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WorkSafeBC is holding its base rate at 1.55% for 2027 and calling it "rate stability." But the real cost of the system is 1.88% — and the gap is being covered by draining your surplus. Jordan Bateman breaks down the numbers WorkSafe doesn't want you to see, plus a break in the U.S. softwood lumber tariff and B.C.'s latest promise to speed up permits.

Alberta just landed a $13-billion Meta data centre — and built a power plant beside it so regular families don't get stuck with the bill. That's the model B.C. should copy.

Jordan Bateman breaks down the smart way to power the AI boom, plus a fresh youth-jobs plan, and a new certification clock for crane operators.

The news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta. New every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The Massey Tunnel price tag just DOUBLED — $4.15 billion to $8.5 billion — and Ottawa's cutting a cheque to help cover the NDP's mistake. Episode 5 of ICBA Coffee & Construction breaks down what it means for the people who build British Columbia and Alberta.

On today's show:
▶ Massey Tunnel: the $8.5 billion "we told you so" — how a funded, under-budget bridge became nine years, zero lanes, and double the price
▶ The West Coast Oil Pipeline: a million barrels a day, $35–44 billion, 140,000 jobs at peak — real, but only on paper
▶ The $20 billion Canada-B.C. deal: four LNG projects, the Red Chris mine expansion, and a $10-billion Roberts Bank port upgrade
▶ WorkSafeBC: claims costs up 22% in two years — why your premiums are about to become the story

Subscribe to ICBA Economics — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

ICBA Coffee & Construction drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Subscribe, and send this to one person who builds for a living.

ICBA is the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association — Canada's largest construction association. Learn more: https://icba.ca

#construction #bcpoli #abpoli

Three deadlines hit on Canada Day — and two of them land on every builder in BC and Alberta. Jordan Bateman breaks down the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta.

In this episode:

• Alberta's million-barrel-a-day pipeline proposal is due July 1 at the federal Major Projects Office. Smith and Carney say they want to "get to yes" — the holdup runs through David Eby's BC.
• The CUSMA trade review opens the same day. ICBA Chief Economist Jock Finlayson's Mid-Year Update warns Canada is in — or on the cusp of — recession.
• The condo bailout: Pierre Poilievre asks the Commons ethics committee to investigate Ottawa and Victoria's plan to buy 2,200 unsold BC condos.

📩 Subscribe to ICBA Economics — the most helpful email you'll get all week: icba.ca/economics
🎧 New episodes Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Next up: Wednesday, July 8.
👍 If it was useful, subscribe and send it to one person who builds for a living.

Read more at icba.ca/bc-blog

#ICBA #Construction #BCpoli #ABpoli #Pipeline #Housing #CdnEcon

ritish Columbia just hit a record pile of unsold condos. The government's big idea? Buy them — with your money. Welcome to the condo bailout.

Episode 3 of ICBA Coffee & Construction: the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta. The condo buyback, a premier racing home from China for a federal deal, and the construction-jobs number nobody wants to see.

I'm Jordan Bateman, VP of Communications & Advocacy at ICBA. New episodes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

**Chapters**
00:00 — Cold open
00:25 — The condo bailout
03:30 — Eby cuts his China trip short for a deal with Ottawa
06:00 — The construction-jobs number nobody wants to see
07:45 — Kicker: oil drops, a break on your costs

**Stories & sources**
• The condo buyback — critics, numbers, and the market context — https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-bc-partnership-condo-conversion-metro-vancouver-supply-criticism
• Eby cuts China trip short for a B.C.–Ottawa major-projects MOU — https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/bc-close-to-mou-with-ottawa-that-may-include-massey-tunnel-replacement-funding/
• Ottawa nearing a major-projects deal with B.C. — https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-nearing-major-projects-deal-with-bc-as-alberta-closes-in-on/
• ICBA Economics — Construction Cools as Job Vacancies Crater — https://icba.ca/economics-blog/icba-econobot-construction-cools-as-job-vacancies-crater

📩 Subscribe to ICBA Economics — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics
▶️ Subscribe on YouTube and your favourite podcast platform so you don't miss an episode.

If this was useful, send it to one person who builds for a living.

#ICBA #construction #BCpoli #housing #affordability #resourceeconomy

B.C. approved a big new mine last week — then took a bow for the very law that froze everybody else's mine. That's where we start.

Episode 2 of ICBA Coffee & Construction: the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta. A mine, a data-centre gold rush, and a pipeline deadline — and one question running underneath all of it: which governments actually let you build?

Hosted by Jordan Bateman, VP of Communications & Advocacy at ICBA. New episodes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

**Chapters**
00:00 — Cold open
00:25 — Red Chris mine gets the green light (and the DRIPA spin to ignore)
03:15 — The data-centre gold rush — and who can actually power it
05:40 — Pipeline! Alberta's July 1 deadline
07:20 — The number that ties it together: B.C. 1.1% vs Alberta 2.3%
08:40 — Kicker: Alberta puts a price tag on leaving

📩 Subscribe to ICBA Economics — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics
▶️ Subscribe on YouTube and your favourite podcast platform so you don't miss an episode.

If this was useful, send it to one person who builds for a living.

#ICBA #construction #BCpoli #ABpoli #LNG #mining #resourceeconomy

Inflation's back, Alberta's pipeline clock is ticking, and B.C. just blew up another megaproject contract. Welcome to Episode 1.

ICBA Coffee & Construction is the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta — fast, sharp, and straight up. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Jordan Bateman.
On this episode:

– Inflation hits 3.2% — gas up 33%, groceries up again — and what it means on a job site

– Alberta's nine-day countdown to a million-barrel pipeline proposal, and why David Eby's "same coast, different liquid" position doesn't add up

– A $5-billion gold-and-copper mine stalled because the NDP fumbled its duty to consult

– The Massey tunnel contract blowup — and how a funded 2024 bridge became a $9-billion-and-climbing hole in the ground
Chapters (adjust to your cut):

0:00 Cold open: inflation's back

0:30 Inflation hits 3.2%

2:00 Alberta's pipeline countdown vs. Eby's veto

4:30 KSM mine stalled — sloppy consultation, $5B price

6:30 Massey tunnel: what did we get for it?

📩 Want the economics behind the headlines? Subscribe to ICBA's twice-weekly EconoBot briefing — the most useful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

🔨 Learn more about ICBA, Canada's largest construction association: https://icba.ca

🎧 Listen on your favourite podcast app: search for Coffee and Construction.

If this was useful, subscribe and send it to one person who builds for a living.

Follow ICBA: X @icbabc | LinkedIn: ICBA | Facebook: theICBA
#bcpoli #abpoli #construction #pipelines #inflation #ICBA #resourceeconomy #BCndp