Construction Prompt Payment Act among sources of solid optimism among construction professionals in the year to come.
By / Robin Brunet
Despite headwinds topped by the Canada/United States tariff wars, BC’s construction industry—which is the province’s number one employer at over 265,000 people and contributes over $28.5 billion annually to the provincial economy—ended the year with a significant win: Bill 20, the long-in-the-making Construction Prompt Payment Act, became law.
Jeannine Martin, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, explained the importance of this initiative when the legislation received Royal Assent in December: “For too long, late payments strained cash flows, delayed payment, and created unnecessary risk throughout the construction supply chain,” she said. “Today, we are another step closer to changing that.”
Chris Atchison, president of the BC Construction Association, called the passing of Bill 20 a milestone, but he stresses, “The effectiveness of this legislation will depend on clear, practical regulations and ongoing collaboration between government and industry stakeholders. Continued engagement with industry during implementation will be critical throughout 2026.”
Bill 20 came on the heels of the BC government boosting skilled trades training via a new $241-million fund, which is expected to increase per-seat funding for apprentice programs and address waiting lists for critical industrial trades, ensuring faster access to training.
For these and other reasons, representatives of the BC construction industry are cautiously optimistic about the New Year, backed by a government that not only seems to be keenly aware of the issues that constrain their members but also willing to do something about it.
Guarded optimism also accurately describes the mindset of Jeremy Hallman, executive director at SMACNA-BC, as his organization faces a host of projects both major and minor in the pipeline.
“Last year, we projected there would be a dip in work hours logged compared to 2024, but in fact we came close to achieving that year’s record of highest work hours ever, thanks to big projects such as hospitals and infrastructure,” he says. “Recently, some contractors told me they’ll be busy right through 2030, with hospital expansions in Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Prince George, and other locales contributing to the workload.”
That’s only the tip of the iceberg. The long-awaited $5.9 billion Surrey Langley SkyTrain project is underway, a 16-kilometre elevated extension of the existing Expo Line along Fraser Highway from the King George Station in the City of Surrey through the Township of Langley to a new terminus in Langley City Centre. The project includes eight new stations, three new transit exchanges, and nine new propulsion power substations.
Elsewhere, the $16 billion Site C hydroelectric dam and the $6.8 billion Woodfibre LNG project near Squamish are examples of major undertakings requiring an enormous amount of skilled labourers. “SMACNA maintains a strong focus on training because you need plenty of experience to fulfill the design demands of the infrastructure that Canada needs,” Hallman says.
Atchison agrees that training should be foremost in everyone’s mind in 2026. “Strategic investment in trades training and apprenticeship programs will be essential to building a workforce capable of supporting sustained growth,” he says, adding that providing the skilled talent needed to deliver upcoming projects will require strong collaboration between government, industry, and educational institutions. “Attracting new entrants to the trades and supporting their long-term success must remain a shared priority,” he says.
Some of the upcoming projects will derive from the recent merger between Canadian natural resources company Teck Resources Ltd. and Britain’s Anglo American PLC. The majority of this $4.5 billion investment is said to be earmarked for BC, at the Teck smelter in Trail, the Highland Valley Copper Mine near Kamloops, and Galore Creek in northwest BC.
In addition, Artemis Gold, a mine north of Prince George, announced in December that they will be expanding in BC to the tune of $1 billion. That same month, the provincial government shared a new ten-year economic strategy, called Look West, that aims to have three new natural gas projects, four new or expanded mines, and eight new renewable energy projects operational by 2032.
But that’s in the future. Atchison also has concerns pertaining to the here and now. “Our construction industry enters 2026 facing a complex mix of pressures, including ongoing US tariffs, rising material costs, and persistent supply chain uncertainty.”
One of the sectors worst hit by the tariff wars is steel. Specifically, Canada’s domestic steel manufacturing base does not yet produce the full range of construction-grade products required for major projects, and in BC, contractors remain heavily dependent on imports from the United States and Asia.
“Until Canada can reliably supply the full range of construction-grade steel, our industry will remain exposed to global volatility beyond our control,” Atchison says, adding that a stable, predictable policy framework must be established to encourage investment in domestic steel manufacturing.
While both federal and provincial governments have introduced measures intended to support BC’s construction sector, long-term resilience is still a question mark. On the one hand, the feds recently announced that the remission of Canadian tariffs on imports from the United States would be temporarily extended to the end of January for steel goods used for manufacturing, a move intended to provide more predictability to businesses as they adjust their supply chains to transition from imported sources to Canadian domestic supply.
On the other hand, “Contractors continue to operate in an environment where cost volatility and trade disruptions make planning and delivery more challenging, reinforcing the need for stable policy frameworks and collaborative solutions,” Atchison says.
About the only thing certain in these volatile times is the determination of BC’s construction trades to prevail. “There’s definitely enough work for everyone, and even though so many circumstances seem US-led and out of our control, there is definite cause for hope that more stable times are ahead,” Hallman says. “I think we may see only a slight dip in work hours for 2026—and who knows what positive outcomes might be achieved beyond that.” ■
Robin Brunet’s journalism has been published in over 150 magazines, newspapers, websites, and other media across Canada and the United States since 1982.
