Precast

OSCO companies respond to record demand for new residential units.

The Canadian housing market is hot, and the Maritimes are feeling the heat as population growth and demographic shifts increase demand for new residential units across the region.

Brunswick Brokers’ 2024 report on Saint John, N.B.’s housing market notes a vacancy rate of 2.3%. While this is a minor increase over 2023, the “overall rate remains extremely low as the increase was less than 1%.”

In May, in Saint John, 852 units were under construction, a 21% annual increase, with more than 400 units expected to be completed in 2024. As Saint John grows, so grows the region, with record-high construction in recent years to meet current needs and projected demands. As the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) noted in its 2024 Annual Rental Market Report, “It will take time before enough supply is added to improve rental market affordability.”

Across the OSCO Construction Group, companies are working hard to address the shortfall and deliver high quality housing more efficiently. This push isn’t limited to major cities like Moncton, N.B. or Halifax, N.S. The pressure is on in smaller municipalities, too.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
Andrew LeVatte, Business Development Manager for Strescon, understands the imperative to build quickly without sacrificing quality. In Windsor, N.S., his team put up the town’s inaugural apartment building using precast concrete, The St. Croix. “It was 138,000 square feet that we’ve turned over in four months,” he says. “That’s a pretty significant achievement.”

Andrew estimates that choosing precast, with its modular panels for the exterior, core, and floors, shaved half a year off the project timeline. “That’s six months less of financing, six months faster to revenue.” He compares it to other construction methods, such as cast-in-place. “Ten years ago, they could do a floor a week,” he says. “Now you’re lucky to do one every three weeks.”

In a new twist, Strescon worked on the Windsor project with a cast-in-place contractor, who laid the foundation before the precast crew moved in to install.

“That’s usually unheard of,” Andrew says. “They build for themselves. But it gives them time to go after other projects. The more we partner, the more buildings they can do.”

The company is also finding new ways to increase project efficiency, such as manufacturing architectural concrete wall panels with windows installed, a unique approach which saves times and money on site for the developer.

Strescon is a member of The Altus Group, an international collaboration of precast concrete companies working to develop the next generation window, as well as exploring other advances, such as low-carbon, high-performance insulated concrete wall panels.

The Off-site Construction Research Centre at the University of New Brunswick, established with a major contribution from OSCO, is also an integral place for research.

“We need to be forward-thinking,” Andrew says. “If we can come up with ideas to make things stronger, simpler, that’s huge. These are really exciting times.”

BIGGER, TALLER, FASTER
In the past few years, OSCO Construction Group companies have been working on increasingly large, complex, and fast-paced projects. This is nowhere more apparent than in Halifax, where record-breaking housing demand has expanded building footprints while new height restrictions have allowed them to build higher. OSCO Rebar’s Allstar Rebar plant, in Bedford, N.S. has been going full-tilt. Its projects from 2022-2026 will add an estimated 5,000 units, around a third of the Halifax market. The Cunard, a luxury residential on the waterfront, was its first mega-project, kicking off a string of ever -larger structures.

“We’re showing that Allstar can tackle the largest projects that Halifax has to offer, while still servicing all of our other work,” says Project Manager Mark Chouinard. “It takes significant effort to coordinate it all, but we are up to the task.” They’ve expanded their fabricating capacity and refined their processes, collaborating more tightly with Ocean Steel Rebar in Saint John. “We wouldn’t be able to do it without them,”

Mark Chouinard

That shop handles detailing, project coordination, fabrication, and labour. This agility is essential as rebar, the backbone of construction, is an early-stage trade in dynamic projects.

“You’ve got to navigate aggressive schedules, unfinished designs, and multiple projects co-occurring,” says Josh Fowler, Operations Manager at OSCO Rebar’s Ocean Steel Rebar plant. Amid these shifting forces, “managing customer expectations is a huge part of the job,” Mark says. “You’ve got to be a good communicator in this trade.”

This message was echoed across the group, including by Corey Landry, Manager for OSCO Concrete’s Ready-Mix branch in Moncton. “Apartment buildings are just popping up left, right and centre,” he says, including an 11-structure complex his team is working on, with nine six-storey apartments and two commercial buildings. “Having good communication with your contractors and being flexible is key,” he says. “In the past, you could call for concrete in an hour. Now, we have schedules for days and weeks out.” Just as the OSCO Rebar teams collaborate, Corey and his OSCO Concrete colleagues in New Brunswick and across the region help each other out. “We all work together,” he says.

PART OF THE SOLUTION
Along with private developments, OSCO companies are also helping to add more affordable housing to the mix. Steepleview Apartments is a mixed-income project in Saint John that will add 56 apartments, half of which will be affordable housing for seniors, women and children, and Indigenous Peoples. And in Cole Harbour, N.S., Allstar is working with Lindsay Construction on a 68-unit apartment building at Millbrook First Nation. It all adds up to a significant contribution to our region’s diverse housing needs.

“I love driving around and looking at what we built and thinking, ‘I had a part in solving this problem,’” says Mark, who marked 20 years with Allstar on Jan. 5. “It’s something I am proud to be part of.”

Read more about our next level construction projects in our Connections Spring 2025 Newsmagazine.