Sadly, $1.6 billion is a great deal of money, and the 
federal government may have blown the wad in B.C. My 
guess is there will not be a taxpayer funded “bail-out” 
in Ontario. My apologies – “the creation of affordable 
housing via the bulk purchase of vacant, unsold 
condominiums” is unlikely to happen again so soon after 
the controversial B.C. initiative. Bottom line: all evidence 
points to a bad market getting marginally worse. ChatGPT 
called that stabilization. 
I did mention that the focus of this article would be the 
residential construction market. The reason for that is 
simple: the lion’s share of my most recent calls about 
market conditions has been from contractors optimistic 
that I had some good news about the residential recovery, 
high rise in particular. And sadly, I do not.
The irony is that TCA has historically labelled itself 
primarily focused on ICI construction. That is certainly not 
true anymore and hasn’t been for years. We used to draw 
a line in the sand because the ICI design-bid-build model 
looked very different than the procurement model for 
low-rise residential construction. That all changed when 
low-rise residential builders started building high-density 
HR projects.
The other irony, which I find a little curious, is why are 
there so many questions about HR residential? ChatGPT 
talked about “the stark contrast between a severe 
downturn in high-rise condo building and the robust 
activity in public civil infrastructure, data centres and 
institutional projects.” Put simply, there is a lot of work. 
You may just be looking in the wrong place.
As always, we are here to serve. And keep sharing your 
insights so we can help others avoid the potholes. With a 
little luck, the favour will be returned one day soon.
Respectfully,
 
John Mollenhauer 
TCA President & CEO
We craft structures that 
Stand tall, Perform flawlessly,  
and support our clients sweet 
success. 
Because performance matters.
With unmatched craftsmanship  
and a commitment to reliability
We craft structures that 
Stand tall, Perform flawlessly, 
and support our clients’ 
success.
Because performance matters.
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BUILDERSDIGEST   Quarter 2  2026   7
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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