C&C #28: Build Like It's Wartime

Canada lost 42,000 jobs in August. Or did it? Monthly job numbers bounce like a pickup on a logging road. Meanwhile, ICBA filed its pre-budget submission with Ottawa this morning: 15 recommendations, starting with the number that explains the last decade — in 2014 a Canadian company invested 87 cents per worker for every U.S. dollar. By 2024, 54 cents. We stopped building capacity before Trump showed up.

Episode 28 of ICBA Coffee & Construction — the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta, with ICBA's Jordan Bateman. On today's show:

☕ THE BIG ONE: ICBA's letter to Finance Minister Champagne. Cut federal project reviews to UNDER A YEAR for everyone, not just Bill C-5 favourites. Cut 149,000 federal regulatory requirements by 10% by end of 2027. Overhaul a tax system ranked 22nd of 38 in the OECD. Fix the ports before this fall's ILWU round — 24 days of shutdowns cost $19.2 billion in cargo and delayed 79% of ICBA members' projects. And open Ottawa's $331-million training fund to the 85% of B.C. and 88% of Alberta construction workers who aren't in a building-trades union.

📉 August jobs: Canada -42,000 against a forecast of +15,000. B.C. up to 6.5%, Alberta down to 6.8%, Kelowna at 9%. Why one month is noise and the quarter is the number that matters.

🌉 Shovels in on the North Coast Transmission Line in Prince George — roughly $6 BILLION for Phases 1 and 2, $3.9 billion from Ottawa and Victoria, 1,400 workers at peak, Phase 1 done mid-2030. Co-ownership deals with five First Nations still to be signed by year-end.

🛢️ Trans Mountain files a $3.97-billion expansion with the CER — 11 pump stations, 30 km of pipe, another 210,000 barrels a day by late 2028. The line ran 94% FULL in Q2, and nearly two-thirds of tankers since 2024 went to Asia. Plus Danielle Smith on why the U.S.–Venezuela oil deal makes the West Coast pipeline case stronger, with the national-interest decision due October 1.

💸 B.C. overstated its gas royalties by $1.46 BILLION over five years — about $300 million a year — because someone treated Canadian dollars as U.S. dollars in a spreadsheet. Treaty 8 First Nations flagged it in July.

🎙️ No show Monday — it's Labour Day. Back Wednesday. And a thank-you to the 265,000 people who build for a living.

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

Read more on today's stories:
ICBA housing submission to Ottawa (the seven fixes): https://icba.ca/ab-blog/submission-what-we-told-ottawa-about-the-housing-pipeline-1
August jobs by province (CP/BNN): https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2026/09/04/heres-a-quick-glance-at-unemployment-rates-for-august-by-province/
August jobs by city (CP/BNN): https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2026/09/04/heres-a-quick-glance-at-unemployment-rates-for-august-by-canadian-city/
North Coast Transmission Line construction start (B.C. government): https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026PREM0034-001026
NCTL coverage (Journal of Commerce): https://canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/infrastructure/2026/09/construction-begins-on-major-b-c-transmission-line-aimed-at-powering-northwest
Trans Mountain $3.97B expansion (Chamber of Shipping): https://shippingmatters.ca/trans-mountain-proposes-4-billion-expansion-to-boost-oil-exports-to-asia/
Smith on the Venezuela deal (Varcoe, EnergyNow): https://energynow.ca/2026/09/varcoe-u-s-oil-deal-with-venezuela-significant-competitive-threat-to-alberta-oilsands/
B.C.'s $1.5B gas royalty error (Black Press): https://saanichnews.com/2026/09/01/b-c-says-1-5b-gas-royalty-accounting-error-result-of-spreadsheet-mistake/

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ICBA is Canada's largest construction association — the voice of B.C. and Alberta's open-shop builders: https://icba.ca

#construction #bcpoli #abpoli #cdnpoli #Budget2026 #TransMountain #PrinceGeorge #BCHydro #skilledtrades #ICBA

What is ICBA Coffee & Construction?

The news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta.

ICBA Coffee & Construction is a fast, no-spin briefing for construction and resource business owners — the projects, the politics, and the policy decisions that hit your job site and your bottom line. Hosted by Jordan Bateman of ICBA, Canada's largest construction association, from a free-enterprise point of view.

Inflation, pipelines, megaproject overruns, housing, labour, red tape — we cut through the headlines and tell you what it actually means for your business. Sharp, useful, and under ten minutes.

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