Archives: Most Influential People

As a teacher with the Ontario’s Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board, McAiney pioneered the Construction Academy program, where students complete their high school diploma and receive a Level 1 apprenticeship in one of four construction trades. The former carpenter has taken a high school technology program and elevated it to a trade school status involving partnerships with unions, industry and government. It’s now a model other schools in the province are emulating and garnered McAiney and an award from the prime minister. 

If you’ve never met Richard Lyall, chances are you have already seen him on TV or in the newspaper. As president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), he is one of construction’s most outspoken voices in eastern Canada. Recently, RESCON and Lyall have been spearheading efforts to convince the federal government to rebate the HST to first-time buyers who purchase a new home and bring back initiatives from years ago to encourage re-investment by builders.

The last few years have seen Gaglardi take Orion Construction on a rocket ship of success. Under his leadership it was the fastest growing company in Canada between 2019 and 2021, with a revenue growth rate of 12,371%. Gaglardi attributed part of this success to mastering the design-build model and assembling a high-quality team.

Sean Strickland leads Canada’s Building Trades Unions as its executive director where he fights for worker rights, local jobs and fair treatment. The group recently launched the Building It Green project which will provide apprentices, trainers, and journeypersons with a deeper understanding of how climate change and sustainability intersect with construction and the impact they have on Canada’s future. Strickland also serves as a BuildForce Canada board member.

After four as Kingston and the Islands MPP, Ian Arthur announced his departure from politics. Arthur’s passion for solving societal challenges led him to co-found Nidus3D, focusing on revolutionizing construction through robotics technology. His team is going where nobody has gone with the technology. Nidus3D recently made history by delivering North America’s first residentially permitted multi-unit 3D printed building and constructing the continent’s first multi-storey mixed-use concrete building using 3D printing technology.

John Straube, Ph.D., P.Eng., is a leading figure in construction, serving as Principal at RDH Building Science. He specializes in forensic investigations, designs high-performance buildings, and spearheads research in low-energy building design, building enclosure performance, and field performance monitoring. With over 100 published papers and authorship of key books like “High Performance Enclosures” and “Building Science for Building Enclosures,” Dr. Straube’s expertise is widely respected. His contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in Building Science Education from NCHRC.

David Podmore, a stalwart in the Canadian real estate realm, brings over four decades of expertise to Concert Properties, which he co-founded in 1989 and now chairs alongside Concert Infrastructure. Under his guidance, Concert Properties has become one of Canada’s premier developers. In addition to his corporate leadership, David serves as chair of INSPIRE, overseeing BCIT’s largest fundraising campaign, and is a board member of the BC Men’s Health Foundation. He served as president of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association and chair of the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. Recognized for his contributions, David has received the Award of Excellence from the Real Estate Institute of BC and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and was invested into the Order of British Columbia in 2014.

Canada’s minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser has been very busy since he took over the role last summer. He’s been travelling around the country handing out cash to provinces that make major changes to increase housing and encouraging others to do the same. He’s also behind efforts to revitalize Canada’s war-time homes housing effort that used pre-approved designs to quickly address housing needs during World War II.

Mann’s prowess as a businessman is impressive. Starting as a farm labouer who moved to B.C. from India, he went on to become the founder and chairman of BM Group of Companies. He’s spent decades building BM Group into a diverse portfolio of structural restoration, waterproofing, construction management, material supply, and real estate related businesses. But beyond the boardroom, Mann, his wife and family have shown immense passion for the communities they live and work in. Mann is a dedicated philanthropist who is heavily involved in hospitals and universities, earning him the H.D. Stafford Good Citizen of the Year award in 2023.

As the first female president of RSG International and president of the Canadian Association of Women in Construction (CAWIC), Laronde isn’t just breaking down barriers for women in construction. She is obliterating them. Laronde is widely known for her passion around building psychologically safe work environments where diversity and inclusion are at the forefront. Her impact has gone far beyond just construction. Last year she was recognized by the Women’s Executive Network as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.

Coldwell’s journey from precarious circumstances to leading one of the most sophisticated and progressive contractors in Canada is nothing short of inspiring. Coldwell was the face of Chandos for years and helped push the industry towards more collaborative delivery models. Chandos also obtained B Certification and led the charge towards enriching communities through a policy of social procurement. Now Coldwell has partnered with Wes Hall to launch Énska Advisors, Canada’s first Indigenous real estate advisory and project governance practice. The firm serves First Nations, investment funds, family offices, institutions, nonprofits and all levels of government. Énska is capitalizing on the founder’s track record of scaling businesses that contribute to a more-inclusive society. A long time advocate for the skilled trades, Coldwell lends his skills to his wife’s organization, Honour the Work, which helps direct aspiring tradespeople towards helpful resources. Tim has been recognized as a Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year as well as Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. He is also an alumnus of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference and the founding Chair of the Integrated Project Delivery Alliance.

Whether McMillan is giving witness testimony to the House of Commons or speaking to a classroom full of kids at a school, her message is the same: the trades is a viable career option for anyone, regardless of gender, skin colour or any other factor. McMillan travels approximately 30 weeks a year to deliver keynotes, presentations and workshops to more than 50,000 students, parents, educators and employers across North America. Transitioning seamlessly from speaking to students to professionals, Jamie also advocates for necessary changes in the skilled trades as a professional speaker at madeinthetrades.com.

Unke is relentless. Not only is he heavily involved in mentoring, networking and general industry groups and events. His LinkedIn presence is staggering. He has amassed more than 32,000 followers and regularly posts his advice on how to navigate the construction sector as an engineer. After serving in senior-level roles at some of the largest engineering firms in the country, Unke was named CEO and president of Maven Consulting in 2023. And if that wasn’t enough, he also climbs mountains every weekend while chatting with other industry professionals.  

With labour as one of the top issues facing the construction sector, sourcing good data is critical. Ferreira assumed leadership of BuildForce Canada as its executive director in August 2017, transitioning from his role as vice-president of government relations and public affairs at the Canadian Construction Association, a position he held since 2008. At BuildForce, Ferreira has not only helped make this data available to the industry, he travels the country giving in-depth analysis of what is going on and offering recommendations to tackle some of construction’s biggest challenges.

Abdelhamid began his mission to unearth and celebrate the stories of construction workers and companies by staking out coffee shops and Home Depot. Behind the Hard Hat now has dozens of interviews with blue collar workers and the effort has amassed Abdelhamid more than 20,000 followers on LinkedIn. His videos have garnered millions of views and prompted him to launch a web-based platform where construction workers can share their stories and highlight the unsung heroes of the construction sector.

Bill Black has worked in the design and construction sector for 42 years in a wide variety of roles, ranging from surveying and estimating to leadership and executive positions. He also has been a sought after speaker for construction events. He was named Calgary Construction Association person of the year in 2014 and has been a board member since 2012. In 2018 he became president and COO of the association. His recent work earned him the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. Never afraid to speak his mind, can also be seen educating city officials about construction during city council meetings.

Under Gardner’s leadership, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) has continued its mission to advocate for its members and tackle some of the biggest challenges in construction. Whether it’s podcasts, news channels, editorials or speeches, Gardner is everywhere talking about the contributions and challenges of the construction industry. More than just advocating for the sector as a part of the B.C. economy, Gardner also has spearheaded efforts to provide care for construction workers through benefits programs and innovative campaigns to promote mental health. He has also overseen the expansion of the ICBA into Alberta, widening the 4,000-membƒzer group’s impact in Western Canada.  

Radewych refuses to accept the status quo. He is the driving force behind Sparkbird, the research and development lab spawned from WZMH Architects. He has spearheaded the development of the firm’s prefabrication-modular-offsite construction sector with the invention of the Intelligent Structural Panel (ISP) and Sparkbird has gone on to dive into countless other innovative projects, including technology to rebuild war torn Ukraine and using AI-powered apps to assist designers.

While many in the construction sector lament the lack of innovation, few have the guts to all-in and invest in it. Robinson is not one of those people. He is passionate about new ideas and finding ways to be innovative in an ever-changing industry. He has pushed his company, Pitt Meadows Plumbing & Mechanical Systems to embrace cutting-edge innovation, including BIM, robotics, prefabrication and more. Rather than keep those lessons to himself, his company has invited the public and industry into its operations through its Future of Work events.