A $3.3-billion federal contract was awarded to  Vancouver Shipyards to build ten new non-combat vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard. This project is in addition to seven other non-combat vessels that were planned to be built after the Shipyard was granted $8-million.

This new contract will effectively bring up to 1,000 new skilled trades jobs to Vancouver, including welding, pipe fitting, electrical, and mechanical.

Currently there is approximately 150 workers in Vancouver Shipyard’s workforce, and this number is expected to grow to 1,000 in the next couple of years. With that many workers, as many as three ships could be worked on at the same time. It is expected that the shipbuilders will make about $47 an hour.

The new contract is not only a good thing for Vancouver Shipyard’s but it will also be an asset to the city itself, as the surge of new jobs will ultimately boost the local economy.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/billion+contract+Coast+Guard+ships+will+bring+jobs+Vancouver+Shipyards/9006862/story.html

Developers in Toronto are proposing a new type of housing in the form of micro condominiums. These homes will be approximately 300 square feet, and will start at a price of around $200,000.

The developers, Urban Capital and Malibu, realize that this type of housing may not be appealing to everyone, however they believe that there is a niche market that they can appeal to. The housing size has been steadily decreasing in major cities in order to keep up with increasing construction and and land costs. This type of housing is obviously not ideal in small towns across Canada, but in major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, it isn’t a terrible idea, but personally, I wouldn’t be sold on it. The price per square foot comes out to be about $750, and that is quite high. As I mentioned previously, the market for ‘micro-condos’ is a niche market. The challenge that these developers face is marketing their idea. If they are successful in their marketing schemes, their condos will mimic the success of similar designs in other major cities across the world such as, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York.

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/will-micro-condos-take-off-in-canada-1.1485624