The Ins and Outs of Hiring Foreign Workers in a New Era of Immigration Law and Policy

Avoiding Pitfalls and new challenges of overcoming labour shortages By Sofia Mirza, Fillmore Riley LLP As an immigration laywer. I can't tell you how many times I've heard new clients say. "I wish I had known that before." Or, "If I had just consulted you before I files the application. this mess could have been avoided. Some examples of complications that may occur when a step is missed in the work authorization process include lengthy delays in the hiring process, officers rejecting appli-cations and interruptions in the work term of a valuable foreign national employee.

Building a Solid Foundation

People are holding your business up By Barbara J. Bowes, Legacy Bowes Group I can just imagine the "buzz" in the exhibition hall and in every presentation room during the recent International Foundations Congress & Equipment Expo (IFCEE) 2015 in March. That's what happens when 3,500 enthusiastic attendees get together to discuss common issues, opportuni-ties and new ways of doing things. So many sessions, so many innovations and so many people to meet!

Total Package Performance

From below ground to roof cap, Graham is a company that does it all By Kelly Gray Not all construction companies are created equal. In construction and project management, the smart money goes with a firm that can manage and self-perform all challenges from below ground to rooftop. For nearly a century, Calgary-based Graham has been such a player. Indeed, with revenues exceeding $2 bil-lion, Graham has become an industry leader by earning its place at the top as a complete one-stop-shop where clients get the benefit of substantial expertise and experience that extends from commercial projects to industrial sites to massive infrastructure under-takings.

A Passion for Piling

When it comes to complicated projects, Doublestar Drilling rises to the challenge By judy Penz Sheluk When Ian Hunt, president of Doublestar Drilling, purchased the company eight years ago, he believed there was a solid opportunity to grow the business. His vision was bang on. Since that time, Hunt has tripled revenues, gone from four drill rigs to more than 20 drill rigs, and in October 2014, expanded the Edmonton headquarters to a 16,000-square foot stat-of-the-art facility. But the growth doesn't stop there. In 2011, Doublestar Drilling established a location in Regina to cover the Saskatchewan market, in a move Hunt calls, “very success-ful.” On May 1, 2015, they opened a third location in Calgary, complete with ten acres of property, after “aggressively pur-suing the Calgary market.”

Into the Arctic

Battling Arctic temperatures, 24-hour darkness and shipping delays, the Ruskin team constructed an iron ore loading dock with great precision By Lisa Kopochinski Ruskin Construction is currently completing work on an iron ore dock at Canada's northernmost producing mine - the Mary River site on the northern end of Baffin Island - for Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation. This is quite a feat since this remote location is 500 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle in Nunavut, and has an average winter temperature of -30 degrees Celsius with several months of 24-hour darkness.

Cold Front

Ground freezing technology builds in unshakeable stability By Heather Hudson Question: What ingenious consgruction technique has been around since the 1800s but is reserved for only the deepest, darkest jobs? Answer: Ground Freezing Primarily used to provide ground support, groundwater control or structural underpinning during construction, the technology is mainly used for mine shafts. But its simple, virtually fail-proof design has made it a more popular option for civil projects in recent years. “Ground freezing is still used a lot in mining, but we're seeing it used for civil work like water tunnels,” said Joe Sopko, director of ground freezing at Moretrench, a nationally renowned geo-technical contractor based in Rockaway, N.J.

Tougher Than Bedrock

GeoRocFor celebrates 30 years of drilling and new success in its XS overburden systems By Sarah B. Hood If you ask the folks at GeoRocFor Inc. how business is do-ing, they like to say they're “getting through the toughest conditions.” That's not because business is bad - quite the contrary: the Sherbrooke, Que.-based company is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2015 as a leading manufac-turer of drilling tools and an industry leader in overburden casing systems.ebrating its 30th anniversary in 2015 as a leading manufac-turer of drilling tools and an industry leader in overburden casing systems.

Eliminating the Blind Spots

Operators can now put "eye" wherever they need them By Barb Feldman In 2012, a potential customer pre-sented Chris Machut's company with a problem: “How can tugs or towboats see what's in front of them if they have a giant barge in front? They're literally piloting that vessel blind,” and radar might not be able to pick up kayakers or small ves-sels, for example. Netarus met the cus-tomer's challenge with the “TugCam,” a portable camera system designed to improve safety, increase situational awareness and eliminate blind spots on towboats and tugboats, even in complete darkness. of them if they have a giant barge in front? They're literally piloting that vessel blind,” and radar might not be able to pick up kayakers or small ves-sels, for example. Netarus met the cus-tomer's challenge with the “TugCam,” a portable camera system designed to improve safety, increase situational awareness and eliminate blind spots on towboats and tugboats, even in complete darkness.

Company Announcements, Key Events and Other News Important to Canada’s Deep Foundation Construction Industry

Industry News

New research is first to link CEO behaviours to workplace safety culture and injuries

The Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) recently announced publication of research it funded in the Journal of Applied Psychology, entitled “Safety in the C-Suite: How CEOs Influence Organizational Safety Climate and Employee Injuries.” The study's authors are Dr. Sean Tucker (University of Regina), Dr. Babatunde Ogunfowora (University of Calgary) and Dayle Ehr (University of Regina).

GRL Engineers author Geotechnical Engineering Circular No. 12 – Design and Construction of Driven Pile Foundations

The recently released Geotechnical Engineering Circular No. 12 - Design and Construction of Driven Pile Foundations is the US Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) primary guidance and reference document on driven pile foundations.

DFI’s Testing and Evaluation Committee announces a new video

Static Load Testing of Deep Foundations Elements The Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and the Testing and Evaluation Committee recently announced the release of a video on Static Load Testing of Deep Foundations Elements: Top-Down and Bi-Directional Static Load Testing.

Northstar Sharp’s Foundation Specialists: An amalgamation of two great companies

Northstar and Sharp's Construction join forces

Pacifica Piling Ltd.

After a year in the market, this steel supplier continues to pick up steam By Colleen Birchwood When Rick Cable and his then-girlfriend Melissa Butler left the East Coast and arrived in Vancouver with nothing more than a suitcase full of clothes in 1996, he never imagined that 20 years later he would be the president of Pacifica Piling Ltd.

Female Powered Industry

The construction industry needs to attract more women to the trades - one Canadian partnership is attempting to bridge this gap

Emergency Access

Formula Contractors stepped in to construct an emergency bridge when a rainstorm washed out an important thoroughfare By Heather Hudson When Mother Nature rages, Formula Contractors gets to work. British Columbia's Ministry of Transportation called on the Prince George, B.C.-based company, which specializes in innovative construction solutions for bridges, structures, foundations, civil construction, rental bridges and more, to restore access to a road after a massive weather event. It was their expertise in bridge construction that landed them the recent emergency job building a temporary bridge on pile foundations in British Columbia's Peace Region in June. An early summer rainstorm caused flooding, completely washing out twin culverts on Rolla Road, a well-travelled thoroughfare connecting two main highways.

Up to the Challenge

How innovative products from American Piledriving Equipment are proving their worth in the Canadian North By Mark Halsall It's called the Polar Penetrator. When it comes to piling work in the Canadian North, it's hard to think of another piece of equipment that's more aptly named. The Polar Penetrator drill bit was invented by American Piledriving Equipment (APE) and is part of the company's HD Driver system that's uniquely suited to deep foundation construction in cold, northerly locations. “It's a drill bit that executes typically in frozen tundra or ground with permafrost or discontinuous frost, and I tell you what, it's a game-changer,” said Colin Grindle, Canadian regional manager for APE. “We've been able to tackle any project in any terrain with our HD system.”

Meeting Arctic Demands

PND Engineers tackles tough projects in the north By Mike Stimpson Innovation, adaptability and finding solutions for the challenges of building in Arctic and marine environments: PND Engineers has developed a solid reputation for all these things over the course of its 37-year history. That pattern of excellence continues as the U.S.-headquartered civil and structural engineering firm expands its reach in Canada's north through a Canadian subsidiary. A prime example of PND's innovation is the firm's proprietary (and award-winning) OPEN CELL® sheet pile technology, used over 200 times since PND Engineers developed it in the early 1980s for bridge abutments in Alaska's North Slope region. PND's website says OPEN CELL systems have “been used effectively in locations where other traditional bulkhead systems cannot work, including severe ice conditions, soft soils, exposed bedrock, deep water, high loading conditions, extensive scour and seismic events.”