Case Studies Region: Canada

For Pio D’Andrea, there’s always been something magical about trains—from playing with them as a child in Montreal to feeling the g-forces in his chest the first time he rode a high-speed bullet train in Japan. It’s a passion that put him on track to work for railways around the world. After four years abroad, […]

It’s a western Canadian province subject to booms and busts, Alberta teeming underfoot with fossil fuels whose demand can fluctuate. The demand having decreased through COVID-19 effect on the energy industry, there’s been a lot of Albertans in need of housing and unable to afford a mortgage. “There’s such an undersupply of proper multifamily rental […]

The old saying goes that the road to success is paved with failures. Modern times call for an upgraded adage: The road to green energy and sustainability is illuminated by LED lights. Many of those innovative roads weave through college and university campuses, where the exterior architecture may be traditional, but renovated interiors bring modern […]

When restoring something historic, the goal is to get as close to the original as possible. Sometimes, though, the only way to revitalize the past is by using modern technology. In Bob Wyatt’s experience, this has meant relying on a 3D printer to make casts when original parts aren’t available. He did this a few […]

Although an industry heavyweight in Canada, Magil Construction needed a tech upgrade a decade or so ago. The same held true for the industry itself. To be sure, Magil was capably managing construction of notable projects in Canada and elsewhere, but here it was, the mid- and late-2010s, and Magil had yet to replace its […]

There’s never a good time for a building to flood. The beginning of a global health pandemic is especially bad, though. In April 2020, this is the situation Lonnie Pilgrim faced when Fort McMurray Composite High School flooded with eight inches of water from a nearby river. As the school division’s director of buildings and […]

MacEwan University may be in Western Canada, but the people who comprise the facilities department speak at least one word in Japanese: muda. That, explains Stephen Luyendyk, translates as waste or uselessness, terms that were anathema to him and his crew even before 2019, when an outside speaker put a catchy name to the many […]

Though Jamie Collum and Andrew Cartwright knew they’d make a great team, they really didn’t imagine it would be this good. At Toronto-based FCA Insurance Brokers, the duo helps contractors across Canada get insurance and surety bonds as the industry rebounds from COVID-19-related setbacks. The tag-team approach began in August 2020, when Cartwright joined FCA […]

Like most in-person organizations in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the YMCA of Three Rivers in Ontario, Canada, did the smart thing: closed its doors and figured out how to operate remotely. Except for one area. With local homeless shelters closing or at capacity due to new distancing requirements, and gymnasium space freed […]

It’s not a pleasant memory for Lavernne Hudson, that her late, sight-impaired grandfather needed care beyond what the extended family could provide. He spent his last years in a very institutional facility, and while the place wasn’t uncomfortable, something seemed to be missing. The man deserved better surroundings and more personal attention, she recalls, especially […]