by Q4 2026, the median price of a condominium in Canada will decrease to 2.5 per cent, while the price of a detached property will increase 2.0 per cent.

Weak condo market persists in major cities

Elevated inventory, retreating investors, and hesitant first-time buyers have kept condo prices soft in Toronto and Vancouver.

“Condominium markets in major urban centres remain under pressure, as weaker demand continues to collide with increased supply,” said Soper. “During the brief period of elevated interest rates following the pandemic, many small-scale investor-landlords found the cash flow math no longer worked. Higher carrying costs forced some to exit the market, adding to resale supply.

“Under normal conditions, investors would be expected to return as borrowing costs eased through 2024 and 2025. This time, however, the timing worked against them. Reductions in immigration numbers, as well as quotas for temporary foreign workers and international students, have sharply curtailed rental demand, leaving fewer tenant customers just as rates began to fall.”

Spring activity set to pick up, but without a spike

The spring market is expected to bring a renewed sense of momentum, though not the sharp surge in activity seen in past cycles. Consumer caution will likely slow sales and limit price growth, keeping market conditions more balanced.

“Greater clarity on trade relations with the United States would certainly help, but there’s also a more subtle shift underway,” said Soper. “After a full year of economic and political turbulence, more and more households have given up waiting for perfect certainty and are refocusing on what is happening at home, and what matters most: securing the right housing for their families. As that adjustment takes hold, we expect it to gradually translate into increased market participation.”

CCSC releases Critical Risks Guideline

The Canadian Construction Safety Council (CCSC) has released its Critical Risks Guideline, a comprehensive framework designed to prevent serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) in the construction industry.

The new guideline identifies 13 critical risks with the potential to pose significant threats to worker safety and outlines safe start checks (SSC) to help eliminate or reduce these risks. It enables frontline workers to confirm the controls or safeguards designed to prevent fatalities and serious injuries are in place.

“Safety is a shared responsibility, not a tool for competitive advantage,” said Ryan Tones, president, Peter Kiewit Sons ULC. “This guideline draws on the combined expertise of our member companies and reinforces our commitment to transparency and collaboration in making our industry safer for everyone.”

SSCs are designed to encourage workers to have empowering conversations about what performing a task involving critical risks really means and what they need to do to ensure work begins in a safe, controlled and hazard-aware manner. Anyone performing work is encouraged to adopt a go/no-go approach to ensure work doesn’t begin until the proper controls and safeguards are in place.

“The Critical Risks Guideline was created to protect and empower frontline workers, and to change focus from workers having the stop work if something is wrong to assuring safeguards are in place and functioning as designed, so it’s OK to start,” says Peter Lineen, EVP HSE, Bird Construction.

The 13 Critical Risks are:

Working at Heights
Working around mobile equipment
Ground disturbance and excavation
Energy isolation
Confined spaces
Hoisting and rigging
Driving
Public interface
Working near traffic
Working near water
Working near live rail
Hazardous materials
Working near radiological sources

Each critical risk includes a series of SSCs, simple statements to help confirm proper controls are implemented. They also include easy-to-follow diagrams to help workers understand the steps to take to ensure a safe work environment.

Remembering Annette Carlucci

MediaEdge Communications Inc. has lost a beloved team member and the anchor of its design department. Annette Carlucci died Jan. 22, 2026, leaving her colleagues saddened, but admiring her strength and appreciating her legacy. Through good health and serious health challenges, Annette was the same person: proficient, hard-working, empathetic and full of fun.

Annette joined MediaEdge in the late 1990s, and grew steadily in her professional role from junior designer to the major influence on the look of our publications and corporate messaging. Along the way, she mentored co-workers, helped clients to forge and promote their brands, and met thousands of pressing deadlines.

“As a designer, she was someone I truly looked up to. With decades in magazines and print production, she carried a level of consistency, discipline and respect for the craft that I deeply admired. She showed me what it means to do the work properly — every detail considered, every deadline honoured, every page treated with care,” affirms Roxy Huynh-Guinane, MediaEdge graphic designer. “But beyond her talent, Annette was also a good friend. She showed up for you. She noticed your efforts, cheered you on and made you feel supported in ways that really mattered.”

Annette contributed a pivotal and labour-intensive piece of MediaEdge’s core business, delivering design products in step with a hectic pace of sequential, and sometimes overlapping due dates. Editors were never surprised, but always impressed to open our email in the morning and find a PDF proof that she had finished and sent at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. the night before. She was capable, unflappable and responsive to the need to get the job done in a work environment fraught with tight scheduling.

“Annette would remain calm, or at least never show stress, and reassure our team when our workload seemed overwhelming. She genuinely embraced challenges and was confident in her ability to take them on,” says Ines Louis, MediaEdge production manager. “She was warm, approachable and kind, and had a way of making people feel confident and supported.”

In recent years, Annette added cancer treatment to her to-do list, as she continued to turn out high-calibre work amid various rounds of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. That’s indictive of her commitment and tenacity, but also of the meaningfulness she derived from her career.

We are heartened that it helped provide a stimulating refuge for her as she grappled with other threatening uncertainties. Even in the depths of her illness, earlier this month, she conveyed to MediaEdge president Kevin Brown that she would like to keep working on a few design projects once she was feeling strong enough to do so.

“Annette was happiest when she was creating and drawing on her abundant artistic talent. I especially think of how enthusiastic and engaged she became when we were launching a new product or refreshing an existing one. If asked for two design concepts, she would often deliver four, each one clearly showing that her creative energy was flowing,” Brown recalls. “Her commitment to her work was extraordinary, yet always balanced. She also made time for the other things she loved: the outdoors, her social circle and cycling.”

Annette’s co-workers were beneficiaries of her thoughtfulness, loyalty and zest for living. Many of us can look around our homes and see the items — from artwork to kitchenware — that she has gifted us over the years, and think back on happy escapades from company social functions or informal gatherings of co-workers and MediaEdge alumni.

She was an avid cyclist and skier, and a natural athlete whom everyone coveted as a teammate whether it was for the company golf, bowling or axe-throwing event. And, of course, with her design acumen, she brought a clear competitive advantage to the lucky team that secured her for last year’s cake-decorating challenge.

“She was a great athlete who picked any sport up quickly, from golf to excelling at road biking,” says Chuck Nervick, MediaEdge executive vice president. “It was a joy to work with Annette for 25+ years, and experience her skill, positive attitude and commitment to the company, staff and clients. She will be missed beyond words, but her memory will never fade.”

Annette loved good conversation, good food and a glass of something bubbly. We lift one in a toast to you, dear friend.

Clark Builders selected for NorQuest College centre

Clark Builders has been selected to work on the proposed NorQuest College’s Career Skills Centre, a landmark facility located in the heart of Edmonton’s downtown Education District.

The new purpose-built facility on the college’s downtown campus will shape the future of NorQuest and improve educational quality, learner experience, and learning outcomes.

The 35,000 square metre facility is designed to support expanded programming in areas like health care, environmental technology, early learning, and digital information.

In close collaboration with NorQuest College and GEC Architecture, Clark Builders is actively advancing the design, planning, and costing required to bring this bold vision closer to construction.

Located in downtown Edmonton, the new Career Skills Centre will become a dynamic and inclusive learning hub. It will bring together modern training environments for healthcare, business, and technology programs, while significantly expanding NorQuest’s capacity to deliver hands-on, future-ready education.

Designed as a living lab for applied learning, the Centre will feature classrooms, labs, and collaboration spaces that promote real-world experience and community connection. Sustainability and accessibility are key pillars of the design, with the facility targeting both LEED Silver certification and Rick Hansen Foundation accessibility certification.

“We’re excited to help shape the next generation of Alberta’s workforce by building environments that reflect the values of inclusion, innovation, and community. The NorQuest Career Skills Centre is more than a building—it’s a bold step toward a stronger, more resilient future for Alberta,” said Cameron Worthing, project executive.

Pending capital funding, the Career Skills Centre could begin construction in 2027 and open as early as 2029.

Toronto real estate family moves 17 offices to REMAX

A Toronto real estate family has moved its 17-office brokerage group to the global REMAX brand. Representing more than 1,200 sales associates across the Greater Toronto Area, the transition marks the largest conversion in the company’s history.

Vivian Risi, Michelle Risi, and Justin Risi announced their exit from Royal LePage on January 15, with Your Community Realty now operating as REMAX Your Community Realty and Connect Realty becoming REMAX Connect Realty.

“We didn’t make this move for ourselves. We did it for our real estate agents – because they deserve the industry’s best services, global reach, support and competitive advantages,” Vivian Risi said in a statement on January 15. “The REMAX tools, leading national market share and brand marketing will help them connect with more potential clients – and win that business. This move will be a huge benefit for them – and that realization really drove our decision.”

Justin Risi, Vivian Risi, and Michelle Risi

Vivian entered real estate at age 18, working first as an agent and then as an office manager before buying an 18-agent office in 1994.

She grew the brokerage to nearly 60 agents in under a year and converted it from Coldwell Banker to Royal LePage. Michelle and Justin grew up in the business. Since 2017, they have led Connect Realty, expanding it into a five-office brokerage.

The family see the move as an opportunity to expand their reach, strengthen their brand, and create new pathways for referrals, luxury, and commercial growth.

“This is about helping our agents stay ahead in today’s competitive environment – and to be positioned to keep winning well into the future,” said Michelle. “REMAX presents a whole different level of advantages for real estate professionals, with everything designed to help them increase their productivity and build their business.”

ACMO mourns founding member John Dzenekoj

John Dzenekoj, a founding member of the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario (ACMO), passed away on December 18, 2025, following a courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease.

ACMO shared the news earlier this year. “John was instrumental in the creation and growth of our association and played a meaningful role in shaping its values and direction. His dedication, leadership, and commitment to the profession left a lasting impact that will continue to be felt for years to come. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and service.”

Dzenekoj was the former owner of Progressive Plus Inc., a condo management company in Mississauga, for many years.

“He was also a member of ACMO and CCI, as well as a proud member of the Ridgeway Lions,” his family shared in his obituary. “John was friendly and outgoing, always involved in community initiatives and was honoured to receive the Order of Niagara in 2018.”

$640M Q Tower breaks ground on Toronto’s waterfront

Lifetime Developments, in partnership with DiamondCorp, has commenced construction on a $640-million condominium that will rise 60 storeys at 200 Queens Quay West on Toronto’s waterfront. The Q Tower project will bring nearly 980 new suites to market by 2030.

Wallman Architects and interior design firm U31 envision a complete lifestyle experience for the property. The condo will feature curated amenities, including a kids’ zone, social lounge, fitness and recreation spaces, outdoor dining terraces, and a street-level lobby with retail frontage.

A collaboration with contemporary German Pop artist Michael Moebius, often referred to as the “Bubblegum Artist”, will enhance Q Tower’s common areas with his hyper-realistic illustrative portraits of cultural icons, including Queen Elizabeth II.

“In today’s market, where few projects will reach completion by the end of this decade, Q Tower distinguishes itself as a rare and dependable project,” said Ty Diamond, president of DiamondCorp. “But what truly defines it is the long-term benefits it brings to Toronto’s Harbourfront. Together with Lifetime, we’re not just building new homes, we’re creating public spaces, infrastructure, and opportunities that will enrich Toronto’s downtown core for decades to come.”

The Altus Group’s analysis found that the project will generate nearly $295 million in direct economic benefits for Toronto. This includes development charges, education levies, parkland and community benefits, municipal fees and property taxes.

“The city alone is projected to collect over $10 million in property taxes during the development period, followed by $6.7 million annually upon completion – adding up to roughly $67 million in the first decade,” said Koover Vohra, senior director at Altus Group. “ Beyond these financial contributions, projects of this scale strengthen infrastructure, expand community amenities, and create jobs that directly benefit Torontonians.”

Carbon offset integrity banks on due diligence

As purchasers in the voluntary carbon market, commercial real estate players can tap into a wider range of offset credits at a lower price point than their industrial peers compelled to participate in the regulated carbon pricing system. However, more choice comes with complexity and due diligence demands to determine the quality of what’s on offer.

The field is crowded with standards — Verra, Gold Standard, Climate Action Reserve and American Carbon Registry being the four most commonly recognized — that each have somewhat differing criteria for how credits can be generated. From there, project developers, financiers and traders come into the mix, creating more fodder for consultants and giving rise to oversight bodies like the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).

“It’s a very opaque market,” Adi Dunkelman, director of policy and strategy with the consulting firm, Clear Blue Markets, told attendees at The Buildings Show in Toronto last fall. “These bodies that are giving information and guidance on what is a good offset are part of trying to shore up some of the integrity in the market and move away from the greenwashing that we’ve seen from some bad actors.”

Offset credits have some universal features whether traded in voluntary or regulated carbon markets. In both cases, a credit equates to one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) that has been reduced, avoided or removed from the atmosphere. It must also conform with six defining characteristics that affirm its validity.

First off, credits must relate to a “real” reduction, avoidance or capture of emissions, meaning something that has in fact occurred and is not merely a prospect for the future. Those reductions must be “quantified” and “verified” — i.e. measured and proven — in a recognized credible way, and each credit must be “unique”, meaning that the reduced, avoided or captured tonne of CO₂e is counted just once toward total emissions reductions.

The two other underpinning concepts — “permanent” and “additional” — can be less straightforward. Proponents must show they have achieved a lasting result through an effort they would not ordinarily undertake in their core business. Challenges lie in credits that can literally turn into ash and varying parameters to interpret how an activity or investment stands out from usual practices.

“Planting trees as an offset can do great things in terms of reducing emissions and improving local air quality, but, with high temperatures and forest fires, depending on how well they’re maintained and where they’re located, the longevity of that offset may be more limited than we would like,” Julianne Pickrell-Barr, climate action specialist with Prism Engineering, observed during a recent webinar in conjunction with the Building Owner and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada’s Enspire program to encourage and support decarbonization in commercial buildings.

Meanwhile, sources of credits are expected to go beyond routine legal, financial and operational conventions to be considered additional. They cannot be gleaned from an activity that’s part of standard regulatory compliance; they must be tied to an investment that’s surplus to normal capital expenditures and can be justified only with the payback from the offsets; and they should be associated with a process or technology that is outside the realm of common practices within the industry sector.

“Additionality is one of the early screening tools you can use to determine if this is something that could potentially generate credits and in which markets,” Dunkelman advised. “Those three key pillars are kind of the boundaries, but it can get very grey because how do you determine what’s common practice? How do you determine the financial requirements to prove that this project could not continue without the revenue from offsets?”

Considerations for developers and purchasers

Canada’s regulated carbon market has thus far approved protocols for four types of offset projects:

recovery and destruction of methane from landfill sites
reduction of enteric methane emissions from beef cattle;
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration systems; and
forest management on private land.

Those are all ancillary to the credits that regulated market participants can earn and bank or sell for achieving an emissions intensity that is below the required benchmark for their sector.

“That’s a reduction at your site and a reduction in your carbon compliance obligation, but that is not an offset. An offset is usually (created) outside the compliance market,” Dunkelman explained. “In the compliance market, the government will determine what is considered an offset project activity. In the voluntary market, the rules are prescribed by governing bodies or registries.”

The latter are specific to each of the standards in the voluntary marketplace. These rules set out allowed sources of carbon offset credits and the required procedures for developing and verifying them.

“They’re very complicated,” reported Tracy Hodges, senior sustainability manager with the North American cement and concrete manufacturer, Amrize, who was speaking alongside Dunkelman at The Buildings Show. “If you want to get a project approved, you’re looking at USD $75,000 to $150,000. That’s just to say: yes, my project will qualify for one of these registries. Then you have to do yearly monitoring and verification, which is maybe another $50,000 a year.”

From the cement industry’s perspective, she argues it’s difficult to make a business case for developing and shepherding most avoidance-related carbon offset credits through that process when they currently trade in the voluntary market for about $5. Carbon capture, which is a removal-related offset, is the exception in trading for about $300, but it also highlights a sore point for some industrial producers with emissions output that propels them into the regulated carbon market.

Dunkelman decried the prescriptiveness of Ontario’s emissions performance standard, governing industrial emitters, which allows for credits to be issued only for activities that are specified in the regulation.

“It’s very prescriptive of what activities are eligible and how those activities are defined. Because the regulation does not recognize carbon capture at this time, that (activity) doesn’t give you a benefit under the system. Or if you’re reducing clinker by replacing it with another material, if that new product does not meet this definition, then again you’re not getting the benefit,” she said. “This shows that a lot of times industry is moving faster than regulation, and why we have to consistently engage with the regulators to make sure those decarbonization projects get recognized and rewarded.”

The economics of offset development flows through to purchasers’ ability to pick projects and credits that can be more directly linked to resources, products and materials their own sectors consume — such as cement in the buildings sector. Among other considerations, Pickrell-Barr recommended prospective buyers look for reputable carbon accounting methods, including proof that qualified, objective third parties have verified emissions reductions, and avoid credits from projects that have spinoff detrimental social or environmental consequences.

For purchasers who are looking simply to offset indirect Scope 2 emissions, related to the production of electricity their buildings consume, renewable energy credits (REC) could also be an option. One REC is equivalent to one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity.

“You’re financially supporting the expansion of renewable energy and you can claim the environmental benefit. It’s a simple and practical way to support indirect emission reduction,” Pickrell-Barr noted.

“There’s always a debate whether removal — projects like sequestration or forestry or direct air capture that remove actual CO₂ from the atmosphere — is better than avoided emissions,” Dunkelman said. “Our guidance is that they’re both good. It’s good to have a diversified portfolio of offsets.”

Yet, a small portfolio is arguably better still.

“Renewable energy credits or carbon offsets are things that you would purchase, ideally, after you’ve done everything else to reduce emissions in your buildings,” Pickrell-Barr reiterated. “The last little piece of the puzzle is offsetting what’s remaining.”

Marketing your cleaning business in 2026

The start of a new year is often a time to evaluate your business, re-focus on your mission, and refine your practices for even better results going forward. Are you marketing your business in the same way that you always have? Is there an opportunity for refinement, adjustment, or improvement in the way that you target, attract, and engage with your clients?

Today’s successful marketing campaigns involve a multi-pronged approach that incorporates data, flexibility, and technology.

Analyze the numbers

A successful marketing plan comes from really knowing your business. Focus on using real data to reach attainable targets and see success for 2026. Based on last year’s revenues, record your annual revenue goal for 2026, factoring in monthly revenue target, average customer lifetime value, new clients needed monthly, your typical close rate, and total needs needed monthly. Aiming for “brand recognition” or “engagement” is great, but they are not tangible, measurable goals that you can use to get your business to the next level, so get to know the specifics so you can start to see results.

When looking at marketing, creating a realistic budget means determining your potential spend. For a basic start, analyze last year’s revenues against marketing spend and increase that marketing budget relative to your new revenue goals. Follow that with a quarterly breakdown, and then a monthly budget to really drill down your expenses and put together a budget that you can follow throughout the year.

Look at lead generation

While we know that it is often easier and cheaper to expand sales within your current clientele, you also need to generate leads to broaden your client base. Digital media can seem complicated if you’re new to the process, but it can be a great way to attract attention and generate leads with specific messaging directed to a targeted audience.

Google is a good place to start by optimizing your Business Profile to get the attention of people searching for your services. Ensuring that your listing is current, informative, and attractive can help generate leads from potential clients who are already looking for cleaners. Google Ads can help you reach your audience by filtering your content to address factors like client sectors, geography, and more. Google also offers business support with tips for businesses to help raise their ranking, so take advantage of the resources available to you.

Using social media like Facebook and Instagram ads allows you the opportunity to address an audience you may not already have access to, while testing campaigns and providing real-time results.

Lean into automation

Today’s clients are searching for services at all hours, so you need to be accessible 24/7 to stay competitive. This isn’t always feasible, of course, but automation helps you to remain “open” anytime someone has an inquiry, needs pricing, or is looking to schedule your services. Current technology allows businesses to better manage customer service with instant responses and accurate information, so you never miss a lead. Along with increasing efficiency, you can use the technology to gain valuable metrics to tweak your marketing approach going forward. Schedule a monthly check-in to evaluate your marketing efforts and adjust our strategy for maximum success.

FMs brace for rising workloads and tight budgets

The facility management industry is preparing for higher workloads, modest budget growth and a more deliberate approach to staffing and project risk over the next year. An inaugural report from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Simplar Foundation presents a new global market outlook to help FMs navigate evolving risks and demands in 2026.

The findings in the Facility Management Pulse Report are based on 1,400 responses to IFMA’s Q3 2025 Facility Management Index and Economic Pulse Survey, which include nearly 1,200 facility professionals and 200 vendors or service providers across 80 countries. The analysis is also based on a new metric called the Facility Management Workload Index (FMWI), which captures how facility professionals expect their overall workload to change over the next six months.

“This is of immense value in understanding current drivers, challenges and expectations across regions and sectors,’ said Michael V. Geary, IFMA’s president and CEO. “It helps ensure that FMs and their organizations are not caught off guard by factors influencing market dynamics, but are better prepared to respond to supply and staffing issues, scope changes, economic conditions, regulatory impacts, and other risks and opportunities.”

Tariff and trade shifts affect most facility operations

Facility teams are grappling with rising expectations and tight resources, exacerbated by tariffs and trade pressures that have disrupted operations for nearly two-thirds of respondents over the past six months.

Across most sectors, roughly one in five organizations have added contingencies or increased budgets (33%), changed vendors (21%), or shifted to domestic and regional suppliers (19%). Others have rescoped projects (30%) or deferred projects (26%), suggesting that facility leaders are moderating demand rather than canceling projects.

The impacts are more pronounced in asset-heavy sectors such as manufacturing, utilities, and transportation and warehousing, which all rely on imported materials, specialized equipment, and cross-border logistics.

While tariff and trade disruptions affect facility portfolios worldwide, regions differ in how they respond. North America shows the highest share of increased project budgets and added contingencies (18 per cent), moderate levels of deferred and rescoped projects, and low cancellations (7 per cent). In contrast, organizations in Latin America are more likely to defer projects due to tighter budgets and higher cost pressures. Europe leads project rescoping, while Asia-Pacific and Latin America experience the highest volume of vendor and sourcing shifts.

Overall, organizations are making slight moves toward regional or domestic suppliers, reflecting targeted adjustments instead of major supply chain redesigns. Portfolios exceeding 3 million square feet absorb cost swings more easily and display higher sourcing resilience. Mid-size portfolios of 2 to 3 million square feet account for the highest share of budget increases and accelerate purchasing ahead of tariff changes. Sites under 250,000 square feet rely more heavily on switching vendors or suppliers.

Workload growth hits key sectors and leadership roles

The majority of facility management professionals expect workloads—from daily operations and maintenance to renovations and projects—to increase over the next six months, particularly within large portfolios.

The inaugural FMWI registers a +43 reading on a −100 to +100 scale, which means more facility professionals expect their overall workload to rise. This is primarily the case within the transportation and warehousing, utilities, public administration and manufacturing sectors.

By region, the expected workload varies. In North America, the industry projects the strongest growth within the South Central and Southeast United States. In Canada, Ontario is moderate at +41.1, while the scores in British Columbia (+36.4) and the Prairie Region (+40.5) should be considered with caution due to smaller sample sizes.

The analysis also found that facility managers with greater responsibility anticipate the heaviest workloads, particularly those overseeing two or more levels of supervisors (+50.8), compared with senior executives (+47) and managers with no employees (+30.3).

Organizations focus on backfills and targeted hiring

The average time to fill a facility position is nearly four months, while technician vacancies are elevated in several sectors and regions. Facility managers are intent on maintaining their staff. To do so, they will continue to backfill roles left vacant by turnover or retirement, add headcount where needed, or freeze hiring to meet evolving organizational demands.

Across sectors, most teams will focus on filling empty positions and targeted net hiring. The utilities and healthcare sectors lead the charge with plans to increase staff. Finance, insurance, and manufacturing target modest growth, while public administration focuses on backfills with few reductions. Other sectors tread more cautiously: manufacturing expects the most cuts, and transportation, retail, and education anticipate more hiring freezes.

The size of a portfolio also determines staffing plans. Small sites up to 100,000 square feet are taking little action. Mid-sized portfolios between 100,000 and 500,000 square feet show the strongest growth, combining net hiring with backfills. Larger sites up to 1 million square feet rely heavily on backfills while maintaining moderate net increases. Teams managing portfolios above 1 million square feet plan for both backfills and selective hiring, with occasional freezes or reductions. The fewest reductions appear in mid-range portfolios.

In Canada, Ontario reflects a balanced picture (20% increase, 29% backfill, 17% freeze). Respondents in British Columbia are focused on backfills at 44%, and Quebec splits evenly between freezes (50%) and taking no action (50%). In the United States, respondents in the Southeast and South Central regions report the highest levels of anticipated hiring.

As facility teams brace for another busy year, vacancy levels in North America remain relatively low, with an average fill time of 3.6 months. Housekeeping shows some gaps, while technician roles remain mostly staffed. Maintenance management and FM administration have the lowest vacancies. Overall, North American facilities remain better staffed than those in Africa, Europe, or other regions.

Targeted outsourcing, which can help bridge gaps in skills and capacities, remains a core strategy, particularly in sectors with complex systems and broad geographic reach. Facility leaders in both North America and Asia-Pacific have slightly increased outsourcing, but not nearly as much as those in Africa (69%) and Latin America (50%).

Facility leaders prioritize budget essentials

Facility professionals feel pressure to justify every investment dollar. More than half report that budget approval times remain unchanged, while one-third say approvals take longer. Capital-project pipelines remain stable, and vendors expect slightly more client demand throughout 2026.

As budget scrutiny intensifies, organizations plan to boost day-to-day (O&M) spending and remain selective about capital investments. Most will direct funds toward essential renewals and deferred projects, rather than pursue new large-scale initiatives.

“Overall, the data point to a period of tight but manageable budgets—enough room for incremental improvements and necessary maintenance but not for broad expansion,” the report highlights. “Facility leaders should plan to prioritize and sequence work to make the most of limited new funding.”

As organizations focus on essential projects, industries diverge. Utilities, transportation, and manufacturing expect stable O&M spending, while finance, information, and accommodation and food services plan for modest increases. Public administration, professional services, and finance anticipate growth among capital investments, while education, information, and arts and entertainment will limit spending to targeted projects.

Across regions, teams in Africa will plan the largest jumps in O&M spending. North American and European organizations will keep budgets largely steady, balancing small rises and cuts. In Asia-Pacific, O&M spending will tilt toward growth, while Latin America faces the tightest pressure, with most organizations reducing budgets. Capital spending follows a similar trajectory. Europe and North America will maintain steady allocations, Asia-Pacific will nudge spending upward, and Latin America will remain constrained, with reductions outweighing increases.

Projects move forward as delays increase

Across sectors, project delays are now the norm rather than the exception. Only 10% of organizations report no delays; however, the majority experience partial disruption, with delays affecting a portion of active work. A smaller group reports widespread or near-total delays across their portfolios.

The top causes are scope changes (51%) and supply chain issues (49%), which reflect the ongoing impact of material availability and shifting project priorities. Permitting and regulatory approvals and funding delays are other primary drivers, while quality and safety problems are rarely cited. Delays seem to stem mainly from planning, approvals, and market conditions rather than day-to-day execution.

By sector and region, information and utilities respondents report fewer and less severe delays, whereas some sectors (e.g., professional and scientific, public administration, and transportation and warehousing) and several regions (e.g., parts of Europe; Latin America; and the U.S. Pacific, South Central, and Southeast regions) experience higher concentrations of heavy delays.

Many organizations are also revising how they manage risk in project contracts. They are adding data and cybersecurity requirements (55%), price-escalation clauses (47%) and ESG provisions (45%), along with shorter price-hold periods and stronger guarantees. These findings indicate projects are moving forward but with tighter controls regarding pricing, compliance and information.

Strategic guidance for an increasingly complex industry

The general response from the facility industry underscores a wide range of issues that teams must navigate to oversee efficient facilities. Professionals identify budget and cost pressures as significant challenges, followed by staffing needs and project delivery. They also flag technology and data systems, vendor and contractor management, and return-to-office considerations.

As facility managers contend with higher workloads, tight budgets, and complex supply-chain pressures, success will hinge on careful planning, strategic hiring, and flexible sourcing, particularly in regions or sectors with strong activity. As the report suggests, knowing where to focus resources and when to deploy contingency plans will be key to keeping projects on track.

“Organizations that align planning, sourcing and risk management early will be best positioned to sustain momentum, meet demand and deliver consistent results,” said Nickalos Rocha, IFMA’s director of benchmarking.

More guidance can be found in the Facility Management Pulse Report.

Competition Bureau releases findings on algorithmic pricing

The Competition Bureau has released a new report summarizing the feedback gathered through its recent public consultation on algorithmic pricing and its impact on competition. As algorithms become increasingly common in sectors ranging from concert ticketing and ridesharing to residential rent‑setting, more businesses are relying on automated tools to help shape their pricing strategies.

The Bureau received over 100 submissions from a diverse group of contributors, including individuals, businesses, industry associations, academics, legal experts, and consumer advocacy organizations.

“Algorithmic pricing can improve efficiency and choice, but it also presents risks related to fairness, transparency, and competition,” said Jeanne Pratt Acting Commissioner of Competition. “We will continue to engage with partners, the international community, market participants and Canadians as we advance our understanding of these emerging competition issues.”

The report highlights the key concerns raised during the consultation, which centred on four major themes:

Dynamically setting or recommending prices can create market efficiencies.
Algorithmic pricing can also facilitate anticompetitive behaviour.
Limited data transparency may negatively affect consumers, workers, and competition.
Government regulations should curb anticompetitive conduct without hindering innovation.

Click here for more info: Consultation on Algorithmic Pricing and Competition: What We Heard

Partnership enhances safety in Indigenous workplaces

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) and the Indigenous Centre for Occupational Health and Public Safety (ICOHPS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together to enrich health and safety in Indigenous communities in Canada.

The agreement outlines commitments to advance workplace safety. Some initiatives may include creating a safety management system, updating safety programs, developing partnerships with government and industry leaders, hosting a national conference focused on Indigenous occupational health and safety, and holding ongoing discussions.

ICOHPS develops public safety-awareness education programs in a variety of fields. They work with employers and their employees, and community members to reduce human and financial losses for their Nations.

“We look forward to working with CCOHS to strengthen health and safety in ways that truly respect the experiences, strengths, and priorities of Indigenous communities,” said Toby Desnomie, founder, president and CEO of ICOHPS. “Together, we can build practical, culturally grounded solutions that support the well-being of our workers and communities through our Indigenous Laws of the people.”

CN Tower unveils $21M upgrade for 50th anniversary

Canada Lands Company unveiled a $21-million renovation to the CN Tower’s lower observation level to mark its 50th anniversary.

The redesigned space, 113 storeys above Toronto, enhances indoor viewing capacity and features a new glass floor and interactive video walls that bring Canadian art to life through animated visual interpretations.

Mayor Olivia Chow joined Culture Minister Marc Miller, Stéphan Déry, president and CEO of Canada Lands Company, and Peter George, COO of the CN Tower, to officially open the space on Wednesday,January 21. The celebration kicked-off a series of events to commemorate the milestone year.

Visitors will see special lighting at midnight on the Radome, rotating photo galleries on the main observation level, exclusive menus and merchandise, and a birthday celebration in Canada Lands Square on June 26, 2026. A digital interactive timeline of the Tower’s history is available at the attraction and online.

The CN Tower was built by the Canadian National Railway in 1976. In 1995, it became a public company and remains federally owned and managed by Canada Lands Company. This latest renovation builds on the 2018 main observation level upgrade, which introduced floor-to-ceiling glass window walls.

“The CN Tower is an iconic symbol, at the heart of Toronto’s skyline and one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world,” said Miller. “This powerful emblem of Canada will shine even brighter with its newly renovated Lower Observation Level, showcasing Canadian innovation, culture, and stories, and offering visitors an unforgettable experience that celebrates our city and our country.”

Feature photo. Back: Senator Toni Varone, Pedro Narvaez, Co-founder of AVA Animation & Visual Arts, Ausma Malik, First Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Toronto and East York, Emma Lopez, Co-founder of AVA Animation & Visual Arts, Stéphan Déry, President and CEO Canada Lands Company, Peter George, Chief Operating Officer, CN Tower Front: Chi Nguyen, Member of Parliament for Spadina – Harbour front, Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto, Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages.