// NO SUITS. NO SCRIPTS.
The people who actually build Atlantic Canada, on the record.
Contractors, developers, trades, and architects — telling you how the work really gets done. Cut into clips you can watch on a coffee break.
HOSTED BY DAN ARSENAULT ▸
78
EPISODES
82.6
HOURS ON RECORD
253+
COMPANIES
639
CLIPS & COUNTING
// FEATURED — HIGHEST-RATED MOMENT
“I had an Olympic silver medal I just drank out of the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers and I was suicidal”
EP 68 · Corey Hirsch · Procore Technologies, Inc. · 2023-10-10
NHL goalie Corey Hirsch tells construction workers getting help is strength, not weakness.
Watch the full episode ▸// THE CLIP WALL
The best moments, on the record.
// FROM THE FIELD
Every lesson comes with a receipt.
The competitive moat for a building supplier is knowledgeable staff — contractors pay a trust premium for a person who can be handed a problem and never followed up on.
“they don't have to go back they know that okay that's done I can move on to my next thing”
Covering all worker travel logistics (flights, car, accommodations) removes the financial barrier for Maritimers taking out-of-province trades contracts and expands the recruiter's addressable candidate pool.
“they are not out of pocket a dime right so it's like they just hop they basically hop on a plane”
A career pivot toward your natural strengths beats forcing a mismatch path: self-awareness in the field (literally, on a log) is the trigger for a better trajectory.
“I scratched my head and I said I don't think I'm going to be able to do this forever”
Take business advice only from operators who have actually done it, not consultants who have only read about it.
“would you rather take advice from somebody who's Read 50 books or done 50 deals or built 50 companies”
Halifax housing starts shifted from ~75% single-family (30 years ago) to ~30% today — building suppliers who haven't adjusted their fleet, staffing and product mix to multi-unit are behind the market.
“30 years ago it was about 75 percent were single-family homes it's it's like 30 are single-family”
A BA in arts or humanities is underrated preparation for construction sales — the ability to structure arguments, present clearly, and communicate at multiple registers is the job, regardless of how you learned it.
“what the ba really gave me was a well-rounded education that allowed me to put logical arguments together”
Diversifying project geography within the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI) protects a GC from any single province's slow cycle and builds regional brand equity.
“being in the maritimes I say this a lot we've had to adapt... we look at everything if it fits the model”
On major urban projects, budget 10+ years from initial concept to occupancy; the construction phase is a small fraction of the full project timeline.
“the actual construction timeline is the most intense but just a small snapshot of the entire project”
Track adjacent tech even when it doesn't apply yet; new tool updates compound tiny per-unit time savings at scale.
“if you're doing 20 units like maybe only save like 10 minutes but there's 20 units right so it's like everything starts to add up”
Indigenous partnership programs that include apprenticeship and spin-off business creation address labor shortages while creating durable community benefit — a competitive differentiator in rural mega-projects.
“our goal is always to bring people on, help train and mentor, and then have them go back into their community and start a small business”
Lived experience inside a broken system is the most powerful design brief an architect can carry into a healthcare project.
“i know what it's like to be in a building that sucks”
Investing in specialized equipment (remote-controlled saws, electric demolition robots) transforms previously subcontracted work into owned capability and shortens project timelines dramatically.
“after the robot showed up we had that vault demolished and out the door in about seven shifts”
On coastal or waterfront sites, investigate tidal hydrology during estimating — groundwater intrusion can be several hundred feet inland and will stop concrete pours.
“our hole would fill with water... the tide goes in underneath lower water street... two blocks in from [the water]”
Design for disassembly from the start on temporary structures: reusable pipe-and-clamp scaffolding goes back to regular job sites; sacrificial elements are planned in, not accidents.
“pipe and clamp scaffolding can just go back to a job site and be used for stucco or low-rise buildings throughout the year”
Anchor clients who take a chance on a startup create the flywheel — repay them by never letting them regret it and name-dropping them everywhere.
“they were one of the first people that took a chance”
// THE LEDGER
EP 78John Jennex · Solar Ascent1:06:15EP 77Nick LeBlanc · Luminous Labs1:31:57EP 76Christopher Pickup · eXp Realty (subsidiary of eXp World Holdings, Inc.)52:51EP 75Cong Lin · Houzzspace Ltd.36:02EP 74Peter Freeman · Freeman Group Private Wealth Management55:01EP 73Travis Rudolph · EllisDon Corporation1:08:13EP 72Giovanni Cautillo · Ontario General Contractors Association1:08:29EP 71Lisa OBrien, PCC, CPCC · Procore Technologies, Inc.50:20EP 70Amin Tran · Dura Seal Ltd.1:07:29EP 69Dustin Bowers · PLAEX Building Systems Inc.1:25:24EP 68Corey Hirsch · Procore Technologies, Inc.47:51EP 67Catherine Hefler · PCL Construction1:13:09EP 66Peter Freeman CFP · Freeman Group Private Wealth Management1:23:21EP 65Emma Woodhull · Interior Designers of Nova Scotia (IDNS)1:06:53
// ON THE RECORD
Procore Technologies, Inc. / Payzant Building Products Ltd. / Luminous Labs / rcs construction / Bird Construction Inc. / EllisDon Corporation / Pomerleau Inc. / Trinity Energy Group / Lindsay Construction / Construction Association of Nova Scotia (CANS) / Dexter Construction Company Limited / Efficiency Nova Scotia / Marco Group Limited / The Armour Group Limited / Architecture49 / Southwest Properties / ConstructionClock / Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust / Dexel Developments Limited / Dexel Architecture / Fathom Studio / Freeman Group Private Wealth Management / IG Wealth Management Inc. / Inflector Environmental Services / Kent Building Supplies / Navacord / Smarter Spaces Inc. / Soublière Constructors / Powers Brown Architecture / Westwood Developments / 0812 Building Solutions Inc. / 46North Group of Companies Inc. / Able Electric 2016 Limited / Agnew Peckham Health Care Planning Consultants / Airtight Spaces / ALL-TECH Environmental Services Limited / Allsco Windows & Doors / ALRE Properties Inc. (Les Immeubles ALRE Inc.) / Alumicor Limited / Alweather Windows & Doors / Anvil Construction Ltd.
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