More people, more talent

Luckily, we were barely affected by the skilled labour shortage. This year again, we were able to recruit over 400 specialized workers and professionals, and some 270 interns securing our future.

A dozen people solely dedicated to talent acquisition played a vital role in this. We put more effort than anyone else in continuous recruitment, including abroad. Our reputation as a successful contractor as well as an inno- vative and appreciative employer also helped us in Quebec, and we re working on increasing our visibility elsewhere in Canada to facilitate recruitment there.

Our recruits have brought new expertise to our project teams. We also created or expanded our support teams responsible for sustainable development, innovation, strategic project analysis, partnership development, relations with communities and First Nations, ethics and compliance, quality assurance, health and safety, diversity, equity and inclusion, training and market intelligence.

The right delivery method for each project

In 2021, we realized that clients across the country had permanently adopted alternative delivery modes for their more complex pro- jects. Traditional modes such as plans and specifications and construction management will continue to play a role. But, market condi- tions and the efforts of contractors like us to

demonstrate our ability to add valuable exper- tise to projects have, in particular, prompted our clients to work differently.

This should encourage clients, including public authorities, to entrust their projects to the best not the lowest bidders in the industry as a function of the value they bring at an opti- mal cost.

We predict that within a few years, we ll be completing 50% of our projects in alternative modes, compared with 33% today.

Collaboration is the driving force behind alter- native modes. We appreciate the trust and res- pect our clients and partners have in our skills. Collaboration would be impossible without this.

A pivotal year for the construction industry

The construction sector stagnated for over 50 years, but is now changing at lightning speed. Opting for more collaborative modes is having a major impact on the possibility of implementing the necessary changes.

Once fragmented, our industry is now operating more and more like an ecosystem where each player can contribute to the success of the other players and build more sustainably.

Take state-of-the-art technologies, for exa- mple. When we started using building infor- mation modeling (BIM) in 2012, we could count on one hand the number of architects, engineers, trade partners and manufacturers who embraced it. Without them, BIM could not

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