Busy, busy, busy ….

Building construction in Canada continues to ride high as it set a record for the sixth straight year in 2006.
In January, Statistics Canada said that the value of non-residential buildings rose to $35 billion, up almost 10.8 per cent from the year before.
The record pace was attributed mostly to the construction boom in Alberta and British Columbia. Statistics Canada found that building investment had risen 37.8 per cent in Alberta and 25.9 per cent in B.C.
Overall, the value of construction in commercial buildings rose 12.3 per cent, in new industrial buildings it rose 9.5 %, and in institutional building it rose 8.4 per cent above the previous year.
Meanwhile, data in the United States showed that that the financial success of architectural and engineering firms is also at its highest point in years. ZweigWhite’s 2007 Valuation Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting firms showed that the consultant firms’ value per employee had increased 50% since 1998. Their sample of 250 firms indicated the median value per employee is now $43,590.