Round Table Discussion – Cost Escalation and Inflation impacts to BC Construction Projects

The current high rate of construction cost inflation, not seen for many decades, is a significant challenge facing all participants in the construction industry. On November 22, the BC Construction Roundtable will host a compelling round table discussion to support open and collaborative dialogue between owners, consultants, general contractors, sub-contractors, material suppliers and others in the construction industry, on the challenges we are facing and how we can best work together to respond.

Over the past year, the general inflation rate in Canada has risen rapidly, from 1% to 7.7%, a 40-year high. The increase is not driven by just a few categories but is broad-based and has gained momentum over the past year, and is particularly acute in the BC construction industry, with rates as high as 15% experienced over 2021 for non-residential construction.

A confluence of factors is driving current markets and pricing. They include:

Table discussion themes will be documented and consolidated into white papers to be shared with attendees and BCCR members.

Panelists include:

Ben Martin, Vice President of Finance and Risk Management at Ledcor Industries Inc. Ben has worked at Ledcor, one of North American’s most diversified construction companies, for over 17 years. As part of the senior finance team, he has partnered with operating groups to respond to the changing economic climate and the resultant emerging risks. During his time at Ledcor, the Company has experienced significant growth and Ben has gained valuable leadership perspectives from a series of finance focused roles to more recently, the broader operations support functions, including Strategic Sourcing and Risk Management. He has led Ledcor’s strategic utilization of captive insurance as part of its overall risk management strategies. Ben was educated in the UK, becoming a Chartered Accountant, before his move to Canada. To learn more about Ben, please visit his LinkedIn profile.

Sarah Lemon – Category Manager – Major Projects & Construction, Strategic Sourcing and Contracts Management at TransLink. At TransLink, Sarah’s team is responsible for developing and implementing procurement strategies and contracting for construction and major projects across the TransLink enterprise. With over 25 years of experience working in procurement and contracts management, she has experience working in all categories across TransLink’s enterprise including fleet, technology, facilities maintenance, professional and technical services. She is leading the development of TransLink’s Indigenous Procurement Policy and building relationships with Indigenous Nations related to procurement and contracting within the service area that TransLink operates. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (Entrepreneurial Management) from the Royal Roads University. To learn more about Sarah, please visit her LinkedIn profile.  

Alex Francis – Director, Economics and Policy at PwC. Alex is Vancouver-based Director in PwC’s Economics and Policy Practice. He is a trained economist with over 12 years of experience as an economic consultant as well as a public sector economist. Alex works with infrastructure-focused clients at all levels of government and from the private sector. His areas of expertise include economic appraisal and business case development; strategic business planning and performance improvement; policy analysis; economic modeling and impact assessment. To learn more about Alex, please visit his LinkedIn profile.

Table discussion facilitators include:

Session moderator:

Neil Murray, Director, BTY. Neil is a Director at BTY providing Project Monitoring Lender Services for a wide range of construction projects across British Columbia. He brings more than 10 years of experience in the construction industry, working on construction projects in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Neil’s primary focus is providing project due diligence to Lenders and helping them monitor their investments through a wide range of value-added services. He accomplishes this through expertise in budget reviews, schedule evaluation, payment certification, project progress monitoring, value of works completed assessments, and project reporting.

Thank you to our sponsor!