// THE ONLY CONSTRUCTION MEDIA IN ATLANTIC CANADA
The people who actually build Atlantic Canada, on the record.
Contractors, developers, trades, and architects — telling you how the work really gets done, with the receipt on every fact. Cut into clips you can watch on a coffee break.
STRAIGHT TALK, BUILDER TO BUILDER.HOSTED BY DANIEL ARSENAULT ▸
76
EPISODES
80.1
HOURS ON RECORD
246+
COMPANIES
625
CLIPS & COUNTING
Aries Contracting (Ottawa) Inc.Southwest PropertiesAirtight SpacesKent Building SuppliesThe Armour Group LimitedAble Electric 2016 LimitedWestwood Developments46North Group of Companies Inc.Efficiency Nova Scotiarcs constructionTrinity Energy Group0812 Building Solutions Inc.Smarter Spaces Inc.Dexel Developments Limited / Dexel ArchitectureLindsay ConstructionPayzant Building Products Ltd.Freeman Group Private Wealth ManagementBird Construction Inc.IG Wealth Management Inc.ALRE Properties Inc. (Les Immeubles ALRE Inc.)Construction Association of Nova Scotia (CANS)Anvil Construction Ltd.Marco Group LimitedCrombie Real Estate Investment TrustConstructionClockInflector Environmental ServicesAlweather Windows & DoorsArchitecture49
// 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.
Performance-based specs (no proprietary product names) are the only defensible route in public tendering; they still protect quality by setting minimum performance thresholds that inferior products cannot meet.
“we don't actually specify our material by name at all in the public market just the performance spec”
Waiting over a year for final payment on a single commercial project can threaten the solvency of a mid-size sub — diversifying client types reduces this existential risk.
“there's one project we waited over a year for to get our final payment to come through”
Front-loading environmental assessment with the architect — before design is locked — produces comparable bid documents and eliminates the wild spread in tender prices caused by unknown hazmat scope.
“everybody's comparing apples with apples it's not like because if you don't provide that information sometimes you'll see these really crazy numbers”
Structural steel can be 20 percent cheaper than concrete for mid-rise buildings and bypasses the two-to-three-year backlog for concrete envelope contractors in Halifax — worth designing for as you scale past six storeys.
“about 20 percent cheaper than concrete... there's only so many building envelope contractors and they're so flat out”
Mandatory energy labelling at point-of-sale is the single fastest behaviour-change lever for the existing housing stock, provided it is phased in starting with new construction.
“if we had a requirement that people label their homes … before it you were able to sell your home you bet people would be fixing the drafts”
Facebook has disproportionately high penetration in the Maritimes and is a primary inbound channel for skilled-trades recruitment in the region.
“facebook is enormously popular ... it has a particularly high penetration um out in nova scotia pei newfoundland and new brunswick”
In cladding estimating, most of the labor cost is in the prep and substructure, not the finished panel — allocate margin to the right layer.
“all the work is actually in the prep work, not in the finished product”
Operate from focus, not fear; make small good decisions daily and don't quit, because fear-driven calls create bad outcomes.
“if you operate from a place of fear or stress or whatever you might start making poor decisions”
Passive house is lifecycle-economic, not luxury: it was founded on finding the most economically efficient construction methodology, and government rebates (up to $9,000) can cover design fees and incremental costs.
“passive house was founded on economic principles… the most economically beneficial house to live in”
// THE LEDGER
The full conversations.
// ON THE RECORD
Procore Technologies, Inc. / Payzant Building Products Ltd. / Luminous Labs / Bird Construction Inc. / EllisDon Corporation / Pomerleau Inc. / rcs construction / Trinity Energy Group / Lindsay Construction / Construction Association of Nova Scotia (CANS) / Dexter Construction Company Limited / Efficiency Nova Scotia / The Armour Group Limited / Architecture49 / 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 / Marco Group Limited / Navacord / Smarter Spaces Inc. / Soublière Constructors / Southwest Properties / 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. / Aries Contracting (Ottawa) Inc.
The full directory// LISTEN & FOLLOW
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The inside line on who's building Atlantic Canada — one builder worth knowing, one lesson with its receipt, one project moving in the region. Every other Thursday.