Western Canadian Construction Superconference

The labour shortage in Western Canada is a multi-faceted problem, which will require a multi-faceted solution. On top of the shortage that already exists, the upcoming “retirement wave” that will be hitting the industry over the next few years will force you to urgently begin planning your labour strategies, as well as strategies for knowledge retention.

Which positions and trades are currently in the greatest demand in Western Canada, and across the country?

• How is the New West Partnership Agreement between Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia and the Alberta-British Columbia Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement opening up the inter-provincial barriers for certain trades, and how will this impact your company?
• Gain knowledge on what Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training is doing to address the labour challenges of the construction industry:
  • Initiatives to attract students into the trades
  • Funding
  • Partnership strategies
• Case Study: Learn what you can do to attract the best talent, keep apprentices motivated and benefit from the financial and time commitment involved with hiring apprentices
• Learn how to develop successful corporate strategies to effectively transfer crucial knowledge from experienced workers close to retirement, to the next generation
• How to optimize the usage of skills and knowledge of retirement-aged workers through alternatives to traditional full-time employment

With the upswing in the economy, many companies are meeting their labour needs by hiring foreign workers. This session is critical in order for you to keep abreast of recent regulatory amendments, and to gain practical know-how from industry leaders on successfully hiring and retaining foreign talent.

• Understanding recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and practical implications for you
• Ensuring employer compliance with the new immigration regulations, and avoiding the Citizenship and Immigration Canada “non-compliance list”
• Successfully bringing across intra-company transferees under the “Specialized Knowledge” category
• Highlighting avenues to permanent resident status for your foreign workers
• Increasing the likelihood of settlement and retention of your foreign talent, after investing in their recruitment and relocation
• Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety standards are met with a foreign workforce

• Update on the development of a North American BIM Standard, and highlighting how it will impact the future of the industry
• How is the utilization of BIM changing project management?
• Case studies of large-scale projects that have successfully utilized BIM technology
• What impact can BIM have on your company’s liability?
• Discussing strategies to ensure the execution of the project is completed within budget
• Understanding how the utilization of BIM can impact a project’s bonding and insurance requirements
• Opening the lines of communication between consultants and contractors/subcontractors to maximize the benefits of BIM and minimize the risks
• Discussing why integrated teams utilize BIM more effectively: how integrating decisions, design, and delivery empowers BIM enabled integrated teams to plan, design, construct, operate, and maintenance facilities and supporting infrastructure more intelligently and more cost effectively
• Understanding the role effective integrated agreements and addenda to traditional contracts can play in minimizing risks associated with the use of BIM
• Risk management in a BIM enabled IPD environment: How integrated teams can allocate BIM related risks to the entity/entities in the best position to mitigate and manage that risk, through the intelligent use of BIM

With an increase in the number of complex projects and partnership models within the construction industry, litigation is also becoming increasingly complex, time consuming and costly. This session examines alternatives to raditional litigation, which often result in outcomes which are more satisfactory to all parties involved, less adversarial, and less time and cost intensive. Learn how to determine which avenue is appropriate for you depending on the type of dispute at issue, and how to maximize the benefits for your company.

• How to effectively prepare for the types of disputes that may arise during a project, pre-contract, from the owner’s and contractor’s perspective
• Deciding whether or not to include an arbitration clause in the contract
• Highlighting other key complementary clauses which should be included in the contract along with an arbitration clause
• Discussing when it is appropriate to combine two arbitrations into one forum, and how to ensure this happens in appropriate cases
• The benefits and drawbacks of mediation vs. arbitration
• Taking a forensic mediation approach - analyzing the dispute from all parties’ perspectives
• Judicial dispute resolution: The potential benefits and drawbacks for your company

• Effectively planning for environmental issues early to minimize delays to your project
• Understanding the environmental regulatory framework at play, depending on the nature of the project
• Preparing for a single regulator for upstream oil and gas projects: how will this impact timelines and procedures?
• Lessons learned from several cases of previously contaminated sites
• Discover what the frameworks in Alberta Sustainable Resource Development’s Lower Athabasca Regional Plan require from you in terms of evaluation and reporting requirements and other actions to be taken

• Case studies of the latest green initiatives in Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan
• Identifying risks unique to green building projects at the outset of the project
• Project management of green building projects: highlighting common issues and how they can be effectively addressed
• Overcoming labour challenges specific to green buildings
• How has recent policy with respect to sustainable building affected various municipalities’ building codes?
• Meeting the requirements for becoming a LEED Accredited Professional

• Recent sustainable construction initiatives being implemented by leading energy companies
• Opportunities and challenges of sustainable oil and gas development
• Successfully planning for the usage of sustainable practices in EPC projects
• Incorporating green building principles into a project, and building in the spirit of LEED

• Case Study: Current and upcoming contract models, including Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) contracts being utilized in British Columbia and Alberta
• Assessing where the P3 market in Alberta fits into what is going on in the rest of the country
• Understanding the unique legal, bonding and insurance ramifications in P3 projects
• Strategically planning a procurement strategy for DBFO projects
• Discussing the future direction of P3s in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and how your company might become involved, regardless of the size
• How the federal government and various provincial governments will be awarding projects: large packages or smaller bundles?

• Analyzing the damage to a project caused by unrealistic schedules
• Common causes of delay among international vendors (e.g. being unaware of certain regulations) and how these can be managed effectively early in the project cycle
• Effectively managing funding and grant issues in the face of delays
• Creative strategies for dealing with potential delay claims for smaller and medium sized claims
• Dealing with insolvency and bankruptcy issues- how to manage contractors and subcontractors going into receivership
• Managing Occupational Health and Safety concerns with a younger labour force
• Recommended Practice 29R-03 Forensic Schedule Analysis
• Calculating the elusive Home Office Overhead

• A critical update on the New West Partnership Agreement between Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan: what are the implications for your company’s procurement procedures?
• Ensuring effective communication of the project requirements to the purchasers, and translation into an accurate request for proposal
• Discover what the owners’ valuation processes in complex procurement organizations, entail
• Successful tools and strategies for ensuring an efficient procurement process, in order to minimize delays and cost overruns
• How companies have been implementing changes to their procurement processes since the Tercon decision
• What you need to think about before deciding to procure internationally
  • opening up the lines of communication early to ensure effective communication of expectations
  • maximizing constructability: ensuring the project’s material and labour requirements take into account the realities of our market at home

• Assessing various methods for risk management through insurance, contracts and project execution
• Ensuring clear and open communication during the pre-tender stage to minimize common mistakes made during the construction project that would cost your company needlessly
• Examining the drawbacks of transferring 100% of risk in a contract
• Developing tools to successfully define the scope of a project so that a reliable estimate of cost and determination of schedule will follow