Latest news with #CanadianInstituteofSteelConstruction
Global News
15 hours ago
- Business
- Global News
Sub-par Chinese steel delayed B.C.'s Pattullo Bridge replacement, industry advocate claims
An advocacy group for the Canadian steel sector is pinning construction delays on B.C.'s Pattullo Bridge replacement, in part, on the use of steel from China. 'That steel came from Asia and both cost jobs in the Lower Mainland in B.C. and cost time,' Keenan Loomis, president and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, told Global News on Thursday. 'I think that if the decision had gone to Canadian fabricators, that right now there would be cars driving over the Pattullo Bridge.' 1:56 Metro Vancouver transportation megaprojects update The new four-lane Pattullo replacement was originally meant to be complete by 2023, but now has a target date of late 2025. The estimated price tag has also increased from $1.37 billion to $1.64 billion. Story continues below advertisement Loomis first raised the concerns in a presentation to the legislature's select standing committee on finance and government services earlier this week. He told Global News the Chinese bid came in at $20 million under the competing Canadian offer, but said the result is steel that is not always engineered to Canadian standards. That means that when the material arrives on site, 'there's a lot of fixes that are required.' 'In fact, Canadian fabricators are being brought in right now to do all the upgrades that are needed to bring this bridge online,' he said. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'You also have to look at, overall, the total installed cost … ultimately, we ended up spending a lot more to fix all the defects.' 1:48 Completion dates for Broadway subway, Pattullo Bridge pushed back B.C.'s Ministry of Transportation and Transit called Loomis' claims 'pure speculation.' Story continues below advertisement It said Fraser Crossing Partners, the consortium building the bridge, undertook a competitive bid process to source its materials, and that structural steel fabrication was being overseen by engineers with professional designations in B.C. 'Delays to the construction of the new bridge were a result of major disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted sectors across the global economy including construction,' the ministry said in a statement. 'A full-time quality oversight team at the fabrication site in China maintained a continuous presence on the shop floor throughout production shifts to ensure quality requirements were being met. Both FCP and the Province had full-time quality representatives at the fabrication site.' All steel used in the project also passed chemical and mechanical testing, it said. BC Conservative transportation critic Harman Bhangu said claims of substandard Chinese steel raise serious safety and budgetary concerns. 'We should do a check to see which projects throughout British Columbia are using this steel, and we should have a full investigation into it because public safety should be number one,' he said. Bhangu pointed to Victoria's $105 million Johnson Street Bridge replacement, which opened in 2018, years late and nearly $10 million over budget due to substandard Chinese steel. 'It is unbelievable that it takes us this long to build a bridge; it is actually a shame,' Bhangu said. Story continues below advertisement 'We need to start using some of our own resources, get our steel industry going, get our minerals going, and we need to get that to market and start building right here in B.C. … and it can't always be the cheapest bid, because we know the cheapest bid won't always be at that price or on time.' The controversy comes as B.C.'s NDP government also faces heat over BC Ferries' decision to procure its next four major vessels from a Chinese shipyard, a move it says will save $1.2 billion. 2:05 Canada adjusts steel and aluminum tariffs with the U.S. No Canadian shipyards entered a bid for the job, though B.C. shipbuilding giant Seaspan said it couldn't compete with foreign yards given there were no incentives for local builders in the competition. Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled new measures to protect and incentivize Canada's steel and aluminum sectors, in the wake of punishing U.S. tariffs and a simmering global trade war. Story continues below advertisement Loomis said it was a good start towards revitalizing the industry. 'Finally, people are waking up to the fact that others are not playing by the trading rules that we seem to be holding ourselves to account to,' he said. 'And so it's a whole new world, but we really need to be mindful of where our dollars are being spent.'
The Province
a day ago
- Business
- The Province
Chinese steel 'contributed to delays' in construction of Pattullo Bridge replacement, says advocate
Welding issues in steel from oversees can create headaches for local workers and increase expenses, says Canadian Institute of Steel Construction CEO Construction earlier this year of the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO / PNG A construction industry advocacy group says delays to the Pattullo Bridge replacement project can be blamed, in part, on the province's reliance on Chinese steel. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Originally set to be finished by the fall of 2023, the project is not expected to be completed until this fall, two years behind schedule. Additionally, the cost has ballooned by 20 per cent to $1.637 billion from the original estimate of $1.377 billion. In a presentation to the province's select standing committee on finance and government services this week, Keanin Loomis, the CEO of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, told MLAs that some of the issues with the Pattullo replacement can be put down to the general contractor for the project sourcing steel and fabrication services from China. Loomis said the winning bid back in 2020 from Spanish multinational conglomerate Acciona and Canadian firm Aecon came in $20 million below the estimate put forward by the next lowest bid, led by Canadian company Supreme Steel. He said the steel used in the project was prefabricated in China, and when it was brought over to Canada there were issues in the welding, leading to delays and increased expenses as on-site workers had to fix the mistakes. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The Pattullo Bridge is one of the prime examples across the country of what not to do when it comes to procurement of steel and going overseas,' said Loomis. 'My members are now fixing a lot of the mistakes. If you had gone with a Canadian fabricator, I'm sure that there would be cars driving on that bridge right now.' Construction earlier this year of the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster. Photo by Nick Procaylo / PNG In fact, Supreme Steel has now closed much of its operations in B.C. It had bought the long-time construction giant Canron in the late 1990s, which was responsible for projects such as the Alex Fraser Bridge and Canada Place, but ultimately chose to wind down the company's facilities and consolidate jobs into its Alberta and Saskatchewan offices. A couple of decades ago, Supreme Steel had at least 250 employees as well as another 50 or 60 field employees. By the time operations were wrapped up, it had only a fraction of that many workers due to repeatedly losing out on bids for major projects such as the Johnson Street Bridge in Victoria and the Golden Ears Bridge in Maple Ridge to overseas companies. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The fall of Canron is a story of the B.C. metal fabrication sector writ large, says Loomis, who says it costs too much for many companies to continue employing people in the province, especially when they continuously lose out on bids to foreign competitors. 'It's difficult to get fuel across the Rockies, and the cost of land in B.C. is also a huge part of the calculus, not just on wages,' he told Postmedia. 'If you're sitting on a couple of acres in the Lower Mainland and you're looking at all these jobs going to overseas fabricators, you're wondering if you can actually continue to exist. And in fact, many have pulled out.' Loomis said that while a good portion of the steel coming from China is high quality, some of it is what he calls 'Temu steel' — as it is mass-produced and low-quality, much like some products often available through the popular online retailer, Temu. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Construction earlier this year of the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO / 10107334A The Pattullo Bridge replacement is the latest in a long line of provincial infrastructure projects coming in late and over budget. Earlier this month, provincial Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth admitted the Broadway Subway project, which is already two years behind schedule, will also cost almost $1 billion more than originally anticipated. Farnworth was unavailable to discuss the comments made by Loomis this week and his ministry did not respond in time to questions posed by Postmedia about the use of Chinese steel for the Pattullo Bridge replacement project and the closure of Supreme Steel's B.C. operations. Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko, who sits on the select standing committee on finance and government services, said she was shocked to hear about the issues with the Pattullo project, and drew it back to the recent controversy around B.C. Ferries' awarding a contract for four new vessels from a Chinese state-owned shipyard. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'You have to wonder what the true value in choosing overseas steel producers and providers versus the home-grown and home-produced steel that can be manufactured in Canada,' she said. 'It might look cheaper at the outset, but if we're ending up with delays and cost overruns because things like welds need to be redone by a Canadian contractor, if there really is no savings in the first place, we would have been much better off, even with a bid that would have been perhaps higher than what the Chinese company was bidding given the value in keeping jobs in B.C.' alazenby@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks BC Lions Local News Local News
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Chinese steel 'contributed to delays' in construction of Pattullo Bridge replacement, says advocate
A construction industry advocacy group says delays to the Pattullo Bridge replacement project can be blamed, in part, on the province's reliance on Chinese steel. Originally set to be finished by the fall of 2023, the project is not expected to be completed until this fall, two years behind schedule. Additionally, the cost has ballooned by 20 per cent to $1.637 billion from the original estimate of $1.377 billion. In a presentation to the province's select standing committee on finance and government services this week, Keanin Loomis, the CEO of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, told MLAs that some of the issues with the Pattullo replacement can be put down to the general contractor for the project sourcing steel and fabrication services from China. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Loomis said the winning bid back in 2020 from Spanish multinational conglomerate Acciona and Canadian firm Aecon came in $20 million below the estimate put forward by the next lowest bid, led by Canadian company Supreme Steel. He said the steel used in the project was prefabricated in China, and when it was brought over to Canada there were issues in the welding, leading to delays and increased expenses as on-site workers had to fix the mistakes. 'The Pattullo Bridge is one of the prime examples across the country of what not to do when it comes to procurement of steel and going overseas,' said Loomis. 'My members are now fixing a lot of the mistakes. If you had gone with a Canadian fabricator, I'm sure that there would be cars driving on that bridge right now.' In fact, Supreme Steel has now closed much of its operations in B.C. It had bought the long-time construction giant Canron in the late 1990s, which was responsible for projects such as the Alex Fraser Bridge and Canada Place, but ultimately chose to wind down the company's facilities and consolidate jobs into its Alberta and Saskatchewan offices. A couple of decades ago, Supreme Steel had at least 250 employees as well as another 50 or 60 field employees. By the time operations were wrapped up, it had only a fraction of that many workers due to repeatedly losing out on bids for major projects such as the Johnson Street Bridge in Victoria and the Golden Ears Bridge in Maple Ridge to overseas companies. The fall of Canron is a story of the B.C. metal fabrication sector writ large, says Loomis, who says it costs too much for many companies to continue employing people in the province, especially when they continuously lose out on bids to foreign competitors. 'It's difficult to get fuel across the Rockies, and the cost of land in B.C. is also a huge part of the calculus, not just on wages,' he told Postmedia. 'If you're sitting on a couple of acres in the Lower Mainland and you're looking at all these jobs going to overseas fabricators, you're wondering if you can actually continue to exist. And in fact, many have pulled out.' Loomis said that while a good portion of the steel coming from China is high quality, some of it is what he calls 'Temu steel' — as it is mass-produced and low-quality, much like some products often available through the popular online retailer, Temu. The Pattullo Bridge replacement is the latest in a long line of provincial infrastructure projects coming in late and over budget. Earlier this month, provincial Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth admitted the Broadway Subway project, which is already two years behind schedule, will also cost almost $1 billion more than originally anticipated. Farnworth was unavailable to discuss the comments made by Loomis this week and his ministry did not respond in time to questions posed by Postmedia about the use of Chinese steel for the Pattullo Bridge replacement project and the closure of Supreme Steel's B.C. operations. Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko, who sits on the select standing committee on finance and government services, said she was shocked to hear about the issues with the Pattullo project, and drew it back to the recent controversy around B.C. Ferries' awarding a contract for four new vessels from a Chinese state-owned shipyard. 'You have to wonder what the true value in choosing overseas steel producers and providers versus the home-grown and home-produced steel that can be manufactured in Canada,' she said. 'It might look cheaper at the outset, but if we're ending up with delays and cost overruns because things like welds need to be redone by a Canadian contractor, if there really is no savings in the first place, we would have been much better off, even with a bid that would have been perhaps higher than what the Chinese company was bidding given the value in keeping jobs in B.C.' alazenby@
Hamilton Spectator
27-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Who's on the list of prospective builders for Hamilton's LRT?
A mix of international and Ontario-based contractors are leading the teams invited to bid on long-delayed construction for Hamilton's LRT. The province announced last week it would invite four teams of contractors to bid on the first phase of construction for a lower city light rail transit line that has $3.4 billion of federal and provincial construction cash attached. That first phase of 'civil works' includes digging up the 14-kilometre route to relocate pipes and utilities, as well as build or rebuild bridges, roads and sidewalks for the project. The list of bidders has sparked interest given the ongoing trade war , which prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to threaten to ban U.S. businesses from major provincial procurement in retaliation for tariffs on Canadian steel and auto parts. In response to Spectator questions, the province provided a list of lead contractors associated with the presumed bids and emphasized 'all of the shortlisted teams … include Canadian contractors.' The full list of contractors associated with the teams was not released. But the project will likely benefit more than one local constructor or contractor, said Jeff Belbeck, chair of the Hamilton-Halton Construction Association. 'I expect a few of our members will be involved (in the build),' he said and noted Dufferin as one example. 'The bigger benefit will probably be the spinoff developments — the new buildings going up, intersections being retooled, the infrastructure replaced.' Keanin Loomis, who heads the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, also cheered the request for proposal announcement as a 'long-overdue milestone. 'I'm certain I join all Hamiltonians in expecting that each of these consortia will maximize their usage of Canadian steel, materials, contractors, fabricators and labour in the building of this project.'
CBC
25-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
The threat of a tariff war is already driving up housing costs
Social Sharing Many high-rise buildings need I-beams. In fact, they need a lot. Also known as a wide flange beam, the I-shaped component is used in multi-unit buildings, including residential and commercial ones. According to Keanin Loomis, president and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, a 20-storey building would take "thousands of tonnes of I-beams." "It's a crucial part of a builder's inventory. Nothing can be done without those," Loomis said. It turns out Canadian builders buy most of these crucial parts from steel companies based in the United States. The I-beam is just one item on a long list of construction and housing materials that could face a 25 per cent tariff should Canada retaliate against the U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on a variety of Canadian products. Industry insiders say even without the imposition of more tariffs, the cost of U.S. steel — including that important I-beam — has already risen. "The price of steel already went up with the stroke of a pen when Donald Trump announced [tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum]," Loomis said. Canada is in the midst of a housing crisis, with calls to build millions of more housing units to help address the problem. According to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canada would need to build 5.8 million new homes by 2030 to "restore housing affordability." But housing sector insiders say the mere threat of a tariff war is another painful blow to an industry that has been struggling to get projects off the ground and keep up with demand. The cost of many construction-related products now seen as vulnerable to higher prices include everything from windows to shingles; cement; certain types of flooring; even bathroom and kitchen appliances coming from the U.S. All are listed in the Canadian government's proposed tariff list from early February. Experts say threats of retaliatory tariffs are complicating the national promise to build more homes. "With material costs now increasing, a lot of projects may just be shelved. I've already heard about projects for new housing being shelved just because of the uncertainty," said Michael Brooks, CEO of the Real Property Association of Canada (Realpac). "We're already behind in catching up on supply. This will make it worse." 'We see greater uncertainty because of the tariffs' Canadian Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith echoed this fear last week. Building more homes and retaliating with tariffs "are at odds with one another, because as we see greater uncertainty because of the tariffs, as we see cost increases on certain materials, prices of homebuilding are going to go up. And we need the exact opposite to happen," Erskine-Smith said. "I'm alive to the concern. The government is alive to the concern. The list of retaliatory measures is alive to that concern," he said. Brooks, who represents some of Canada's largest landlords and developers, says there is concern and hesitation across the industry. It is not certain this tariff war will happen. It has been paused until March 12, with little mention from the Canadian government in the past few weeks. "It is fear of the unknown," Brooks said. He says you can't plan a project without a budget, which is usually done down to "the last nut and bolt." It's an impossible task at the moment. "We have no idea where [items being listed for tariffs] would stop, anything that is in high demand going into home construction — cement, rebar, things like that. If there are tariffs that are hitting those, it's just going to continue to drive the costs up," said Scott Andison, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders' Association. Andison says if this threat goes on for too long, builders will have to stop projects until costs become more certain. Tariffed twice, or more Another concern from industry is the fear of layered tariffs. Canada and the U.S. supply chains are so integrated that many supplies — including products made with steel and aluminum — will go back and forth between the two countries several times before becoming a finished product. According to a recent RBC report, Canada imported $7.5 billion US in steel and $9.4 billion in aluminum products in 2024. Canada accounts for about a fifth of U.S. imports of steel and 50 per cent of aluminum imports. Loomis likened construction material to the automobile industry's cross-border workflow. "We hear about how a part will cross the border, you know, eight times before it ends up in a finished product," he said. "That's fairly similar when it comes to the structural steel industry as well. We have a lot of fabricators that do work in the United States. They will source their wide flange, or I-beam, from the United States, then fabricate it here in Canada, and then ship it back to the U.S.," Loomis said. Brooks said something like an HVAC unit or an appliance might have Canadian steel, but could be assembled in the U.S. and then brought back to Canada. These are just two examples of products with the potential to skyrocket in cost. These issues have a wider effect in a country where investors play such a key role in development. "That loss of confidence, that last of foreseeability [is challenging]," said Brooks. "And it's possibly going to drive investment capital elsewhere — elsewhere being outside of Canada." Why not just buy Canadian? Loomis says buying Canadian isn't always easy. "We've been part of a trade regime for many years, and we all have our niche. Canada doesn't make everything we need and the U.S is in the exact same situation," Loomis said. He said it would take "several years and billions of dollars" in investment to rejig manufacturing plants to build all that we need. Brooks believes there is a lot the government could do to keep Canadian developers building, including "getting rid of interprovincial trade barriers, lowering development charges [and] removing GST on purpose-built rental." He argues the government can get rid of some of these added costs if it wants to calm investors during this time. Even so, the uncertainty with what might happen between Canada and the U.S. will remain a deterrent for home builders.
