Construction Networking in Toronto, Canada
Posted by Steve Thomas , Construction Recruitment Director, UK & Canada on Tuesday, November 12, 2024
One of the pleasures of covering Business Development for Maxim Recruitment in multiple locations, is that you can pick and choose which construction and property events in each international location to attend each year.
One of the firm favourites for me year after year is the Toronto CCPPP and the highly valuable related and spin off events that take place around town the same week.
This year the CCPPP (Canadian Council for Public Private Partnerships) conference took place 4th & 5th November 2024 and included over 80 expert speakers, 14 panels and various workshops and keynotes. While some attendees note that the P3 model is on the decline in Canada with few awarded for some time, however irrespective of this, the event itself is still a fantastic place to meet most of the key participants in the infrastructure and building sectors in Canada. Both established names, new entrants and ambitious individuals attend, it is a great place to see and be seen!
BLG hosted an after party in the evening of the first day, with great drinks and a chance to mingle and to hear numerous thoughts about the state of the industry and the optimism brewing for 2025!
In the evening of the 2nd day of the CCPPP, the British Acting High Commissioner to Canada, David Prodger invited selected industry leaders to “A UK – Canada Infrastructure Leaders Reception”, sponsored by Gowling WLG where again, plenty of conversation and networking could take place in very pleasant surroundings.
Wednesday 6th November saw the “UK-Canada Infrastructure Forum” take place at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre, where senior industry professionals outlined the major projects that are in the pipeline and that are already under construction. CAD$85BN was quoted as an estimate of annual spending in Ontario across key sectors including transit and energy generation. Concerns expressed included the rising costs of transit in Toronto no surpassing CAD$700m+ per kilometre and strategies were proposed to manage and mitigate this.
Other concerns expressed, related to infrastructure cybersecurity and the need to design in core common standards across all parts of the infrastructure to try to avoid future problems. Other concerns expressed included the fact that hardly any of Canadian passenger railway lines have been electrified. To meet environmental and reliability objectives, this is a major objective where change is planned to take place in the coming years.
Recent flooding in Toronto that is also not unknown in parts of Vancouver also, has raised flood mitigation up the political agenda. Both new and historic projects are being carefully reviewed to see where best value for money can be achieved with the limited resources available from both the public and private sectors. Climate Action Adaption Plans and their equivalents exist at Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels and the challenge is to get all the pots of money working together and to be of a sufficient size to make a significant difference.
Discussions took place on infrastructure financing models, and the risk appetite of private finance and governments in the context of rising costs. Alliancing has become the favoured construction method in the current economic climate. Overall, Toronto still tops the North America “Crane Index” though, with more than 4 times more cranes than Los Angeles, the second placed city.
My trip concluded with meetings with a number of clients including contractors, consultants and a premium construction dispute consultancy.
The market and the lifestyle in Toronto, and the big cities in Canada remains attractive places to work and live, and I can certainly recommend potential job seekers research Canada as a potential location to build your career over the next decade.
See our Canada candidate career advice and you are welcome to update and upload your CV. Employers are welcome to review our Testimonials and get in touch with me to discuss our premium executive search and recruitment services that we offer in Canada.
With 2025 not far away at all now, there is no time like the present to reflect and get in touch to actively consider your options.
Steve is responsible for Maxim Recruitment in the UK and Canada. He is based in the Maxim head office in Leicester, UK and the Toronto office in Canada. He regularly travels to meet employers and job seekers and attend construction industry networking events in the UK, Canada and worldwide. Steve has over 25 years of experience in construction and property recruitment and enjoys working with many repeat clients. He manages dedicated search and headhunting assignments for a range of premium UK, Canadian and international clients.