b'PRESIDENTS MESSAGEEarlier this week, I was in Buenos Aires en route home from a Patagonian motorcycle trip. The Argentinian capital is roughly three times the size of the GTA, yet I was hard pressed to find a tower crane. Predictably, the reason I couldnt find more than a handful of tower cranes is because the high-rise construction market in Buenos Aires is nominal at best. By contrast, there are currently 252 active tower cranes in the GTA according to Rider Levett Buchnells Crane Index, and nobody tracks tower crane utilization more diligently than RLB. Moreover, Toronto hasheld the distinction of having the most tower cranes in the western hemisphere since 2015, which for a numbers guy like me is anoverwhelming statistic.For the record, there are probably something in the order of 125,000 tower cranes on planet Earth or at least all evidence points to a number in that magnitude pre-COVID, based on estimates from the American National Standards Institute. Dubai is said to have once had upwards of 30,000 active tower cranes of the 125,000 worldwide during their boom a little over15 years ago. That said, Los Angeles is currently the second largest high-rise construction market in North America, with 51 active tower cranes (as of Q3, 2022) followed by Seattle, Calgary and Washington, DC at 37, 31 and 26 respectively. In that context, Toronto continues to be the number SAFETYINTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATIONINCLUSIVE- one high-rise construction market in North NESSCOLLABORATION INTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVA-TIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETY CREATIVITYIN- America by a margin that is literally offNOVATIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYINTEGRITY INNOVATIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYINTEG- the charts.RITYCREATIVITY INCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYIN-TEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATION COLLABORATIONSAFE- Basic supply and demand economics suggest TYINTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATIONINCLUSIVENESS SAFETYINTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATIONINCLUSIVE- that the bubble will eventually burst, of course. NESSCOLLABORATION INTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVA-TIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETY CREATIVITYIN- We also know that economists are predicting NOVATIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYINTEGRITYslower growth for the GTA for the next few INNOVATIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYINTEG-RITYCREATIVITY INCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYIN- years, but the opportunity in the here and now TEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATION COLLABORATIONSAFE- is to make hay while the sun is shining. And TYINTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATIONINCLUSIVENESS SAFETYINTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVATIONINCLUSIVE- remember this when you wake up every morning. NESSCOLLABORATION INTEGRITYCREATIVITYINNOVA- Our high-rise construction market in the GTA is TIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETY CREATIVITYIN-NOVATIONINCLUSIVENESSCOLLABORATIONSAFETYINTEGRITYfive times larger than the second largest market on the continent and the forecast is as good as FROM IMAGINATION it gets for the foreseeable future. Enjoy it while it TO REALITY lasts. We deserve it.Respectfully,bensonsteel.com9058570684 / 72 Commercial Rd. Bolton, Ontario L7E 1K4 Canada John Mollenhauer TCA President & CEOQUALITYCERTIFIED STEEL STRUCTURES10Quarter 12023 BUILDERSDIGEST'