Alberta
Alberta will now allow wood-building construction for up to 12 storeys
From the Province of Alberta
Reducing red tape for wood-building construction
Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu announced the change Friday, as part of Red Tape Reduction Awareness Week.
While other jurisdictions in Canada, like British Columbia, currently allow for 12-storey wood construction, Alberta will become the first province in Canada to allow the practice province-wide.
“Not only will this decision support the forestry industry and land developers, it will provide affordability to homebuyers, bolster employment, and give Alberta a competitive advantage. We made this change knowing that mass timber products are safe and that these buildings will meet all necessary standards.”
Current Alberta and national building codes allow wood-building construction for up to six storeys, but the next edition of the National Building Code – anticipated for publication at the end of 2020 – will allow for the use of tall wood construction with fire-resistant material for up to 12 storeys.
Alberta will issue a notice – based on technical provisions developed for the next edition of the National Building Code – to allow early use of tall wood or mass timber construction for up to 12 storeys using fire-resistant material in time for the upcoming construction season.
“We commend the Government of Alberta for advancing the use of wood-building construction of up to 12 storeys with this province-wide variance. By building with products that are made locally, we are supporting thousands of jobs in small communities and large cities throughout the province. From people working in sawmills, to value-add facilities, to jobs in construction and transportation, everyone benefits from this change. Moreover, because wood is fully renewable and has a low carbon footprint, our environment benefits, too.”
New technology makes taller wood construction feasible
Advancements in fire-protection and wood-product technology are allowing for the construction of taller wood buildings without compromising safety.
The building codes will require tall wood buildings to be built as encapsulated mass timber construction, where the solid or engineered wood has been surrounded by fire-resistive material. Buildings of mass timber construction will also be fully sprinklered.
“BILD Alberta is excited to see the Government of Alberta take steps to modernize construction, reduce red tape and address environmental needs by allowing innovative techniques to deliver the homes and buildings people need. This provides our industry and member companies with more options in meeting the housing affordability needs of Albertans.”
Quick facts
- Wood buildings taller than six storeys have been built in Vancouver (University of British Columbia’s 18-storey Brock Commons), Europe, the United States, and other jurisdictions around the world.
- Mass or laminated timber has excellent durability and seismic, fire, and acoustic safety performance.
- The encapsulated mass-timber construction component of the 2020 National Building Code has already been reviewed by the National Building Code committees and fire-safety specialists, structural engineers, architects, scientists, and builders.
Economic impact of tall wood buildings
- Potential to create about 60 jobs per construction site and up to 400 jobs per new sawmill and production sites.
- A growth in demand for lumber, for example, 100-million board feet, about $40-million worth of lumber, is the equivalent to about two mills the size of Boucher Bros Lumber.
Minister Madu tours Western Archrib with (L-R) Paul Whittaker, Scott Fash of BILD, Dale Beesley, Municipal Affairs, and Andre Lema, of Western Archrib.
CALGARY — Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LLP said it’s confident its hostile bid for Calgary-based Inter Pipeline will be successful now that Pembina Pipeline Corp. has terminated its own rival offer.
Brookfield’s $16-billion offer is now “the sole transaction on the table” for Inter Pipeline shareholders and any delay in accepting it would not be in shareholders’ best interests, Brookfield spokeswoman Claire Holland said.
“We believe Inter Pipeline’s board made the right decision,” Holland said in an email. “This decision implicitly affirms the merits of our offer, which provides superior value, flexibility and certainty.”
Pembina announced Monday it had terminated its bid for Inter Pipeline after its board advised it would no longer recommend shareholders support the deal. Pembina will pocket a $350-million break fee as a result.
The news came nearly two months after Inter Pipeline entered into a friendly $8.3-billion all-share deal with Pembina equal to $19.45 per share. The deal — which would have seen Inter Pipeline shareholders receive half a Pembina share for each Inter Pipeline share they hold — was struck in response to the hostile takeover bid from Brookfield that Inter Pipeline said undervalued its business.
Brookfield, Inter Pipeline’s largest shareholder, subsequently raised its cash and share takeover offer to $19.75 per share, up from its earlier proposal valued at $16.50 per share. It later revised the offer by giving shareholders the option to receive their entire payment in cash, instead of a mix of cash and shares, if they desire.
Brookfield again raised its offer in mid-July to $20 in cash or 0.25 of a Brookfield Infrastructure share for each Inter Pipeline share, with a cap on the number of shares that are available.
At least two prominent shareholder advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, recommended that Inter Pipeline investors reject the company’s proposed sale to Pembina and instead support the takeover by Brookfield.
On Monday, Pembina CEO Mick Dilger said he was disappointed with the outcome.
“The industrial logic of a combined Pembina and Inter Pipeline remains unparalleled and the value creation between certain of our assets is impossible to replicate by any other entity,” he said in a news release.
Dilger said the company will continue to seek opportunities for growth through “focused acquisitions.”
“Pembina remains optimistic about its future, including the profitability of our existing business given foreseeable sector tailwinds, as well as with tremendous flexibility to pursue an ever increasing and more diverse set of opportunities for growth, some of which we were able to highlight and advance during this process.”
Inter Pipeline said it is open to working with Brookfield to reach a “mutually agreeable transaction.” The Brookfield offer expires on Aug. 6.
Earlier this month, the Alberta Securities Commission ruled in favour of Inter Pipeline and Pembina in a decision that was critical of the tactics used by Brookfield Infrastructure in the takeover fight.
The securities regulator upheld a $350-million break fee that Brookfield had sought to have cancelled.
It said Brookfield Infrastructure used “abusive” tactics in its attempt to buy Inter Pipeline and ordered the company to provide additional disclosure related to total return swaps it holds that give it economic exposure to Inter Pipeline’s shares.
The regulator also raised the minimum tender conditions of the Brookfield Infrastructure offer to 55 per cent from a simple majority of the shares tendered by shareholders other than Brookfield and those acting in concert with it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2021.
Companies in this story: (TSX:IPL, TSX:PPL, TSX:BIPC)
Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
CALGARY — Hockey Canada has released the schedule for the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Women’s World Championship, featuring Canada versus Finland in the opening game.
The 31-game tournament will be played at WinSport Arena at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alta., from August 20-31.
This is the eighth time Canada has hosted the event.
Dean McIntosh, vice-president of events and properties with Hockey Canada, says a variety of provincial groups have worked together to make the 10-team tournament a reality.
It features Canada in Group A with Finland, Russia, Switzerland and the United States, while Group B is comprised of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Japan.
Canada has captured 10 gold medals at the championship (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2012), as well as eight silver and one bronze.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2021.
The Canadian Press
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