Alberta Construction Magazine online newsfeeds http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com MISSISSAUGA, Ont. _ CPI Plastics Group Ltd. (TSX:CPI) lost $2.4 million in its first quarter as revenue dropped off 18 per cent, the company said Thursday.The Toronto-area company said the loss amounted to 18 cents per share for the three months ended March 31 compared with a loss of $533,000 or four cents per share a year ago.Quarterly revenue was $25.2 million, down from $30.7 million in the first quarter last year.The ongoing general slow down in the U.S. economy and the U.S. housing market in particular resulted in lower sales volumes across all sectors, the company said.In addition, the strength of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar continued to negatively impact the Company`s sales.CPI is a plastics processor that makes outdoor decks and fencing for the housing sector as well as cladding and accessory components for the outdoor hot tub industry.The company also makes garbage bags and custom plastics for industry.Shares in the company, which reported its results after the close of markets, were down seven cents at 21 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=549 BRANDON, Man. _ An official with the Manitoba`s government`s Historical Resources Branch is throwing cold water on the theory that construction workers may have unearthed an aboriginal burial ground in Brandon.Donna Dull, the director of the provincial agency, says while human remains unearthed at the site are aboriginal, she suggests they`re part of a grave site and not part of a larger burial ground.Dull says it`s a slow process for the archeologist working at the site to carefully examine the bones and artifacts that were found, but adds they`re hoping to have most of the work done in the next few days.She says representatives from the nearby Sioux Valley First Nation are discussing how to deal with the remains.The remains could be removed and reburied, taken away for further examination, or could be left where they were found.They were found earlier this week as construction crews dug a new basement.(CKLQ) http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=548 WINDSOR, Ont. _ A construction company from Windsor, Ont., has been chosen to help build a new structure on the Ground Zero site in New York City.Collavino Construction has secured the cement contract to build the Freedom Tower.It`s a four-year project that will see the company pour 190 cubic metres of concrete.They are working nearly 27 metres below the ground now, and after they reach ground level, they will continue pouring concrete for another 105 floors, or 540 metres.Company president Renzo Collavino says it`s a difficult place to work because everybody is aware of the thousands of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.He says it`s been difficult for workers when they`ve come across human remains, but overall he says they are proud to be part of the project. (CKLW) http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=547 By Eric ShackletonTHE CANADIAN PRESSTORONTO _ Canada`s cooling real-estate sector is slowly moving toward a more balanced market, but there won`t be any bust like that seen in the U.S. following the subprime mortgage crisis, Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren said Thursday following the release of several housing reports.We have been anticipating lower sales this year and more modest price increases, said Warren, senior economist at Scotia Economics, after the bank forecast overall sales 15 per cent below last year`s record levels, with home prices increasing on average about five per cent.We`re finally seeing that slowdown actually appear in the housing data _ housing starts, home sales and price increases.On Wednesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association released a survey showing that during April new listings rose by more than sales activity, making it more of a buyer`s market than in any other month in the past nine yearsWarren said some regional markets have certainly slipped into the buyers` category, in which the number of sales is less than the number of properties listed, giving buyers more bargaining power. But nationally we`re not quite there yet.Calgary and Edmonton, those are clearly buyers` markets, she said.In Alberta, we`ve seen sales fall off more sharply than in some other areas of the country because of high housing prices. We`ve also seen a significant flood of new listings and new home building.Looking at other markets, though, across the country, said Warren, most of your major urban centres are still modestly sellers, but not as much as they were in recent years. We`re moving towards more balance.That`s why, she said we`re moving from 10 per cent (price) increases, which is a buyers market, to five per cent increases which would be a slight sellers market.Said Warren, by 2009 nationally you`ll be in a balanced market, where prices are growing in line with inflation.At the moment, however, said Pascal Pelletier, a housing analyst with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Canada is still basically a sellers market.Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecast Thursday that new home construction in Canada will slow to 214,650 units this year, from last year`s 228,343, with seven out of 10 provinces registering declines.As well, the national housing agency says the number of existing homes sold is expected to fall by 8.5 per cent.The downward trend will continue in 2009, CMHC said, with housing starts dipping to 199,900 and existing home sales crumbling another 2.3 per cent to 465,000 units.Most of the pent-up demand that built up during the 1990s has now been fulfilled and residential construction activity will gradually move in line with Canadian demographic fundamentals, said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.These factors will continue to exert downward pressure on housing starts, he said.Warren said cracks are appearing on the new home front as well, as demand for new residential building permits has fallen sharply and price increases are moderating as inventories of unsold homes trend higher.But despite the cooling trend, all of the reports said Canada`s housing market remains healthy and activity this year, while off last year`s record levels, will be strong by historical standards.I don`t think you`re likely to see a whole lot of price discounting in homes at this particular period, given that the economy is still holding up fairly well, said Warren.There are no major strains in the housing market as of yet, but certainly sellers are not going to have the option of being price setters anymore, she said.I don`t think they can expect to see, in most cases outside of a few hot pockets, multiple offers and bidding wars because there are fewer buyers and more choice for those buyers.Despite the slowdown in the Canadian housing market, no U.S.-style meltdown is in the cards, said Warren.First, home prices in Canada are not substantially overvalued, she pointed out. Second, there is still little evidence of widespread speculative home buying that often accompanies the late stages of a housing boom.As well, Canada`s real estate market is not overbuilt and households are not excessively indebted, she added.At the end of the day, we predict a soft landing for the Canadian housing market, with somewhat lower sales and construction, and a period of relatively flat inflation-adjusted home prices.Dugan pointed to strong economic fundamentals such as employment levels, rising incomes and low mortgage rates as providing solid foundations for residential housing this year.The CMHC forecast sees average home prices rising 5.1 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent in 2009, after average annual increases of about 10 per cent from 2002 to 2007.What we`re seeing is the end of a long housing boom being reinforced by softer economic conditions, tighter credit markets, and in some places pressure on consumers from rising fuel and food prices, said Warren.So far, we haven`t seen any rise in defaults on mortgage payments, she said. Canadian household finances are still quite sound, job markets are quite strong, wage growth has been quite strong.Mostly it is the affordability issue that has seen some potential homebuyers seeking out less costly ways of getting into the market, she said.We`ve definitely seen a shift towards the condominium market which is more affordable, and changes in mortgage product mixes by financial institutions such as less down, longer amortization periods to make it more affordable.On the interest rate front, she said, we do expect that the Bank of Canada is probably going to lower interest rates a little bit more over the next couple of months. That should also help support the housing market.CMHC says prices of existing houses will rise this year by 9.3 per cent in B.C., 3.6 per cent in Alberta, 26.1 per cent in Saskatchewan, 13.5 per cent in Manitoba, 3.5 per cent in Ontario, 4.7 per cent in Quebec, four per cent in New Brunswick, five per cent in Nova Scotia, three per cent in Prince Edward Island and 10.5 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=546 TORONTO _ Canada`s housing market boom is over but it won`t be followed by the kind of bust that has characterized the U.S. subprime meltdown, say two real estate reports released Thursday.Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecast Thursday that new home construction in Canada will slow to 214,650 units this year, from last year`s 228,343, with seven out of 10 provinces registering declines.As well, the national housing agency says sales of existing homes are expected to fall by 8.5 per cent.The downward trend will continue in 2009, CMHC said, with housing starts dipping to 199,900 and existing home sales crumbling another 2.3 per cent to 465,000 units.Most of the pent-up demand that built up during the 1990s has now been fulfilled and residential construction activity will gradually move in line with Canadian demographic fundamentals, said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.These factors will continue to exert downward pressure on housing starts.In a separate report, the Bank of Nova Scotia forecasts overall sales 15 per cent below last year`s record levels, with home prices increasing on average about five per cent.Cracks are appearing on the new home front as well, the bank said, as demand for new residential building permits has fallen sharply and price increases are moderating as inventories of unsold homes trend higher.But despite the cooling trend, both reports said Canada`s housing market remains healthy and activity this year, while off last year`s record levels, will be strong by historical standards.No U.S.-style meltdown is in the cards, said Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren.First, home prices in Canada are not substantially overvalued, she pointed out. Second, there is still little evidence of widespread speculative home buying that often accompanies the late stages of a housing boom.As well, Canada`s real estate market is not overbuilt and households are not excessively indebted, she added.At the end of the day, we predict a soft landing for the Canadian housing market, with somewhat lower sales and construction, and a period of relatively flat inflation-adjusted home prices.CMHC`s Dugan pointed to strong economic fundamentals such as employment levels, rising incomes and low mortgage rates as providing solid foundations for residential housing this year.The CMHC forecast sees average home prices rising 5.1 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent in 2009, after average annual increases of about 10 per cent from 2002 to 2007.The faster and longer home prices climb, the greater the risk of an eventual price correction, noted Warren.Both reports predict the cooling trend will be most pronounced where the market was the hottest, the West, although both say activity there will remain strong by national standards.Calgary and Edmonton have officially moved into buyers` markets, Scotiabank wrote.More generally, however, economic conditions continue to favour the resource-rich markets in the West over manufacturing-dominated centres in Central Canada. Regina and Saskatoon are currently in the strongest sellers` position nationally.CMHC says prices of existing houses will rise this year by 9.3 per cent in B.C., 3.6 per cent in Alberta, 26.1 per cent in Saskatchewan, 13.5 per cent in Manitoba, 3.5 per cent in Ontario, 4.7 per cent in Quebec, four per cent in New Brunswick, five per cent in Nova Scotia, three per cent in Prince Edward Island and 10.5 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.The inflation-adjusted average resale home price registered its first quarterly decline in seven years during the first three months of this year, according to figures released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.Scotiabank cautioned that there is downside risk to the soft-landing scenario, particularly if tight credit conditions and the U.S. economic downturn intensify, impacting Canadian output and incomes. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=545 TORONTO _ Canada`s housing market boom is over for the foreseeable future, but it won`t be followed by the kind of bust that has characterized the U.S. subprime meltdown, say two real-estate reports released Thursday.The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecast Thursday that new home construction in Canada will slow to 114,650 units this year, from last year`s 228,343 units, with seven out of 10 provinces registering declines.As well, the country`s national housing agency says sales of existing homes are expected to fall by 8.5 per cent.The downward trend will continue in 2009, with housing starts dipping to 199,900 units and existing home sales crumbling another 2.3 per cent to 465,000 units.Most of the pent-up demand that built up during the 1990s has now been fulfilled and residential construction activity will gradually move in line with Canadian demographic fundamentals, said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.These factors will continue to exert downward pressure on housing starts.In a separate report, the Bank of Nova Scotia forecasts overall sales to total about 15 per cent below law year`s record levels, with home prices increasing on average about five per cent.Cracks are appearing on the new home front as well, the bank said, as demand for new residential building permits has fallen sharply and price increases are moderating as inventories of unsold homes trend higher.But despite the cooling trend, both reports agreed that Canada`s housing market remains healthy and that activity this year, while off last year`s record levels, will be essentially strong by historical standards.No U.S.-style melt-down is in the cards, said Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren.First, home prices in Canada are not substantially overvalued, she pointed out.Second, there is still little evidence of widespread speculative home buying that often accompanies the late stages of a housing boom.As well, Canada`s real estate market is not overbuilt and households are not excessively indebted, she added.At the end of the day, we predict a soft landing for the Canadian housing market, with somewhat lower sales and construction, and a period of relatively flat inflation-adjusted home prices.Dugan pointed to strong economic fundamentals such as employment levels, rising incomes and low mortgage rates as providing solid foundations for residential housing this year.The national housing agency also forecast average home prices will rise by only 5.1 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent in 2009, after average annual increases of about 10 per cent from 2002 to 2007.The faster and longer home prices climb, the greater the risk of an eventual price correction, noted Warren.As such, both reports predict the cooling trend will be most pronounced where the market was the hottest, the West, although both say activity there will remain strong by national standards.Both (Calgary and Edmonton) have officially moved into buyers` markets, Scotiabank wrote.More generally, however, economic conditions continue to favour the resource-rich markets in the West over manufacturing-dominated centres in Central Canada. Regina and Saskatoon are currently in the strongest sellers` position nationally.From west to east, the CMHC says existing house prices will rise 9.3 per cent in B.C., 3.6 per cent in Alberta, 26.1 per cent in Saskatchewan, 13.5 per cent in Manitoba, 3.5 per cent in Ontario, 4.7 per cent in Quebec, four per cent in New Brunswick, five per cent in Nova Scotia, three per cent in Prince Edward Island and 10.5 per cent in Newfoundland.The forecasts are in line with recent housing activity in Canada, which has fallen for four consecutive months.Meanwhile, the inflation-adjusted average resale home price registered its first quarterly decline in seven years during the first three months of this year, according to figures released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association..Scotiabank cautioned that there is downside risk to the soft-landing scenario, particularly if tight credit conditions and the U.S. economy downturn persist and become more serious than expected, impacting Canadian output, employment and income growth. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=544 TORONTO _ There is now convincing evidence that Canada`s housing market has come off the boil, Bank of Nova Scotia economists say.Home resales have fallen for four consecutive months, and the inflation-adjusted average resale home price registered its first quarterly decline in seven years during the first three months of this year, Scotia Economics noted in a report Thursday.Cracks are appearing on the new home front as well, the bank said, as demand for new residential building permits has fallen sharply and price increases are moderating as inventories of unsold homes trend higher.We expect overall sales volumes in 2008 to total about 15 per cent below last year`s record levels, and home prices to increase on average by about five per cent, said Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren.Price gains should slow further in 2009 with the return of a balanced market for the first time in a decade.Meanwhile, housing starts are projected to decline to about 180,000 annually by the end of the decade, from the current 225,000-unit range.The report observes that the cooling market is most notable in many of what had been Canada`s hottest markets, including Calgary and Edmonton.But Warren said a major national correction _ like the slumps that followed the housing booms in the 1970s and 1980s _ is not in the cards.Our long-term housing price model puts average home prices in 2007 at about eight per cent above their long-term trend, compared with a premium of 12 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, at the 1976 and 1989 housing cycle peaks, she said.Canada`s real estate market is not overbuilt and households are not excessively indebted, Warren added.At the end of the day, we predict a soft landing for the Canadian housing market, with somewhat lower sales and construction, and a period of relatively flat inflation-adjusted home prices. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=542 FORT WAYNE, Ind. _ WFI Industries Ltd. (TSX:WFI) reported a sharp increase in quarter profit compared with a year ago and increased its quarterly dividend on Wednesday.The Toronto-listed company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said Wednesday it earned US$1.6 million or 13 cents per share for the three months ended March 31 compared with a profit of $984,000 or eight cents per share a year ago.Quarterly revenue was $23.8 million, up from $21 million.The company said it would increase its quarterly dividend a penny to 18 cents per share.The slow down in the U.S. residential new construction market was more than offset by consumers choosing to replace existing fossil fuel furnaces and outdoor air conditioners with our systems, president and chief executive Bruce Ritchey said in a statement.WFI operates under the WaterFurnace and LoopMaster banners manufacturing and distributing geothermal and water source heating and cooling systems for residential, commercial and institutional buildings.The company also installs geothermal loops for residential, institutional and commercial construction projects.Shares in the company, which reported its results after the close of markets, were up nine cents at $25 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=543 BRANDON, Man. _ Manitoba`s chief medical examiner says human remains excavated by a construction crew appear to be part of an aboriginal burial ground.A construction crew in Brandon, Man., was digging a basement on Tuesday when an excavating machine turned up a partial set of human remains.Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra says at least two bodies have been recovered at the site so far.He`s not sure how many may be uncovered, noting there`s a lot of dirt to move and sift through.He also says several beads and buttons uncovered at the site are about 100 years old.Balachandra says the investigation has been turned over to the provincial government and the excavation is proceeding with caution out of respect for aboriginal people. (CKLQ) http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=541 DUJIANGYAN, China _ Modern apartment buildings and schools crumbled, smoothly paved highways buckled and bridges collapsed _ their flimsy construction no match for the awesome forces of nature.As the death toll soars from the powerful earthquake that ravaged China`s Sichuan province, the scale of the devastation is raising questions about the quality of China`s recent construction boom.This building is just a piece of junk, one newly homeless resident of Dujiangyan yelled Wednesday, her body quivering with rage. Her family salvaged clothing and mementos from their wrecked apartment, built when their older home was razed 10 years ago.The government tricked us. It told us this building was well constructed. But look at the homes all around us, they`re still standing, said the woman, who would give only her surname, Chen.Three decades of high-paced growth have remade China, with stunning showcase metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai as well as formerly tiny county towns that are now small cities with office towers and multi-storey apartment buildings.But as the widespread devastation from Monday`s quake shows, the pell-mell pace has led some builders to cut corners, especially in outlying areas largely populated by the very young and the very old.This new economy in China is not going up safely, it`s going up fast, and the two don`t go together, said Roger Bilham, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder.You look at the buildings that fell and they should not have fallen, he said. This is a story that has been repeated throughout the developing nations.New buildings in Beijing _ like the signature Bird`s Nest National Stadium for this August`s Olympics _ are built to exacting codes to withstand earthquakes. But anti-earthquake standards are not as strict in places like Sichuan as in Shanghai, said Ren Bing, an **>architectural** designer at Hong Kong-based China Construction International Co.Monday`s temblor flattened smaller towns in the disaster zone like Yingxiu, where 7,700 people were reported to have died, according to aerial footage shown on state-run China Central Television. A hilltop view of Beichuan, another hard-hit town, showed entire blocks of apartment buildings that seemingly disintegrated.In Dujiangyan city, where rescuers saved a woman eight months pregnant who was trapped for 50 hours under a collapsed apartment building, there was little evidence of steel reinforcement bars in the concrete rubble.Other infrastructure old and new suffered as well.Nearly 400 dams, most of them small, were damaged across Sichuan, the government`s economic planning agency said on its website. One of the two bigger ones, Zipingpu, had cracks 10 centimetres across its top; and though the government said the dam was safe, its reservoir was drained.China is jolted by thousands of earthquakes every year, at least several of them major ones that cause significant damage and loss of life. Since the 1976 quake in Tangshan near Beijing killed at least 240,000 people, the communist government has tried to improve building standards.China has been taking earthquake safety very seriously in the past 10 to 20 years, said Susan Tubbesing, head of the California-based Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. From what I understand, the codes China has adopted in the past 20 years have been good, solid, seismic codes.One problem is that enforcement of building codes varies.The construction boom that has underpinned much of the stunning growth has been an invitation for corruption, with officials and developers colluding.In larger cities like Shanghai, authorities generally enforce regulations. But that isn`t always true in smaller cities. And in rural areas, it`s out of the question, says Andrew Smeall, an associate at Asia Society`s Center on U.S.-China Relations in New York.The cost of trying to go back and make sure everything is built to code would be prohibitive, he said.It wasn`t just newer buildings that collapsed.Sichuan, like many parts of China, is dotted with factories left over from Maoist policies of building up industries far from the coasts for strategic reasons.In Hanwang, the town`s mostly older buildings were flattened or severely damaged by the quake. A newer five-storey clock tower, its face stopped at 2:27 _ the time the earthquake struck _ remained eerily intact.A commentary in Wednesday`s state-run China Daily questioned the staggering death toll, especially in schools wrecked by the quake.We cannot afford not to raise uneasy questions about the structural quality of school buildings, the newspaper said, suggesting an investigation might find builders to blame.At a high school in Juyuan, all but a handful of 900 upper class students were crushed when their school collapsed in a matter of seconds, though neighbouring buildings appeared little affected.These buildings just weren`t made for that powerful of a quake. Some don`t even meet the basic specifications, said Dai Jun, a structural engineer and concrete specialist in Chengdu who was surveying damage in the area.At a nationally televised news conference Tuesday, one Chinese reporter asked officials why had so many schools collapsed while there were few reports of government offices toppling.The response from Wang Zhenyao, the Civil Affairs Ministry`s top disaster relief official, was that his own agency`s office in Beichuan had collapsed, possibly causing deaths and injuries.Government offices aren`t all that sturdy either, he said. http://www.albertaconstructionmagazine.com/news.asp?ID=540