Ontario updates provincial planning rules

Ontario updates provincial planning rules

The Ontario government released a new set of land-use planning rules for municipalities, which build on the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act. Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, recently outlined key changes in the 2024 Ontario Provincial Planning Statement (PPS), which take effect on October 20, 2024. “The new Provincial…

Back to Basics: How to Keep Parking Garages Secure

Back to Basics: How to Keep Parking Garages Secure

Back to Basics is an article series that highlights important but possibly overlooked information facilities management professionals should know.  Facilities management and security professionals whose facilities include parking garages should take steps to increase the security of these structures, which have their own unique challenges. Many busy facilities have parking garages because more vehicles can be…

Successful Access Control Implementation Strategies 

Successful Access Control Implementation Strategies 

Access control is a critical component of the safety and security of any institutional or commercial building, which makes proper implementation of an access control system crucial, since virtually everyone in the organization will interact with its components. Facility managers first must identify the root problems an organization hopes a physical access control system will…

Donation to Hastings College Targets Deferred Maintenance

Donation to Hastings College Targets Deferred Maintenance

Hastings College will tackle a backlog of deferred maintenance thanks to a $9 million donation specifically for facility maintenance.   August 27, 2024 Higher education facilities regularly receive donations. They receive them for new buildings, for scholarships, for endowments. But they never, ever receive them for deferred maintenance.  Until now. Hastings College will soon be tackling…

Conestoga College allocates $500M-plus for campus upgrades

Conestoga College allocates $500M-plus for campus upgrades

Conestoga College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning has invested more than $500 million into its facilities, student housing and academic programming. This includes $100 million-plus for upgrades to the Waterloo campus, enhancing student support services, creating a wellness centre, and adding over 150,000 square feet of learning space.  In Cambridge, nearly $300 million will…