ICBA Coffee & Construction

Jordan Bateman
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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. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Subscribe, and send it to one person who builds for a living. Learn more at icba.ca. For the economics behind the headlines, subscribe to ICBA's twice-weekly EconoBot briefing at icba.ca/economics.

  1. 7h ago

    You Don't Win by Leaving the Room | ICBA Coffee & Construction #39

    Twelve days until Albertans vote on staying in Canada. Seventeen until B.C. votes on David Eby. Money hates waiting for both.   Episode 39 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: Alberta's builders on the October 19 referendum, with a U of C estimate of up to $170 BILLION in separation costs over five years. 🗳️ B.C. Votes: one leaders' debate on October 14, and Eby calls 50-week surgical waits "totally unacceptable" after nine years in charge. 🛢️ Emera buys ATCO and Canadian Utilities in a $72 BILLION all-share deal. 🏠 Jock Finlayson on B.C.'s housing record: starts forecast below 40,000 a year. 🚧 New crane rules: every B.C. operator certified or apprenticed by July 5, 2027.

  2. 2d ago

    Eby Wants Even More of Your Money | ICBA Coffee & Construction #38

    David Eby rolled out three income tax hikes this weekend. Meanwhile, Cenovus is putting $5.7 billion into Alberta oil sands. Only one of them is spending their own money.   Episode 38 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: Eby's tax hike — two points more on income over about $190,000, and a new top rate on income over $1 MILLION. About $1 billion a year at full run, against a $13.8 billion deficit. 🛢️ Cenovus buys Athabasca Oil for $5.7 billion, adding 45,000 barrels a day of Alberta oil sands output. 🗳️ B.C. Votes: 355 candidates, 93 ridings, and one riding with no NDP candidate.   📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics   ICBA Coffee & Construction drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe, hit the bell, and send this one to somebody who builds for a living.   ICBA is Canada's largest construction association — the voice of B.C. and Alberta's open-shop builders: https://icba.ca   #construction #bcpoli #abpoli #bcelection #taxes #oilsands #LNG #PrinceRupert #ICBA

  3. 5d ago

    Ottawa Lists the Pipeline. B.C. Votes in 22 Days | C & C #37

    Tuesday, Kitimat got a yes. Thursday, a pipeline got a yes. Ottawa listed the West Coast Oil Pipeline, now called Pacific Link, as a project of national interest: one million barrels a day from near Bruderheim, Alberta, to Roberts Bank. But a listing isn't a final investment decision, and British Columbians vote October 24.   Episode 37 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: Pacific Link is official. About 1,250 kilometres, ONE MILLION barrels a day. Canada and Alberta own equal shares, Pembina holds 10% through construction, and First Nations are offered at least 10%. Ottawa's conditions are due September 1, 2027.   🚧 NO SHOVELS YET: Pembina says it keeps "full discretion over any final investment decision." No contract to bid on yet, but if you run a crew in Fort St. John, Red Deer or Chilliwack, a year is short.   🗳️ B.C. VOTES 2026: Ipsos has the Conservatives at 42 and the NDP at 40. Two weeks ago it had the NDP up TEN. We go through this week's promises: Eby's gas-tax suspension and grocery price caps, Lorne Doerkson's Wildfire Action Plan and no new taxes.   🛢️ LNG CANADA PHASE 2: $32 billion, double the capacity to 28 million tonnes a year, up to 4,000 construction jobs in Kitimat.   📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

  4. Sep 28

    C&C #36: A Potash Pot of Port Money

    Shovels went in Friday at Neptune Bulk Terminals in North Vancouver. Canpotex is putting $500 million of private money into rebuilding it, with 400 to 500 construction jobs on the North Shore through 2028.   Episode 36 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: Canpotex breaks ground on a $500 MILLION rebuild at Neptune: new shiploaders, conveyors and a railcar dumper pit, with 85 to 90 per cent of the spending going to Canadian suppliers and contractors 🗳️ B.C. Votes, week two: Eby's new tax on unsold condos, Doerkson's no-new-taxes pledge, and new Conservative candidates 📉 Jock Finlayson and Ken Peacock on why B.C.'s goods exports have fallen about 8% since 2017 🛢️ Smith and Ford in Calgary, and the West Coast Oil Pipeline deadline on Thursday 🚧 Where the work is: $38.5M for servicing in Beaumont, Alberta   Watch the whole show. It runs about ten minutes, and it's everything a builder needs to know this week.   📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

  5. Sep 23

    C&C #34: Eby Rolls the Dice on an Early Election

    David Eby had a one-seat majority, a record $13.8-billion deficit, and an opposition whose leader quit on Sunday. On Tuesday he called an election two years early. Before he did, he paused the PST on your engineer. Paused, not scrapped. Episode 34 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: B.C. votes OCTOBER 24, a week after the municipal elections. Findlay is out, Doerkson is in, and seven CentreBC MLAs are back with the Conservatives. The first poll has the NDP at 41 and the Conservatives at 36, while 50% say B.C. is on the wrong track. Plus four questions to ask every candidate at your door. 🛢️ Tilbury LNG gets its yes. B.C. and Ottawa both sign off on FortisBC's Delta expansion: 6,200 years of construction work and up to $1.7 BILLION in GDP. The review started in February 2020. A day later, cabinet minister Kelly Greene says she won't run again, and she names Tilbury as the reason. 🚧 Where the work is: Wolf Midstream's $500-MILLION NGL North expansion in Alberta is a go, with permits done and construction underway. And Graham Infrastructure lands $33 million to give the 1956 Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge fifty more years. 🛢️ Danielle Smith says pipelines have gone from impossible to a national imperative. Ottawa offers First Nations along Trans Mountain a 15% ownership stake. And Smith makes her case for staying in Canada ahead of October 19.

  6. Sep 18

    C&C #33: $40 Billion On Its Way?

    Reuters says the partners in LNG Canada could approve a second $40-billion plant in Kitimat as early as October. Two days after the investment summit closed, the first real deal is on the table. Meanwhile David Eby says he's getting ready for an election, half of B.C. says it has no party worth cheering for, and Alberta's own report puts the price of leaving Canada at up to $170 billion.   Episode 33 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: LNG Canada Phase 2. Three sources tell Reuters a final investment decision could come as early as October. Two more trains, another 14 MILLION tonnes a year, and the biggest private construction decision in B.C. since Phase 1. Shell says the decision depends on "competitiveness and affordability, government support and stakeholder needs." Victoria, that's your cue.   🗳️ Eby tells his caucus to be "election ready." A one-seat majority, nine Conservative defections, and Angus Reid's new numbers: NDP 41, Conservatives 37, and 51% of British Columbians calling themselves political orphans. Plus the report card nobody in Victoria wants to talk about: B.C.'s population is shrinking for the first time in 151 years.   🚧 Three shovels in the ground. Emil Anderson gets the $119.4-MILLION Peardonville Road crossing on Highway 1 in Abbotsford, starting nine days before the byelection. Calgary Airports breaks ground on a $40-million aviation training centre. JWest starts its $234-million first phase at Oak and 41st.   💸 Alberta's government puts a price on separation: $50 billion to $170 BILLION over five years, 70,000 new civil servants, and a hardball scenario where the economy shrinks 16.2%. Finance Minister Jason Nixon says that's why the answer on October 19 is No.   👷 Ottawa puts $880 million into paid four-month trades placements, a $5,000 Red Seal bonus, and an EI top-up for apprentices. TRU adds 800 seats. Good — and here's the one ask: open it to every employer training the kid, not just union halls.   🌉 ICBA files on Roberts Bank Terminal 2: 18,000 construction jobs, a port ranked 375th of 405, and 13 years in the federal system. Chris Gardner: "Canada's permitting system is where good projects go to stall."   🎙️ Next Friday: Abbotsford-Mission votes.   📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

  7. Sep 16

    C&C #32: The MEGA Deduction Arrives

    For every dollar per worker an American business puts into machinery and equipment, a Canadian company puts in 32 cents. That's the whole Canadian productivity story in one number — and this week Ottawa finally went after it. The new Productivity Mega Deduction lets you write off the whole machine the year it goes to work instead of a spoonful a year for a decade. It applies to anything acquired on or after September 15. That's yesterday.   Episode 32 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: The Productivity Mega Deduction, explained properly. What capital cost allowance actually costs you, why the TIMING of a writeoff is the whole game, what's covered and what isn't — and the number nobody else is quoting: construction's effective tax rate on new investment drops from 18.3% to 13%, against 22.2% in the United States. We were four points ahead of the Americans. We're now nine.   💸 Nearly $500 BILLION pledged at the Canada Investment Summit — a $50-billion Maple Fund, $150 billion from TD, $100 billion-plus from Scotiabank. Nobody signs a pipeline at a conference. Here's what those pledges actually are, and why Chris Gardner's "faster, cheaper, smarter" is the next step.   🚧 613 JOBS IN WELLS. Osisko Gold's board gives the formal green light to build Cariboo Gold — $990 million, a 30-month build, first gold in early 2029. Eleven years from the first drill to a construction decision. That's the good news and the problem in one project.   🌉 Ottawa puts YVR and Calgary International in play — long-term private concessions on the two front doors for western Canadian trade.   📉 July building permits land the same morning: down 17.3% in a month, to $12.2 billion. Pledges are next year's work. Permits are this year's.   🗳️ Calgary-Shaw flips by 582 VOTES in a seat the UCP has held since 2019. A vote split, or the October 19 referendum? And what either answer means for the province asking the world to invest in it.   🛢️ Ksi Lisims LNG signs its THIRD international buyer in twelve months — 20 years, one million tonnes a year, with a final investment decision targeted before Christmas. And there's a new federal writeoff aimed squarely at it.   📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

  8. Sep 14

    C&C #31: The World's Money Comes to Toronto

    Inflation stuck at three per cent this morning, with gas still up 23 per cent and Brent back above $108. And tonight, 250 people who run companies overseeing nearly $120 trillion sit down to dinner with Mark Carney in Toronto. He wants $1 trillion of it. The pitch book has 167 projects — and a lot of them are ours.   Episode 31 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: Canada's first investment summit. Ksi Lisims LNG at US$28.5 BILLION and "shovel-ready." The West Coast Oil Pipeline — a million barrels a day, 1,250 kilometres, Bruderheim to a deepwater port in southern B.C. Edmonton–Calgary high-speed rail at $10.9 billion. Two Indigenous-owned B.C. wind farms. Danielle Smith brought 34 Alberta projects, every one $200 million or bigger. Carney says deals are already signed. Investors don't buy projects — they buy certainty. So what's David Eby selling from a province where a substation takes six years?   📉 Jock Finlayson's summit-day piece: Wanted — An Agenda to Boost Investment in Canada. Canadian companies invest 55–60 cents per worker for every U.S. dollar. A construction permit took almost 250 DAYS in 2020. A new mine, 15-plus years. Top personal tax rate 53–54 per cent. His fixes: one lower business rate with fewer carve-outs, immediate write-off of investment in every sector, and red-tape reform everywhere — not just for a handful of "national interest" projects.   💸 Breaking this morning: August inflation 3.0 per cent, unchanged. Gas up 22.8 per cent, groceries up 2.8, rent up 2.8. A three in front of inflation means no Bank of Canada cut on October 28. Rate relief is dead.   🖥️ Alberta's gas bottleneck. A leaked cabinet report says TC Energy's Nova system is full until 2029 and data centre builders could walk. The fix it floated: two Crown corporations, $54–163 MILLION. Danielle Smith's answer Saturday: "unlikely" — the private sector can build it. Meanwhile BC Hydro promised to name its data-centre winners by mid-September. It's mid-September.   🛢️ Four days. Ottawa is taking public comment on listing the West Coast Oil Pipeline as a project of national interest — deadline Friday, September 18. Email WCOPComment-CommentaireOCO@mpo-bgp.gc.ca, subject line "WCOP Comment." Ottawa's own numbers: 140,000 jobs at peak construction, 70,000 in B.C., 45,000 in Alberta. Tell them the work should go to the best bid, not the right union card.   🗳️ The kicker: polls open in Calgary-Shaw. Mike Derry for the UCP, Kyle Campbell for the NDP, three others on the ballot. Polls close at 8.   📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

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About

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. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Subscribe, and send it to one person who builds for a living. Learn more at icba.ca. For the economics behind the headlines, subscribe to ICBA's twice-weekly EconoBot briefing at icba.ca/economics.

Information

  • Creator
    Jordan Bateman
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    37
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jordan Bateman
  • Show Website
    ICBA Coffee & Construction