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67 building.ca
February
March
2017
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BLD FebMar 17.indd 4 2017-02-14 4:59 PM
 LIFE
AFTER
THE
67
01 CONTENTS
BACK
COVER…
BUILDING.ca
on
what’s

READ >
Passive House
Building Boom
The Pembina Institute
explains how a low car-
bon future may be closer
than we think.
FEATURES 15 > Smart Data,
Smart Cities /
The city of the future “looks very
different from the one that has been the
cornerstone of society for the past
centuries.” Building design profession-
als should and will have a huge role to
15
play in this monumental transition.
By Paul Barker
READ >
Beyond the Election 20 > Tech Talks /
Dodge Data & Analytics
discusses how Donald
Toronto and Vancouver are Canada’s top
Trump is likely to be tech talent markets, but tech jobs are
a plus for the U.S. con- growing quickest in smaller and
struction industry cheaper markets. By Shannon Moore

26 > Expressing the

Ephemeral /
Branding is a vital tool ­— if used
correctly. This is as true for cities as it
EXPLORE >
HOOP Dance Indigen-
is for any other product in any other
ous Gathering Place marketplace. A strategist discusses how
Brook McIlroy Architects branding can tell a unifying story about
creates a new outdoor the value of a city. By David Allison
learning and gathering
space on the Mohawk
College Campus.
ABOVE IMAGE:
IN EVERY ISSUE 6 > Editor’s Notes Opened in September
2015, Telus Garden is
8 > Developments the Vancouver head-
quarters of the tele-
communications giant,
10 > Market Watch and includes a 53-floor
residential tower and
12 > Legal a 24-floor office tower,
with nine floors dedi-
cated to Telus. (Photo
30 > Viewpoint by Ed White)

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 5 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 Go Big
Volume 67

Intelligent buildings have been around for decades, but we are 01 Number
06 being told that the real advantages are when they are connected to
smart infrastructure, utilizing analytics, sensors and big data. But Editor / Peter Sobchak
how big a deal is big data, anyway, you ask? Well, industry analysts
Art Director / Roy Gaiot
estimate that globally 2.5 exabytes of data is created each day (one
Assistant Editor /
exabyte equals one million terabytes), which is why the real estate industry continues Shannon Moore
to spend billions of dollars updating its hard assets with sensor-based, data-collecting Legal Editor / Jeffrey W. Lem
technology through building automation systems and smart building technologies. Contributors /
So is the industry taking advantage of this wealth of market, property and business David Allison, Paul Barker,
Daniel Davies, Richard Joy,
data to better streamline their operations and generate critical information required Megan J. Lem
to drive investment performance? Not really, says the latest Altus Group report , titled Customer Service / Production
Laura Moffatt
Harnessing the Power of Data in Commercial Real Estate. The sheer volume of unrefined
416 441 2085 x104
data being created, as well as a lack of data structure, makes it difficult for companies
Circulation Manager
to take raw, crude data and turn it into something useful. circulation@building.ca
“What’s referred to as a data chasm in commercial real estate exists because the Sales Manager
ability to refine data and put it to strategic or operational use lags the amount of data Faria Ahmed
416 441 2085 x106
that is being produced,” says Peter O’Brien, the director of the national valuation advis- fahmed@building.ca
ory team at JLL United Kingdom. “The ability to refine data and utilize it is not just a Vice President & Senior Publisher /
matter of tools and systems and skillsets for CRE; it is also a matter of the data itself. Steve Wilson
Specifically, data is neither produced nor organized in ways that allow it to be easily re- President, iQ Business Media Inc.
Alex Papanou
fined and consumed for business purposes.”
According to Altus, the lack of refined data in CRE has left a gaping hole in the in-
Building magazine is published
dustry’s ability to benchmark. As an industry vying for global investment, the trans- by iQ Business Media Inc.
parency provided by benchmarking is needed if CRE is to truly compete for capital 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 302 Toronto,
ON M3B 1Z3
against other well-established investor asset classes, which by comparison all util- (416) 441 2085 x104 • info@building.ca
Website: www.building.ca
ize well-established benchmark indices and capabilities. CRE firms need to prioritize SUBSCRIPTION RATE: Canada:
technology and processes to improve their data visibility and comparative metrics or 1 year, $30.95; 2 years, $52.95; 3 years,
$64.95 (plus H.S.T.) U.S.: 1 year, $38.95
they could risk losing their competitive position. US, Elsewhere: 1 year, $45.95 US.

Investing in tools to process valuable data is vital, but it is only one piece of the data BACK ISSUES: Back copies are available
for $8 for delivery in Canada, $10 US for
and analytics puzzle. The other important piece is having the right people in the organ- delivery in U.S.A. and $20 US overseas.
Please send prepayment to Building,
ization with a solid understanding of data collection, normalization and management. 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 302 Toronto,
ON M3B 1Z3.
“The financial side of real estate and real estate lending is data rich, and [there is] a Subscription and back issues inquiries
please call (416) 441 2085 x104,
critical opportunity to capture and utilize available information comprehensively, cre- e-mail: circulation@building.ca or go
to www.building.ca
ating much better insight into the commercial real estate marketplace,” said David To-
Please send changes of address to
bin, founder of Mission Capital Advisors, speaking at a Real Estate Forum in Septem- Circulation Department, Building maga-
ber, 2016. “Essentially... having the ability to examine all loans, borrowers and tenants zine or e-mail to addresses@building.ca
Building is indexed in the Canadian Magazine
and the associated trends simultaneously. This will bring real estate further into the Index by Micromedia ProQuest Company,
institutional-investment arena and allow for more informed decisions.” Toronto (www.micromedia.com) and National
Archive Publishing Company, Ann Arbor,
There is an industry-wide gap between having data and making use of it. But very Michigan (www.napubco.com)

soon, big data will become a necessary asset for every real estate sector, as it turns
data into insight: imagine a future where energy consumption in a hospital or busi-
ness premises is predicted and managed according to the weather or a day of the week
or time of day. “There is going to be a future where there is very detailed predictive Occasionally we make our mailing list avail-
modeling of what’s going on in districts and neighbourhoods that will feed into analy- able to reputable organizations whose products
or services can be of interest to our readers.
ses of individual properties and their value,” says Meighan Phillips, portfolio manager If you do not wish to be included, please
e-mail or write to us.
at Principal Real Estate Investors. “The future is about the level of detail you can bring Building is published six times a year. Printed
into analyzing a property’s value.” in Canada. The content of this ­publication is
the property of Building and cannot be repro-
duced without permission from the publisher.

Peter Sobchak Editor | H.S.T. #80456 2965 RT0001

ISSN 1185-3654 (Print), ISSN 1923-3361 (Online)

iQ Business Media Inc.

We welcome your feedback. Send your questions Canada Post Sales Agreement #43096012
and comments to psobchak@building.ca

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca

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 2018

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BLD FebMar 17.indd 7 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

08 DEVELOP-
News
RAIC expresses strong support
for Bill C-323.
OTTAWA | The Royal Architectural Insti-
tute of Canada (RAIC) has expressed
strong support for Bill C-323, which
would create a 20 per cent federal tax
credit for rehabilitation of recognized his-
toric places. Conservative critic for Ca-
nadian Heritage and National Historic
Sites Peter Van Loan introduced the Pri-
vate Member’s Bill, which was seconded
by Peter Kent, the Member of Parliament
for Thornhill, Ont. Bill C-323 would seek
to limit the destruction of Canada’s heri-
tage buildings, and instead encourage
the rehabilitation of these culturally sig-
nificant buildings. The tax credit would
be available to properties that appear on
the National Register of Historic Plac-
es. The Bill would also allow owners to
write-off spending on heritage restora-
tion at a faster rate.
The RAIC believes there is an impor-
tant federal role for leadership in heritage
conservation. Policies that promote pres-
ervation and reuse of historic properties
have demonstrated huge economic re-
turns on investment through job reten-
tion and creation, tourism, and enhanced
property values. Policies such as tax
incentives not only help protect cultural
resources and the history represented by
heritage places, they promote respectful
redevelopment in our communities. In
addition, conservation, repair, and adap-
tation fight climate change by produc-
ing less carbon than new construction.
FEBRUARY MARCH 2017
BLD FebMar 17.indd 8
MENTS
Pan-Canadian Framework demonstrates clear commitment
to innovation in building sector: CaGBC.
OTTAWA | The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) commends the Pan-Can-
adian Framework for its recognition of the building sector as an area critical to
the reduction of emissions; as an aid in providing climate change resiliency; and
as a means to driving innovation.
The Framework’s recommended actions for buildings include: making build-
ings more energy efficient; setting net zero targets; requiring building labelling;
retrofitting existing buildings; and requiring federal government leadership in
greening their own buildings. These actions were also key recommendations in the
CaGBC’s recent Building Solutions to Climate Change report, submitted to the Van-
couver Declaration Working Group for Specific Mitigation Opportunities on behalf
of the Canadian green building industry in September 2016.
By outlining a plan to make new buildings more energy efficient and setting net
zero energy goals while also pledging federal investment in research, development
and demonstration, along with industry cooperation, the Framework demonstrates
a clear commitment to innovation that is necessary to making these actions a real-
ity. The guidelines are in step with advances in the green building industry as shown
with the CaGBC’s recent launch of Canada’s first Zero Carbon Initiative. This initia-
tive is providing the market with a state-of -the-art guideline and, soon, the third-
party verification and support required to make net zero carbon buildings readily
achievable even before the 2030 guidelines in the Pan-Canadian Framework.
The Pan-Canadian Framework’s guidelines to retrofit and measure existing
buildings’ energy use are also critical to reaching the maximum emissions reduc-
tions possible from the building sector, and to strengthening climate change
resiliency. Existing buildings represent over 80 per cent of Canada’s building stock
which will still be standing in 2030. These buildings present a greater emissions
reduction opportunity than any new construction activity from now to 2030. CaG-
BC research demonstrates that Canada can achieve a 44 per cent reduction in emis-
sions with a combination of recommissioning, deep retrofitting, adding renewable
energy, and fuel switching in existing buildings over 25,000 square feet by 2030.
Existing buildings are not only critical to achieving the targeted GHG emissions
reductions, but present a massive economic opportunity. Large-scale upgrades
to existing buildings will create jobs, drive the creation of new technologies and
could contribute $32.5 billion in total GDP impacts by 2030 and reduce 19.4 mil-
lion tonnes of GHG emissions.
New Projects
Design unveiled for new CBC/Radio-Canada
in Montréal.
MONTRÉAL | The CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors has approved
a proposal for the building of the new Maison Radio-Canada broadcast-
ing facilities in Montréal. Real estate developer and builder Broccolini
will lead a consortium consisting of Béïque Legault Thuot Architect-
es (BLTA), a Montréal-based firm with experience in commercial real
estate and high-rise residential projects, as well as Quadrangle, a To-
ronto-based firm who will contribute their extensive experience with
large-scale projects for clients in the telecommunications and media in-
dustries. Other consortium members are mechanical and electrical en-
gineers Dupras Ledoux Inc. and structural engineers NCK Inc.
building.ca
2017-02-14 4:59 PM
 Maison Radio-Canada

09

Reflecting Radio-Canada’s mandate to be more open and accessible, key fea-

tures of the new proposal include clear and simple wayfinding, interconnected
spaces with the public and ample natural light on all floors. Creators and pro- People in the News
grammers will work within modern and versatile spaces which will support the
collaborative workplace strategy of the digital, multi-platform public broadcast- Welcome aboard, Steve!
er. Construction is set to begin in September, 2017 and the project is slated for
completion in January, 2020. TORONTO | iQ Business Media, pub-
lisher of Building, as well as Canadian
Transport hub at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre underway. Architect and Canadian Interiors maga-
zines, has announced the appointment
TORONTO | A $32.1 million inter-regional transit terminal has broken ground at of Steve Wilson as Vice President and
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre that will play a key role in supporting the largest Senior Publisher. In addition to assum-
urban mixed-use community development in Canada. Designed by Toronto-based ing the new position of Vice President
Diamond Schmitt Architects, the transit terminal will serve York Region Rapid of iQ, Wilson replaces Tom Arkell, who
Transit’s extensive bus network and have pedestrian connection to the Viva Bus left Canadian Architect magazine in
Rapid Transit as well as the new terminus of the Toronto Transit Commission’s December, after 17 years of service.
(TTC) extension of the Spadina subway line. Both the bus terminal and subway are Wilson brings a wealth of publishing
slated to open at the end of 2017. and leadership experience to his role.
“The conventional hierarchy of the bus terminal was inverted here, with ped- He was previously Senior Publisher of
estrians playing the central role in defining circulation and the spaces around the the Canadian Underwriter magazine
terminal,” said Mike Szabo, principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects. The wood- Insurance Group, which produces pub-
lined SmartCentres Place Bus Terminal is located within a pedestrian plaza and lications and digital communications
has a large, 43,000-sq.-ft. horseshoe-shaped roof over two open platforms and an products that serve Canada’s property
approximately 10,000-sq.-ft. glazed pavilion. The pavilion houses the main wait- and casualty insurance and risk man-
ing area, staff and service areas, and access to the underground connection to the agement industries. Canadian Under-
adjacent TTC subway station. The terminal will have nine bus bays with a central writer is owned by Newcom Business
island enhanced by drought-tolerant landscaping and a decorative screen over the Media Inc. b
relief shaft from the subway track below.

VMC transit terminal

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 9 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

10 MARKE T

Deal flow
Spotlight:
P3s
All four deals received funding from the PPP Canada Fund,
taking the number of grantors to have procured projects in 2016
to nine. Of the 10 transactions to have closed in 2016, seven were
financed through a bank-bond hybrid. Penticton Hospital and the Defense Construc-
tion Canada’s data center were financed through just the capital markets. One DBF
transaction, the Seneca College P3 project, was financed solely through bank debt.

shrinks Financing Structures

amid greater TD Securities was the most active bond underwriter/ arranger in 2016, with four
deals totaling $585 million. Scotiabank and RBC arranged $322 million and $191

diversity million in 2016. There were also three public rated credit issuances in 2016: the
Edmonton LRT; the Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital; and the Southwest Calgary
Ring Road. Canada Life, Manulife, SunLife were the most active private placement
The Canadian P3 market saw fewer
deals reach financial close in 2016
than in its 2015 banner year, while
the 2017 pipeline promises a number
of new projects.
By Daniel Davies
The Canadian P3 market saw 10 deals spanning the coun-
try from New Brunswick to British Columbia reach financial
close in 2016. The transactions have an aggregate value of
$4.25 billion (all figures CAD) and include four transport, four advised on two deals in 2016. At a technical advisory level,
social, one environment and one telecommunication projects.
The Province of Ontario was again the leading market by
deal count, as it has been every year since 2006. The province
in 2016 saw four deals valued at $1.36 billion reach financial
close. However, Alberta had the largest deal value at $2.21 bil-
lion. The amount covers three deals: the Edmonton LRT; the
Calgary CNG P3; and the Southwest Calgary Ringroad. Trans-
actions in British Columbia, Manitoba and New Brunswick take
the number of provinces with active P3 procurements to five in
2016. Notably, there were seven active provinces in 2015.
British Columbia’s sole deal to have reached financial close,
the $200 million Penticton Hospital P3, represents the prov-
ince’s lowest deal count since 2012. No projects in Saskatch-
ewan reached financial close in 2016, though the province saw
five deals make it over the line in 2016 and four in 2014.
The year also saw four municipally procured deals close in
Winnipeg, the City of Saint John, Calgary and Edmonton. Cal-
gary had closed P3 transactions prior to September’s CNG
Transit Bus Garage project, but 2016 was the first year the
three other municipalities closed P3 transactions. The largest
of the four, and also of 2016, was the $1.3-billion Edmonton
LRT project which had been won by a Fengate, Bombardier,
EllisDon and Bechtel consortium. In New Brunswick, the
Saint John Water deal represents the first water deal to close
since Regina Wastewater Treatment Plant in July 2014.
investors. Edmonton LRT and Southwest Calgary repre-
sented the largest issuances of the year at $403 million and
$380 million, respectively. Total bond financing in the pri-
mary market for the year totalled $1.51 billion, compared to
$3.52 billion in 2015.
On the bank debt side, SMBC, ATB and TD Bank were the
most active lenders having worked on four transactions each
in 2016. Total bank debt was $1.03 billion in 2016 compared
to $2.77 billion in 2015. Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg
were the top legal advisor in 2016, working on six deals with
a combined capex of $3.12 billion. Blakes, Cassels & Gray-
don advised on five deals, Fasken Martineau, Torys and Mc-
Carthy Tetrault all advised on four. Deloitte were the top fi-
nancial advisor working on six deals. Scotiabank and KPMG
Altus and BTY topped the tables on four deals each.
Equity Trends
Nine of the 10 deals to close this year had equity compon-
ents, which takes the total amount of invested equity to $237
million across 18 investors. The total equity commitment is
down compared to 2015’s $371 million figure. Developers
and funds accounted for $157 million compared to $80 mil-
lion for constructor and operator equity, a 66:33 ratio.
The largest equity check by an investor was Fengate Cap-
ital’s $41 million investment in the Edmonton LRT pro-
ject. Plenary Group was the top aggregate equity investor
in greenfield deals this year with $48 million split across
three deals. Plenary also won the $1-billion Mackenzie
Vaughan project as well as the Winnipeg BRT and Stoney
CNG projects.
EllisDon in 2016 also won three deals totaling $22 mil-
lion. The company also made two equity investments in
the Penticton Hospital and the Edmonton LRT. Notably,
OPB joined EllisDon in the equity box on Penticton. Bom-
bardier and Bechtel completed the Edmonton LRT consor-
tium. The project was Bechtel’s first North American P3.
Axium and DIF IV were the equity participants on On-
tario’s Etobicoke General Hospital procurement. The pro-
ject was DIF’s first greenfield P3 win in Canada. A Meri-

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 10 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 diam Infrastructure North America II, Kiewit, CC&L and
Ledcor consortium in 2016 provided just over $50 million
for the Southwest Calgary Ring Road P3. Notably, Kiewit’s
$17 million equity cheque was the largest single invest-
ment of the year by a constructor. Brookfield and Acciona
made equity commitments on the Saint John Water pro-
ject. A Balfour Beatty and Forum Equity Partners consor-
tium committed equity for Defense Construction Canada’s
Ontario data centre.
Brownfield P3 activity
There were a total four P3 brownfield deals in 2016, as well
as a P3 portfolio sale. In April, an AquilaFiera JV acquired
five assets from Forum Equity Partners for a total under-
stood to be around $75 million. The assets include: the
Billy Bishop Pedestrian Tunnel; the Quinte Courthouse; the
Southwest Detention Centre; the Surrey Pretrial Services
Centre; and the Vancouver SRO project.
Concert Infrastructure further expanded its P3 portfolio
with the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Alberta Schools
Wave 3 from HOCHTIEF Solutions and a 50 per cent stake
in Toronto Forensic Services and Coroner’s Complex from
Carillion. Fengate Capital completed a 40 per cent acquisi-
tion of Oakville Hospital from Carillion taking their stake to
90 per cent, and ACS in December sold a 25 per cent stake in
the South Fraser Perimeter Road in B.C. to CC&L.
Robust pipeline for 2017 and beyond
Moving into 2017, the market has a number of large civil
projects at shortlisting phase including: the Gordie Howe
Bridge; the George Massey Tunnel Replacement; the Finch
LRT and Highway 427. Additionally, Plenary Group is under-
stood to be first ranking proponent on the CAMH health-
care project in Ontario. Proposals have also been returned
on Groves Memorial Hospital, Lions Gate Wastewater and
Hamilton Biosolids projects. Other projects at the short-
listing phase include the New Toronto Courthouse; Brock- 11
ville Hospital Redevelopment; Mount Sinai; Niagara Falls
Entertainment Centre; and Stouffville Corridor Station.
The assumption that these advanced projects will reach
financial close in 2017 puts the estimated project capex at
slightly less than $10 billion. In November 2016, Infra-
structure Ontario (IO) provided a pipeline update that re-
vealed the extent of their collaboration with Metrolinx to
deliver Regional Express Rail (RER). The “big volume” pro-
gram is set to see a number of projects valued at $100-
$500 million roll out on a monthly schedule in 2017. The
pipeline indicates that 12 DBF or BF projects in the RER
program will be at some stage of procurement in 2017. The
total capex will fall between $2.3 billion and $5 billion, ac-
cording to Infrastructure Ontario.
Other large civil projects at a less advanced procurement
stage include the Hurontario LRT project in Ontario. The
procurement of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 has been pushed
to summer 2017, but market sources say they are positive
about large civil projects such as Broadway Subway Line Ex-
tension, Surrey LRT and Pattullo Bridge to coming to mar-
ket in 2017. One source noted that the Pattullo Bridge could
be a project for the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB).
Further clarity on the procurement strategy for IO and
Metrolinx’s RER electrification program is also expected in
2017. The debate is over whether to segregate the electrifi-
cation or integrate it with signalling and track expansion on
a smaller project-by-project basis. Other large civil projects
that could go down the P3 route include Calgary Green Line;
Waterloo LRT Stage 2; and Ottawa LRT
Daniel Davies is stage 2; while in Toronto the George
Co-Head of Research at Street Revitalization project has gained
InfraDeals. www. momentum with the approval of advis-
infraamericas.com ors in early December. b

Canada greenfield P3 activity

BC Transport
14.03 1 deal / $200 mil 4 deals / $2.53 bn

AB Infrastructure
3 deals / $2.21 bn 5 deals / $1.56 bn
9.92
# of deals
MB Environment
Total deal value ($CAD bn)

1 deal / $320 mil 1 deal / $153 mil

7.31

5.65 ON
4.88 4.24
4.41 4 deals / $1.35 bn
$4.07 3.68
3.59
3.14
NB
1.42 1 deal / $153 mil
7 4 21 13 13 19 15 14 11 21 23 10
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 11 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

12 LEGAL

Made-In-Ontario Land
rest by categorically rejecting the B.C.
Foreign Buyer Tax, announcing:

We’re not going to go down the road that

British Columbia has gone down...I’m not
interested in doing something that would

Transfer Tax Reforms have an unintended consequence in On-

tario – something that was designed for a
totally different market.
Ontario says “NO” to a foreign buyer tax, but “YES”
Shortly thereafter, in November,
to the land transfer tax on über-high end residential and
2016, Ontario announced that it was
on almost all commercial real estate. indeed going down a different land
transfer tax reform path, effective Janu-
By Megan J. Lem ary 1, 2017. Ontario would also amend
its land transfer tax regime, but not by
penalizing foreign buyers with a mega-
tax. Instead, Ontario would add an ad-
ditional 0.5 per cent surcharge to two
categories of real estate, regardless of
the buyer: (i) über high-end residen-
tial real estate (i.e. homes over $2 mil-
lion); and (ii) commercial properties
Ontario seems to have rejected a cloning of the 15 per cent foreign owner land over $400,000.
transfer tax that came into effect in British Columbia on August 2, 2016 (the The maximum marginal land trans-
“B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax”), which imposed a whopping additional tax — to the fer tax rate payable on a residential
tune of $300,000 on a typical $2-million Vancouver area home! Although the house used to be two per cent, but after
BC Foreign Buyer Tax did not explicitly target buyers from the People’s Republic January 1, 2017, houses above $2 mil-
of China, it was no secret that Chinese buyers had driven the Vancouver real lion now pay a marginal rate of 2.5 per
estate market to dizzying heights in recent years, and the BC Foreign Buyer Tax cent in land transfer tax. Less conspic-
was, for all intents and purposes, squarely aimed at those Chinese buyers. uous was what Ontario did to commer-
The B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax is a politician’s dream. If it ultimately works in cial properties. The maximum mar-
driving down housing prices in the Greater Vancouver Area, then Premier ginal land transfer tax rate payable on
Christy Clark and her Finance Minister can take credit for restoring (or at least a commercial property used to be 1.5
hastening the decline of ) housing affordability in British Columbia’s Lower per cent, but after January 1, 2017, all
Mainland.
A store on WestOn the other hand, if the B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax has little, if any, commercial properties above $400,000
Street in Goderich,
long-term
Ont.’s historic effect on housing demand in Greater Vancouver, well, at least the will pay a new marginal rate of 2.0 per
government
downtown before triedthe and, incidentally, B.C.’s coffers will benefit from a sizeable cent in land transfer tax.
tornado hit (above),
land transfer tax windfall, all funded out of the pockets of foreigners no less. This is not to say that Ontario did
the damage (right),
and It is this2013
in August political win-win characteristic of the B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax that not penalize foreign buyers, at least a
(below)Ontarians
had after the town’s
worried about a corresponding made-in-Ontario foreign owner bit. At the same time that Ontario
rebuilding efforts.
land transfer tax. Ontario follows British Columbia as a destination for much of raised land transfer tax rates, it also
the foreign capital that fuels Vancouver real estate markets, and there is a size- softened the blow on first-time home-
able Chinese influence in many Ontario real estate markets, especially around buyers by increasing the land transfer
the Greater Toronto Area. tax refund available to first-time home-
Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa, in a news conference held immedi- buyers from $2,000 to $4,000, but only
ately after the B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax was announced, noted that he was exam- for Canadian citizens and permanent
ining the B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax “very closely” and concluded by saying that residents. In other words, foreign buy-
“we’re certainly looking at whatever options can be made available.” These re- ers, even if first-time buyers, would
markably friendly words in support of the B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax fueled lots of not get any refund at all.
speculation that Ontario might soon follow suit. Not surprisingly, the mainstream
Alas, fears of a made-in-Ontario version of the B.C. Foreign Buyer Tax have prov- press has latched on to the first-time
en greatly exaggerated. In October, 2016 Premier Wynne put such speculation to buyer refund, with little if any focus

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 12 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 on the increased marginal tax rate that applies to commer-
cial properties. Although a relatively small increase (one
We’re not going to 13
half of one per cent), in the existing land transfer tax line go down the road
item the new surtax will apply to almost every commercial
transaction in the province given its relatively low thresh- Megan J. Lem is
that British Columbia
old of only $400,000.
Although the term “commercial” has been used through-
a corporate lawyer
in the Toronto Office
has gone down...I’m
out as a convenient descriptor, the legislation defines this of Oslers LLP. This not interested in
category as any property that does not have one or two ex-
isting single family residences. As a result, and of particu-
article reflects the
personal views of the
doing something
lar relevance to Building readers, almost all raw lands or
development sites purchased from here on in will attract
author alone. that would have an
the new, higher marginal tax rate (the legislation does have unintended conse-
some grandfathering for agreements of purchase and sale
entered into before the legislation was announced but
quence in Ontario –
closing after January 1, 2017).
Of course, the irony of the situation is not entirely lost. If
something that was
land acquisition costs are going to go up, even marginally, designed for a totally
so too eventually will the cost of housing, even for those who
qualify for the first-time homebuyers’ refund — ironic in different market.
light of the policy goal of increasing housing affordability.
Well, nothing is certain, except death and taxes, and, so long
as there are taxes, there will be periodic tax reforms. b

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 010
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 0101101010110110101101010101011010111110111
0101000010100001110101110111011101110111011
0111011101101101111111101111100000011010110
0000011100000110101011101101101101010110101
,
1111011101011011011101101101110100000101101 15

0110101010101111101010001101101110111000011
0101101011011101010001010010100011101101010
1011101110110111011110110111100001111011111
0110101110110101011010101000011010110101000
1010101101001010110111011011010101111011101
1110101010101110101101101111101101101011011
1010000110101010011100001110101001011101101
Data,
1010101010101111101111000001100101010101101
1101011011001011110001010110010001110110100
0001110110100110 010110101011011010110101010
1011010111110111010100001010000111010111011
1011101110111011011101110110110111111110111
1100000011010110000001110000011010101110110 By Paul

1101101010110101111101110101101101110110110 Barker

1110100000101101011011011010101101010100001
The city of the future
1010110101000101010110100101011011101101101
“looks very different from
0101111011101111010101010111010110110111110
the one that has been the
1101101011011101000011010101001110000111010
cornerstone of society for the
1001011101101101010101010111110111100000110
past centuries.” Building
design professionals
0101010101101110101101100101111000101011001
should and will have
0001110110000011101101001100101010111110101
a huge role to play in this
0001101101110111000011010110101101110101000
monumental transition.
1010010100011101101010101110111011011101111
0110111100001111011111011010110101000111010
Cities
1011101011011000100010101010100010100010101
0111011101101101101010000110101110101000011
1101010101010100101010101010100011101010101
building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 15 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

0101101010110110101101010101011010111110111
0101000010100001110101110111011101110111011
0111011101101101111111101111100000011010110
0000011100000110101011101101101101010110101
1111011101011011011101101101110100000101101
0110101010101111101010001101101110111000011 eter Sondergaard, a senior vice president with information research

0101101011011101010001010010100011101101010
16 firm Gartner, once likened data to being the oil of the 21st century. He
quantified that prediction by stating that “oil is just useless thick goop

1011101110110111011110110111100001111011111 until you refine it into oil. And it’s this fuel — proprietary algorithms
that solve specific problems that translate into actions — that will

0110101110110101011010101000011010110101000 be the secret sauce of successful organizations in the future.” Sonder-

gaard added that the “next digital gold rush will be focused on how you

1010101101001010110111011011010101111011101 do something with data, not just what you do with it. This is the prom-
ise of the algorithm economy.”

1110101010101110101101101111101101101011011 He wrote those words 18 months ago and since then much has tran-
spired. The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is happening at warp

1010000110101010011100001110101001011101101 speed, with upwards of 20 billion devices working their way into every-
thing from building automation systems to the smart city and real prog-

1010101010101111101111000001100101010101101
ress is actually taking place for utilities, municipalities and
organizations that embark on this burgeoning digital jour-
Investments
1101011011001011110001010110010001110110100
ney. Advances are happening so quickly that society today
in hard
is inexorably composed of those that “get it” and those that

0001110110100110 010110101011011010110101010
don’t, and if you are part of the latter, a forced career change
assets vs.
is on the horizon.

1011010111110111010100001010000111010111011
IT systems
and
Nowhere is this more evident than in the building indus-
try and it appears there are some who need to crawl before

1011101110111011011101110110110111111110111
they walk when it comes to understanding the importance
software
of a smart building being connected to smart infrastructure.

1100000011010110000001110000011010101110110
Peter Ronson, vice president of Markham District Energy,
says that “the whole big data thing is probably over-utilized, % increase in spending (US$)

1101101010110101111101110101101101110110110
over-marketed and with hype around that. A lot of buildings from 2015 to 2016
have building management systems, but a lot of it comes

1110100000101101011011011010101101010100001
down to, ‘OK, are we actually using this stuff.’ I was in a build-
ing in our system that will go unnamed a few years ago and

1010110101000101010110100101011011101101101
they had a problem. I asked the building manager ‘where is
your BMS?’ and he replied, ‘we actually have one?’ Literally, he

0101111011101111010101010111010110110111110
didn’t know where it was. He had never touched it.
“My point is let’s use what we have before we get to the fan-

1101101011011101000011010101001110000111010
cier stuff. If we can get past the basics, yes, there is promise of
being able to harness and being able to use collectively the de-

1001011101101101010101010111110111100000110
vices and the buildings to manage their loads in concert with
the rest of the buildings on a system.”

0101010101101110101101100101111000101011001
A Slow-Adoption Industry

0001110110000011101101001100101010111110101
Kurtis McBride, CEO and co-founder of Waterloo, Ont.-
Source: Altus Group CRE Innovation Report

based Miovision, is in a unique position when it comes to

0001101101110111000011010110101101110101000
analyzing and commenting on the merits of the smart city.
The company he and two fellow University of Waterloo stu-

1010010100011101101010101110111011011101111
1 Source: Commercial
dents started in 2005 developed technology that is currently Building Automation

13.1 11.1 5.9

Systems, Navigant
used by 650 customers in 50 countries to gain insights into Research, Q4 2015

0110111100001111011111011010110101000111010
their transportation networks. Miovision has created an in- and Q3 2016
2 Source: Global Smart
telligent transportation system called Spectrum, which is Building Technology $59.3 B $67.1 B $6.3 B $7 B $5.8 B $6.1 B

1011101011011000100010101010100010100010101
Spending 2015-2019
installed in a traffic cabinet and can provide valuable data Forecast, IDC Energy
that can change how a city operates. Insights, March 2015

0111011101101101101010000110101110101000011
3 Source: IDC Market
The firm is in expansion mode and because of that, Mc- and Industry Estimates, 1 2 3
2015 and 2016
Bride is not only a technologist with a firm grip on how best (IT systems includes

1101010101010100101010101010100011101010101
AUTOMATION SMART IT SYSTEMS
to create a smart city, but he has also immersed himself in the licensed software,
SYSTEMS BUILDING AND
enterprise applications,
building design process as a result of a project called Cata- and hardware) TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 16 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 lyst 137, first announced in June 2016
and described at the time as a “shared 17
vision” between himself and Frank Voi-
sin, founder of Toronto-based Voisin
Capital. Once it is completed this sum-
mer, plans call for Voisin to manage
the real estate side of the initiative and
Miovision as the lead tenant to “handle
the technology ecosystem, turning the
building and its surrounding area into
a sensor-packed tech-friendly space.”
For McBride, who says the goal is to
make Catalyst 137 a “one-stop shop
for hardware companies to build their
products, access the support services
they need and then showcase the new
technology” right there, the building
design stage has certainly been inter-
esting. “One of my mentors told me
once that being naïve was an asset,” he
says. “I am involved in the Catalyst 137
project and it is my first development
project. I am a technology guy and don’t
know the first thing about building
buildings, but got involved in this pro-
ject through happenstance.
“What strikes me about the design
process when it comes to building is
this: the people I am working with – the
architects and consultants – have done
Renderings courtesy of Catalyst 137

this a thousand times and done it a cer-

tain way all the time. Things like HVAC
systems; they are stuck in the 1980s.
You sit down with the structural guys
and they talk about snow load and how
that is a big problem, but when you talk
to the HVAC guys they talk about how
they made the unit lighter, which ac-
tually means nothing to the structural TOP & ABOVE:
A 475,000-sq.- ft.
experts because snow weighs 10 times
warehouse in Waterloo,
more than the actual unit.”
Ont. will become
McBride says there is an opportun- home to Catalyst137, up with design is not willing to take risk because it is so
ity inside the building envelope to re- providing centralized price-sensitive and risk adverse that I don’t know how new
think all sorts of things, whether talk- funding, consulting, concepts would ever find themselves into buildings. I don’t
engineering and other
ing about lighting, motion sensors, and know how you are going to overcome that, but it is probably
services for the area’s
Photos courtesy of Knightsbridge

the intelligence behind how HVAC sys- the biggest problem that the industry has. It is structurally
maker community.
tems get deployed. Security is another The result of a shared set up to avoid innovating.”
prime example — it is, he adds, still all vision between “I don’t know the first thing about building a building, but
based on key fobs and keypads as op- Miovision and Voisin I surround myself with people who do and use the power of
Capital, Catalyst137 ignorance to drive them to places where they are not usually
posed to biometrics.
is being co-devel-
“Even if the technology is available comfortable going. My experience is that if you measure
oped by Toronto-
today to make buildings smarter, the based real estate firm something you never measured before, it generally improves
structure of how the industry comes Osmington Inc. by 25 per cent over a short period of time. That is the order of

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 17 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 Data
magnitude in terms of the opportunity
18 to improve energy consumption, traffic
efficiency and even things like insula-
tion envelopes in buildings. It could
improve that building’s efficiency and
sustainability over the course of its life-
time, then you are really talking about
substantial change.”

is have a massive impact.”

But It’s All Possible

If the building itself helps to im-
pact behaviours and change those be-
haviours then you are really taking it

the
Ronson, meanwhile, sums up the cur- one step further, says Mabberley. She
rent situation this way: it’s all possible also points out that there is no slowing
and really all it takes is the motivated down the smart building and smart
building manager or the motivated ag- city movement. “It is the future of de-

new
gregator to pull it all together. “When velopment and certainly as we see cit-
you start to aggregate systems togeth- ies become more and more concerned
er there are economies of scale and you with their energy use it is becoming

oil.
can do interesting things, but if we much more prevalent in our day-to-
have segregated devices, segregated day conversations and our political
buildings, segregated energy loads you conversations. Everything is moving
don’t have the opportunity until you in that direction. You see cities with
— Peter Sondergaard, can pull it all together. We have lots of more aggressive emission targets and
Senior Vice President, features right now, but we are not see- they only make those targets by either
Gartner Research ing a lot of benefits.” retrofitting older buildings and en-
The so-called smart city will be nur- suring all new buildings are built to
tured by the smart building and a prime more stringent standards. In terms of
example of that is Telus Garden in Vancouver, designed by Henriquez Partners energy use, building automation is one
Architects and developed by Westbank Projects. Sustainability features in- of the biggest items that allow you to
clude a rainwater recycling system for grey water and irrigation, solar panels track that data.”
that capture solar energy to power exterior lighting, tri-
ple-glazed windows to help maintain a consistent temper- From Building to City
ature, sun tracking system that automatically adjusts in- There are also numerous examples of what a so-called
terior blinds, and a raised floor with a displacement smart city can accomplish. In April 2015, Bloomberg Phil-

Photos by Ema Peter / Andrew Latreille

ventilation system that allows for a 100 per cent fresh air
supply rather than recycled air. According to a Telus fact
sheet, sustainability features “will reduce CO2 emissions
by more than one million kilograms annually, the equiva-
lent of planting 25,000 trees every year.”
Rhiannon Mabberley, a development manager with
Westbank, says that while there are 22,000 set points in
existence and the building is extremely sophisticated in that
sense, they are only valuable if you have a team that (a) cares
about it and (b) knows how to manage the data. “We can
spend millions of dollars to build the most energy-efficient
and sustainable building in this world, but if every person
there leaves the lights on, the taps running, refuses to com-
post and does not car pool, doing all these individual behav-
iours will impact the performance of the building,” she says.
“It undermines how efficient the building is if the people
using it don’t care about those values.
“Obviously we have to start with the infrastructure be-
cause if you build an energy hog right off the bat, you are go-
ing to be so far down the spectrum on energy savings you are
not going to be able to catch up with individual use. But if you
can start with that capital infrastructure and then layer on
the individual behaviors to make it worthwhile and further
anthropies launched What Works Cities, a national initia-
tive it described as a “way to help 100 mid-size American
municipalities enhance their use of data” in order to im-
prove services, inform local decision-making and engage
residents. Since the launch, the program has produced 130
resources that cities around the world “are using to improve
their communities and drive better outcomes for residents.”
Meanwhile, also in 2015, a Strategic Summit entitled En-
abling Economies for the Future took place at Harvard Uni-
versity with one goal in mind: embark on a critical discus-
sion “about what cities need to do, how to do it, and how to
prepare for the rapidly-approaching future.”
Sponsored by Dell Computer and hosted by the Technol-
ogy and Entrepreneurship Centre at Harvard (TECH), Prof.
David Ricketts, chair of the summit, wrote a white paper out-
lining summit discussions that the city of the future “looks
very different from the one that has been the cornerstone
of society for the past centuries. No longer are cities merely
functioning as sources of infrastructure — and as common,
centralized locations for brick-and-mortar companies. They
are now becoming hubs of social cohesion. Citizens choose to
live in them based on the availability of amenities and social
and economic opportunities.”

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 18 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 19

enable cities to take actions that will

position them to capitalize on oppor-
tunities for the future.”
There were similar sentiments con-
tained in the Smart City Playbook, com-
missioned by Finnish networking vend-
or Nokia and released in November
2016 that identifies best practices from
22 smart cities around the world. De-
veloped by Machina Research, the study
“uncovered significant diversity in the
smart cities strategies of different cities,
but identified three distinct routes that
cities are taking to make themselves
smarter.” These include the anchor route
Photos by Ema Peter / Andrew Latreille

that involves a city deploying a single ap-

plication to address a pressing problem
such as traffic congestion; the platform
route that involves building the under-
lying infrastructure needed to support
ABOVE & RIGHT:
a wide variety of applications and servi-
Telus collaborated ces; and the beta route, which involves
with Westbank to municipalities testing multiple applica-
transform an entire tions as pilots to see how they perform
city block of prime
Findings from the summit and research conducted by before making a long term-deployment.
downtown Vancouver
economic data forecasting and analytics firm IHS Econom- real estate into an
“No one said becoming a smart city
ics resulted in Dell last April recognizing 50 cities around one-million-square would be easy,” said Jeremy Green, prin-
the world for “embracing technology and thriving in an ever- foot, $750-million cipal analyst at Machina Research and
changing and globalized future.” While Toronto ranked elev- national head- author of the report. “There are lots of
quarters. The base
enth on its list, of note is that no other Canadian city made choices to be made. The technology and
building has two
the grade. Cities in order of ranking above Toronto were San glass-clad boxes
business models are evolving rapidly, so
Jose, San Francisco, Singapore, London, Washington, Bos- cantilevering over the there are many degrees of uncertainty.
ton, Austin, Raleigh, Stockholm and Sydney. street (Sky Gardens), Standards are emerging, but are by no
“Backed by insights from experts in the public sector, with two smaller means finalized. There is no ‘royal road’
wood-clad boxes
technology firms, the start-up community and higher edu- to smartness, but there is a right way to
(Skyboxes), floating
cation, we developed a methodology to evaluate the degree inside the Sky
travel — with your eyes open, with real-
to which city economics are Future-Ready,” says James Dif- Gardens, hosting istic expectations and with a willing-
fley, senior director at IHS Economics. “These ratings will meeting rooms. ness to learn from others.” b

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 19 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 20

Source: CBRE Research (Office Market), Q2 2016

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 20 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 T
Toronto and
Vancouver
are Canada’s
top tech talent
markets,
but tech jobs
are growing
quickest
in smaller
and cheaper
markets.
TECH % OF TOTAL SIGNIFICANT
LEASE ACTIVITY (2015)
Tech % of Total
Source: CBRE Research (Office Market), Q2 2016
Ottawa, ON 47.4%
Vancouver, BC 28.5%
Waterloo Region, ON 21.9%
Montréal, QC 20.8%
Toronto, ON 12.3%
Halifax, NS 11.3%
London, ON 6.1%
Calgary, AB 1.8%
Edmonton, AB 0.0%
Winnipeg, ON 0.0%
Canada 16.1%
BLD FebMar 17.indd 21
21
By Shannon Moore
“Technological evolution continually influences the way we
live and how we work.” This thought process guides a new re-
search project by CBRE Limited that explores the growth of
the tech industry, including its impact on real estate and
prominence in different cities across Canada.
Titled the 2016 Scoring Tech Talent Report, the document
focuses on established companies with more than 1,500 em-
ployees, analyzing labour market conditions for high-
ly-skilled tech workers and ranking 10 Canadian cities “ac-
cording to their competitive advantages and appeal to tech
talent workers and tech employees.” Ultimately, the report
aims to provide insight into the industry, helping tech-savvy
Canadians pinpoint the most desirable cities to set up shop.
“The number of tech jobs has soared in Canada in the past
five years, with nine out the 10 top Canadian markets record-
ing growth. Of those nine, eight recorded double digit growth
rates. The tech sector is becoming ever more critical by the
day to the Canadian office market, with technology firms ac-
counting for 16.1 per cent of all major office lease deals in
Canada last year. This percentage increases markedly in our
larger urban areas, for example tech accounted for 43 per cent
of all leases in Ottawa last year, and it’s a trend we only see
growing in the years to come,” says Raymond Wong, head of
research at CBRE Canada.
Defining Talent
According to Statistics Canada, the term “tech talent” refers
to highly-skilled, sought-after employees working in tech­
nological fields. As of 2016, “more than 715,000 tech inno­
vators at established companies across Canada are working on technological ad-
vances” — 28.7 per cent are computer programmers, software engineers and web
developers, while 21.7 per cent are information systems analysts and consult-
ants. Other talented techs include user support technicians (12.1 per cent); elec-
trical and electronics engineers (10.2 per cent); computer network technicians
(9.7 per cent); computer and information systems managers (8.5 per cent); data-
base analysts and data administrators (4.1 per cent); mechanical engineering
technologists and technicians (2.9 per cent); and information systems testing
technicians (2.1 per cent).
These tech talent workers account for 4.7 per cent of the country’s total work-
force; and although these employees are concentrated in the high-tech industry,
they are considered to be a driving force of innovation in a variety of companies
across the economy itself.
Measuring Markets
In its report, CBRE states that “the rise in technology enabled mobility and the
need to pursue talent wherever it is located has encouraged technology compan-
ies to spread to markets across Canada.” Indeed, tech occupations are growing
building.ca
2017-02-14 4:59 PM
 tremendously and developing rapidly in numerous cities: BELOW: Atop the Complexe de Gaspé in the Mile End
neighbourhood sits Ubisoft Montréal’s newest work-
26
22
28 but some are more advanced than others. Using 13 metrics
space. The video game developer’s worldwide brand
to pinpoint four indicators of success — Employment; Edu- logo is rendered as a set of four illuminated geometric
cation; Tech Industry Outlook; and Real Estate — CBRE de- archways over each of the two interior staircases.
termined the Top 10 most desirable cities for tech workers BOTTOM: Twinwall polycarbonate partitions brighten
private meeting rooms with filtered coloured light.
and companies based on their competitive advantages.
The result lists Toronto as the top tech talent market with a score of 83.94 out
of 100, followed by Vancouver (67.25); Ottawa (61.26); Montréal (58.80); Calgary
(50.37); Halifax (34.19); Edmonton (34.06); Waterloo (32.52); Winnipeg (16.88);
and London (12.99) . Here’s why.

Employment
CBRE notes that “demand for tech talent across all industries is growing,” and in
large cities like Toronto and Vancouver, the economy can accommodate a deep
pool of talent. From 2010 to 2015, Toronto saw a 35.6 per cent growth in its tech
occupations alone, compared to 50.1 per cent in Vancouver. Clearly, companies
and employees see opportunities in these cities and are drawn to them as a result.
However, smaller markets are just as capable of attracting talent. In fact,
both Waterloo and Winnipeg beat out the big cities from 2010 to 2015, report-
ing 74.4 per cent and 58.5 per cent growth in tech occupations, respectively.
The affordable business and living costs in these smaller cities make them de-
sirable in comparison, and has led to competitive advan-
tages in the long run. Tech Industry Outlook
Though employment in tech occupations is growing In terms of outlook for the continued growth of the tech in-
everywhere, CBRE notes that highly-skilled tech talent dustry, CBRE looks to millennials and start-up cities as a
workers seem to be concentrated in Toronto, Montréal and guide. Millennials are increasingly attracted to tech-cen-
Ottawa alone. More specifically, “Toronto’s tech employ- tered jobs, and have “exhibited a preference for living in cit-
ment base contains 25 per cent of Canada’s tech talent,” fol- ies rather than suburbs,” two factors which have contribut-
lowed by Montréal with 16 per cent concentration, and Ot- ed significantly to the labour pool of talent in the Top 10
tawa with nine. Reasons for concentration are varied and cities nationwide. Many tech companies tend to cluster
relative to competitive advantages (including real estate around universities, ensuring a consistent flow of talent,
costs and wages, as described below). However, it is clear especially in cities with a high educational attainment rate.
that these cities contain “a sizeable concentration of high- According to CBRE, “tech companies use these clusters to
ly-skilled workers,” resulting in prosperous tech environ- collaborate and compete with one another, thereby acceler-
ments “conducive to innovation.” ating the innovation process in the market.”
Start-up cities are similarly good indicators of the fu-
Education ture of the industry. CBRE claims that “while there is much
Similar to employment, education affects the concentration
of tech talent in Canadian cities and helps to determine
ranking in the tech talent report. According to CBRE, high OFFICE ASKING RENT BY MARKET (Q2 2016)
educational attainment — defined by the achievement of a
minimum university degree — is a visible aspect in the top Annual Gross Direct Vacancy Source: CBRE Research Q2 2016; CMHC 2015

tech talent markets. Specifically, “all 10 of the largest mar- Asking Rent Per SF Rate
kets have an educational attainment rate above the Can- Vancouver, BC $39.78 11.2%
adian average of 28 per cent.” Simply put, highly educated Calgary, AB $35.70 21.6%
Source: CBRE Research Q2 2016

individuals are desirable in all fields, and in Canada’s tech Toronto, ON $33.96 9.4%
markets, “demand for these skilled employees is very Edmonton, AB $33.24 13.4%
strong.” Thus, educational attainment rates contribute to Ottawa, ON $32.44 10.7%
the overall ranking of cities in CBRE’s report. Montréal, QC $31.77 13.3%
Of the Top 10 cities, Ottawa leads with more than 40 per Halifax, NS $27.42 14.9%
cent of the working population having received a university de- London, ON $23.63 17.1%
gree. Following behind, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, Calgary Winnipeg, MB $23.54 9.8%
and Montréal have all reported attainment above 30 per cent. Waterloo Region, ON $21.87 13.5%

MARCH 2017
AUGUST SEPTEMBER
FEBRUARY 2013 building.ca
building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 22 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 to be gained from analyzing larger tech-companies, as
they have the ability to move markets and provide a repre-
sentative sample of what tech tenants require, it is also
important to recognize the next generation of tech talent.”
Simply put, vibrant startup companies have a strong abil-
ity to attract talent, and can easily grow to become tomor-
row’s tech giants.
Real Estate
As mentioned above, tech talent accounts for only 4.7 per
cent of the country’s total workforce; yet, this small group
greatly affects commercial real estate in Canada. “Employ-
ment growth in tech occupations has a multiplier effect
that positively impacts economic growth, which has an im-
mense impact on commercial real estate in that market,”
Photos by Frank Desgagnes
Of the 10 cities reviewed, Vancouver has the most ex-
pensive office rents on average, followed closely by Calgary 23
and Toronto. Yet competition is strong is all cities, as com-
panies continue to cluster and seek unique spaces to trans-
form into creative hubs.
Tech talent has also proved influential on the residential
real estate market. CBRE notes that “these highly skilled and
educated workers command on average 45 per cent more
than non-tech salaries in Canada”; and thus, tech employees
can afford to live in five of the 10 cities that contain costs of
living above the national average. Employee wages are the
greatest cost to tech companies, followed closely by real es-
tate costs themselves.
Comparing Costs

says the report. High-tech companies accounted for 16.1 per CBRE’s final scorecard concludes that Toronto is the market
leader in terms of industry outlook and tech talent, and thus
cent of all significant office leases in 2015 — equivalent to
two million square feet of space — resulting from the addi- places it in the number one spot of Top 10 cities. However,
tion of almost 140,000 new tech jobs over the past five the report uses the salary of 500 employees and a fictional
years. Ultimately, rising rents and declining vacancies are 75,000-sq.-ft. office lease to shine light on the realistic cost
reported across the board. of operations across the board. “What’s interesting to note is
that the markets with the highest rates of tech jobs growth,
Waterloo, Winnipeg and Halifax are all in the bottom half of our rankings of over-
all cost to operate. It’s clear that firms are targeting cities which provide a cheaper
access to labour, but also provide educational attainment levels which are mark-
edly higher than the national basis,” says Wong.
Employee wages are by far the greatest cost within tech talent markets.
Calgary, surprisingly, came out as the most expensive tech market for employ-
ers. This was driven by higher wages, at an average of $83,000 for tech workers,
as salaries remain elevated following a strong energy market performance.
This was approximately $3,500 higher than the next expensive market, Ottawa.
With increasing office vacancy and further energy market job losses, the overall
cost in Calgary is expected to decline in the coming years.
CBRE concludes that cities like Toronto and Vancouver, though highest on the
desirability scale, sit somewhere in between smaller markets like Ottawa and Lon-
don in terms of overall cost. “Despite the higher cost of real estate in Toronto and
Vancouver, this is dwarfed by the cost of wages. So lower salaries than other Can-
adian cities still make these large tech
centres an affordable option for many
APARTMENT RENT-TO-TECH WAGE RATIO companies. When you add that in these
two cities over a third of the labour pool
Annualized 2015 Average Rent-to-Tech is university educated, and they already
Source: CBRE Research Q2 2016; CMHC 2015

Apartment Rent Annual Tech Wage Wage Ratio provide established tech networks and
Vancouver, BC $15,214 $72,356 21.0% communities, it’s little wonder that
Toronto, ON $14,514 $74,165 19.6% many international firms are looking to
Source: CBRE Research Q2 2016

Edmonton, AB $13,641 $75,376 18.1% set up shop there. Compared to the top
Halifax, NS $11,721 $65,445 17.9% 50 most expensive North American
Winnipeg, MB $11,103 $64,294 17.3% tech markets, Toronto and Vancouver
Calgary, AB $13,920 $83,303 16.7% are 49th and 50th in the rankings, as-
Ottawa, ON $13,011 $79,726 16.3% sisted by a low Canadian dollar. This
Waterloo Region, ON $11,115 $72,097 15.4% makes these two cities a relative bar-
London, ON $10,329 $70,399 14.7% gain for U.S. tech firms looking to ex-
Montréal, QC $8,859 $68,244 13.0% pand further north,” says Wong. b

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 23 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

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By The Communications Bridge
T he City of Brampton, Ont. recently
developed an Energy Conservation and
Demand Management Plan with specific
targets to be met by 2019. This is a
strategic plan that aims to improve
energy efficiency and reduce green-
house gas emissions of City-owned
facilities, to foster a culture of conserva-
tion within the corporation and com-
munity, and to demonstrate leadership
in sustainable operations.
With this objective in mind, Bramp-
ton’s Facility Support Services initiated
a lighting retrofit of Brampton Tran-
sit’s 150,000-sq.-ft. Clark Facility that
would substantially increase energy
efficiency. The project was led by Saleh
Daei, whose 12 years of energy con-
servation experience paved the way
for a successful installation. Daei com-
mented that, “the successful comple-
tion of this project was a direct result
of the strong support and cooperation
of both the City’s Transit and Finance
divisions. The buy-in and assistance
of their staff was critically important.”
The Clark Facility serves as both
Photos by Frank Desgagnes
a storage area and maintenance facility
for the city’s fleet of buses. It was
determined that replacing the 220 HID
lamps with new lighting technology
would dramatically reduce energy costs
as a result of decreased energy use.
BLD FebMar 17.indd 25
special feature
TRANSIT OPERATIONS
LIGHT UP ENERGY 25
SAVINGS IN BRAMPTON
The new installation provides savings of 500,000 kWh
of energy annually, a savings of $65,000 per year.
Reduced maintenance cost was another significant factor because the old lamps
had to be replaced and disposed of every two years while the new fixtures have
a rated lifespan of at least 10 years.
The Solution
With these factors as the focus, the department then conducted an open tender pro-
cess. After a thorough review of the proposals and testing of several samples, it was
determined that GE’s Albeo LED high-bay luminaires provided the best solution. The
lighting quality and cost savings provided by this product met all the stringent require-
ments specified by the City. Once GE Lighting was chosen for the project, the City
provided a floor plan of the facility and asked GE to create a design for the reconstruc-
tion of the lighting system. It was imperative in the design that no additional fixtures
or locations be added in order to meet the energy savings requirement.
One additional challenge that had to be faced was, as Peter Bellingshausen, Sen-
ior Fixture Area Manager, GE Lighting explained, “Clark is a 24/7 operations
facility, all the retrofit work had to be done without any ‘shutdown’ opportunity.
We were able to accommodate this and complete work without any disruption
to ongoing operations, and do so within project timelines.”
The Result
“The installation of the new LED systems has provided the energy and maintenance
savings that we were looking for. In addition, the quality of lighting is far superior
to what we had previously and has contributed to increased operator safety and main-
tenance technician efficiency as well as enhancing our security,” notes Daei.
building.ca
2017-02-14 4:59 PM
 26

EXPRESSING
the

EPHEMERAL

Branding is a vital tool — if

used correctly. This is as true
for cities as it is for any other
product in any other market-
place. A strategist discusses
how branding can commu-
nicate a unifying story about
the value of a city.

T
By David Allison

ype in “definition of the word ‘brand’” on Google

and you won’t find one. You’ll find millions. In
any discussion about branding this is the first
problem: a multitude of strident experts who
are convinced they have finally defined brand-
ing in the best way possible. Clearly it would
be better if everyone used the same definition,

FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 b uilding.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 26 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

 but unfortunately there is nothing more
open to interpretation than the touchy-
feely subject of branding.
Except, perhaps, the subject of cities:
planning them; zoning them; building
them; and yes, branding them.
The most useful definition of a brand
that I have ever encountered, and the
one we use with our clients in indus-
tries as broad-ranging as real estate
development, universities, aborigin-
al nations and private equity funds,
is this: your brand is everything that
everyone says about you after you
leave the room.
Think about all the things you feel
about someone who has just left the
room. Everyone will have an opinion.
The best you can hope for is that people
remember you as friendly or bright, ac-
complished or approachable and that
these attributes are impactful enough
to outweigh any slight imperfections.
Now try to apply this definition to a city.
Obviously this is next to impossible
to capture. Even to get a loose hold on
a general answer is like chasing mer-
cury with your fingertip across a Grade
9 chemistry lab desktop. It has a mind
of its own, and changes direction un-
expectedly. It can be overwhelming-
ly positive and grand, and then ruined
by a tiny detail or single story. You can
be Toronto, thriving and booming and
sexy, until an obese sweaty mayor gets
filmed smoking crack in a basement
with a posse of drug dealers. Suddenly
your city is famous around the world,
for all the wrong reasons.
Attempts to brand a city can seem
insurmountable and futile. How can it
ever be defined or shaped? When some-
thing as quotidian as a tube of tooth-
paste has teams of dedicated brand
managers and highly-paid consultants
working to impact the way the tooth-
paste makes consumers feel, how can
a taxpayer-funded construct like a city
even get in the game? And how do you
cope with the unthinkable and un-
avoidable: the errant crack-pipe-toting
mayor, or the rude waiter, or the gar-
bage strike that lasts for a month?
BLD FebMar 17.indd 27
First – or lasting? – impressions
An interesting mental exercise while exploring this topic is to reflect on all the 27
places I have been recently, and chart what I think the story of each city is — the
brand that holds most true, at least for me, at least at this moment in time:
Victoria British tourists run amok;
Kelowna Booming and cute on a lake;
Prince George Resource sector labour playground;
Calgary Cowboys, literally and figuratively;
Edmonton Oil mixed with bureaucrats, on ice;
Toronto Grossly underappreciated, if you ask them;
New York Bloated, self-satisfied and always surprising;
Seattle Earnest flannel and invisible waterfront;
Phoenix Vast unrealized potential, and guns;
Paris Beautifully confusing and unconcerned;
London Wishes it were Paris;
Berlin Somehow artfully messy yet still dull;
Rotterdam Architecturally aggressive, and proud of it;
Chicago Cluttered and striving;
Indianapolis Bland and fine with it;
Winnipeg Bland and unsure what to do about it;
Los Angeles All surface, no depth, with bonus earthquakes.
All of these brand associations are highly personal. Anybody reading this will
almost invariably have different reactions to these cities. And I guess that’s the
point. This neat little construct we have come up with in the marketing business,
this thing called branding, isn’t as useful as it could be or should be when it comes
to a seemingly undefinable, ever-changing, very personal institution like a city. So,
how to do this better? Is there a solution? I think there is: it has to do with letting go
of our need for everything to be quantifiable, measurable, and scientific.
It may help to think about a city as a business, despite the inevitable uproar
that such a narrow definition will create. The business of a city is to attract invest-
ment, compel companies who will create jobs to locate there, encourage people to
choose the city as their home, and make it appealing to tourists who will drop a
few thousand dollars on a visit. I’d argue that another primary objective is to
make people proud to live there.
Using very broad strokes to paint this picture, the next step should be to figure
out a baseline. We all have our suspicions about how our city is perceived at the
moment, but is it accurate? Best ask the people you are building the brand for. In
this hypothetical case, you need to hear from the current and potential citizenry,
business owners from other nearby municipalities who could conceivably be lured
to relocate, and potential tourists.
Arguments about research methodology to get an accurate read on the current
state of the brand could fill volumes. But in my humble opinion this doesn’t need
to be complicated. It is not about science. It’s about science in the service of art. Get
as much of a read on the current situation as you can, of course. But don’t spend the
time or money or political capital required to have statistically supportable data
that could stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny. Precision is not the point.
What is the point?
The point is to sift through the data, discard most of it, and find the themes that
consistently appear. Spotting them can be frustrating, and requires experience.
But it’s worth the trouble and time to find them. Because the truth is in there.
What happens next is a judgement call. Remember, this is art, not science.
If the key themes you have excavated are sparkling gems that simply need to be
building.ca
2017-02-14 4:59 PM

28
widely exhibited, then you have the
raw materials you need to start build-
ing a brand for the stakeholders you’ve
defined. If, however, the storylines you
find are not diamonds, but merely ugly
misshapen lumps of coal, you have an-
other path to follow. You must com-
press, polish, recombine, dig around
some more, and find workable themes.
You excavate ready-made diamonds, or
you make cubic zirconia on your own.
It’s exceedingly simple and yet very
hard to make your own themes from
scratch. And I can’t even begin to ex-
plain all the methods you might use
in this space. But there is one terribly
important rule to remember: they must
be true. You can’t, if you are a small
town in eastern Idaho, decide that you
are the world capital of magic-bean pro-
duction, when in fact beans don’t grow
in your town at all, let alone enough of
the magic kind to be significant on a
global scale.
If you choose to propagate a brand
based on something other than truth,
be prepared for the fallout. The social
media-fuelled democratization of fin-
ger pointing means you will certain-
ly be shrieked at for making stuff up.
And unless your brand ambition is to
be known as the town that lies a lot,
you won’t be happy. Once you have
your truthful themes in hand it’s time
to do something with them. The most
powerful thing you can do is write a
simple story.
Writing a brand story for anything is
the moment when science gets tossed
out the passenger window and art takes
the wheel of the car. Stories are peculiar
things: the best ones last a very long
FEBRUARY MARCH 2017
BLD FebMar 17.indd 28
time, sometimes forever, and are most often the simplest and most human. The
stories that are forgettable are the ones that try to make everyone happy, and end
up making no one feel anything.
You have to be willing to let things go, to boil down your brand to the most im-
portant, most memorable wisps. At least at first. Once you have caught some-
one’s attention by using a simple and engaging story as a wedge, you can insert
specific details to placate even the most skittish politician, savvy career bureau-
crat, or easily peeved community activist. After your story has created that recep-
tive opening of attention, you can jam in all the labour statistics and cost-of-liv-
ing indexes and most-livable-city rankings you want.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate my point is with a comparative example of my
own work. Let’s start with the brand story of Vancouver, as it appears on the offi-
cial civic website (I did not write this — it’s buried a few pages under the homepage):
OUR CITY
With its scenic views, mild climate, and friendly people, Vancouver is known around
the world as both a popular tourist attraction and one of the best places to live.
Vancouver is also one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada
with 52 percent of the population speaking a first language other than English.
Vancouver has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 2010
Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics.
ABOUT VANCOUVER’S FIRST PEOPLE’S
An aboriginal settlement called Xwméthkwyiem (“Musqueam,” from masqui, “an ed-
ible grass that grows in the sea”), near the mouth of the Fraser River, was present here
at least 3,000 years ago.
At the time of first European contact in the late 18th century, the Musqueam and
Squamish peoples had villages around present-day Vancouver, along with the Ts-
leil-Waututh, ancestors of today’s Burrard Band in North Vancouver.
They were all Coast Salish First Nations, sharing cultural and language traits with
people in the Fraser Valley and Northern Washington.
OUR 125th ANNIVERSARY
2011 was Vancouver’s 125th anniversary and year as Cultural Capital of Canada. Van-
couver 125 was a year-long program of anniversary initiatives and events.
As part of our 125 celebrations, a digital media project, Vancouver Stories, was com-
pleted to gather and record neighbourhood stories in communities across the city.
And here is an excerpt from the brand story of Vancouver I wrote, commissioned
by a client. It is based on extensive quantifiable research, but I hope you can’t tell.
Anyone who lives in Vancouver knows how good it feels to come home.
It doesn’t matter if you have just been to Paris or New York, a tiny ski town in Colo-
rado or a sandy-island off the coast of Peru. There is something about coming home
to Vancouver, all fresh and green and human-scaled, that makes your heart skip a
beat. You may travel far-and-wide and explore the globe, but coming home to our city
of glass, nestled between the mountains and the sea, always makes you feel great.
building.ca
2017-02-14 4:59 PM
 Another thing: have you noticed that when you are away, and someone asks you
where you are from, it’s a very good moment in your day? It’s because there’s a 29
brief second or two of anticipatory pleasure that comes from knowing you have
the best possible answer. “Me? I live in Vancouver,” you say. And you are quietly
thrilled to be asked.

Saying “I’m from Vancouver” will almost always be met with an expression of envy,
10 key principles
or a story about a memorable vacation at some time in the past. It may even elicit
a wistful confession that while Vancouver is high on the bucket list, it just hasn’t Brands without substance
happened yet. “Someday soon,” your new acquaintance will say, she “hopes to are meaningless.
make it there,” because she’s heard “It’s beautiful.” In public-private
Why is that? What is it about Vancouver?
relationships, the private
sector organization’s
There is great beauty here. At first glance we are a bustling cosmopolitan city, brand is just as important
surrounded by towering alpine peaks that slope down to ancient rainforests
as the city’s.
which eventually give way to spray-splashed beaches and wave-polished drift- W hen building brands,
wood, and that one small seashell you found in a tidal pool on your walk, ear- cities must take
ly this morning. advantage of local culture
and history in order to
But there is more. Behind the scenic splendour Vancouver feels like no other differentiate themselves
city on earth because of the endless collision of opposing factors. Vancouver from others. Authenticity
is valuable.
is created fresh daily when nature and culture, tradition and innovation, tech-
nology and craftsmanship move forward together. Vancouver is continuously Increasing citizen pride,
bustling and relaxed, global and local, competitive and caring. engagement, and a sense of
identity are essential com-
ponents of any city brand.
Even though those few paragraphs are
In some cases, especially
just an excerpt from the full story, the Since 1985, David has in smaller cities, re-
contrast is obvious, and it has a chance advised brands such as development must come
of staying with you. I hope at some General Motors, Telus, before re-branding.
point in the future, if asked about Van- Toyota, Westin Hotels,
Different brands attract
couver, you might even repeat some and Sotheby’s different organizations.
part of it in your own words. If a city International Realty. Because developers often
brand can do even that, I think it is do- He’s helped daily share investment with
several companies, it
ing a very good job indeed. newspapers, symphony
is important that a city’s
Limited space on these pages meant orchestras, art brand appeals to a variety
I’ve had to simplify or outright omit ped- foundations, of groups.
antry terms throughout. These terms, government agencies,
Cities should use what
curiously enough, tend to multiply ex- professional service resources they already
ponentially in direct proportion to the firms, restaurant have. “Throwing a lifebelt
amount of money paid to a brand con- groups, retailers and to an abandoned brand
sultant. How many angels can dance more. His work as an
is better than trying to
launch a new one.”
on the head of a pin? Ask a highly-paid author, journalist,
brand consultant and you will get a conference speaker, P reparing for the long-
giant three-ring binder report. It will be university lecturer and term is essential. The
cycle of return on
delivered with great pomp and cere- award-winning writer
branding investments
mony, and no one will ever read it. It’s influences the brand is much longer than any
infuriating. This doesn’t have to be strategies and stories political cycle.
rocket science. Simply figure out who he develops across
T he process is about more
you are, and then consistently tell your industry sectors. www. than just branding. It’s
story in a memorable way. That’s it. b davidallisoninc.com about perceptions, pride
and identity.
A city must believe in their Source: City Branding and
Urban Investment: A ULI
brand in order to make Urban Investment Network
it work. Report, July 2011.

building.ca

BLD FebMar 17.indd 29 2017-02-14 4:59 PM

30 V I E W -
Walk With Joy
ULI Toronto’s Executive Director
suspects the Province of Ontario
is actually killing the city with
kindness through its reaction to
road tolls and gas taxes.
By Richard Joy
The dream that Canada’s largest urban hub municipali-
ties—the engines of the national economy — will someday
control the levers necessary for the advancement of their
economic and social well-being is dying. For the second
time in 18 months a provincial government has thwarted
the initiative of a major Canadian city to advance its clear
and unequivocal interests. The Province of Ontario’s denial
of Toronto’s road toll plan follows British Columbia’s impo-
sition of a no-hope plebiscite on the Vancouver region,
crushing the bold leadership of almost all its mayors to
fund transit expansion.
While the Province of Ontario maintains that it is simply
replacing hoped-for city toll revenue with provincial gas tax
sharing, such measures serve to stunt the maturation of
Canada’s largest global city.
Twenty years ago, a national urban movement emerged
called C5, led by philanthropist Alan Broadbent, urban-gu-
ru Jane Jacobs, and the mayors of Canada’s five largest cit-
ies. It exposed a complex set of challenges facing Canada’s
big cities, but none more fundamental than the “inefficient
and circuitous permissions and grants from provincial gov-
ernments and sporadic acts of largesse from the federal gov-
ernment to get necessary money to the cities,” said Jacobs.
In the same era, other progressive developments com-
bined to stoke a sense that Canada — a country constitution-
ally molded to an agrarian sensibility — was on the brink of
an urban renaissance. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed
that a suburban municipality of Montréal had the right to
impose a pesticide ban despite not having clear legislative
authority to do so, ruling that such a ban advanced a clear
municipal interest. It was a legal breakthrough that turned
on its head the idea that municipalities were nothing more
than the narrow authority of powers prescribed by their pro-
vincial governments.
FEBRUARY MARCH 2017 building.ca
BLD FebMar 17.indd 30
In the spirit of this constitutional ruling, two successive
Ontario governments strengthened municipal authority by
transitioning toward municipal acts that advanced broad
spheres of power to allow greater interpretation of the mu-
nicipal interest. Most significant of these reforms was the
City of Toronto Act (2006) which further removed legislative
boundaries to maximize public policy innovation and reve-
nue generating opportunities.
These reforms did not address another serious challenge
relating to the lack of regional governance coordination of the
GTHA’s 30-odd municipalities. But they clearly responded to
the overwhelming consensus from the spectrum of business,
social, and civil society organizations that for the region’s hub
city to thrive it required access to taxing and policy powers
available to other global cities. And while Toronto has been
curiously timid in adopting such powers (something I
touched on in the January 2016 issue of Building), the deci-
sion of City Council to pursue road tolls represented a coming
of age moment for Canada’s major global city (another topic
discussed in the December 2016 issue of Building).
To be fair, the Ontario government has undertaken a range
of fiscal initiatives of its own that have benefitted Toronto im-
mensely, including the uploading of social services and his-
toric investments into transit infrastructure. The city has
more than recovered from the dire financial straits of pro-
vincial downloading from the 1990s.
Richard Joy is Executive But when our public housing stock is
Director of ULI Toronto. crumbling, critical public transit proj-
Previously, he served as ects are unfunded, and transit rider-
Vice-president, Policy and ship is on the decline, what matter does
Government Relations at bean counting make?
the Toronto Board of Taken in isolation, Premier Wynne’s
Trade, and was the replacement of locally levied road toll
Director of Municipal revenues with increased provincial gas
Affairs and Ontario tax dividends appears to be a deft politi-
(Provincial Affairs) at cal maneuver. A political “triple toe-
Global Public Affairs. loop,” as one observer called it. But un-
Follow him on Twitter derstood in the context of what the
@RichardJoyTO or email leadership of the Kathleen Wynne gov-
at Richard.Joy@uli.org ernment knows is a necessary condi-
tion for the GTHA and its hub city to
prosper — greater fiscal autonomy — the
late-January announcement was a seri-
ous blow. Well intended as it may be,
such acts of largess are just killing the
city with kindness. b
CANAM
2017-02-14 4:59 PM
 MULTI-RESIDENTIAL
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CANAM-PUB-PP-HAMBRO-Building.indd 1 16-06-16 11:01

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 A Roadway Revolution
Remarkable GE LED roadway solutions meet both environmental and budgetary concerns. With wireless
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© current 2016

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