Foster + Partners has begun construction on a supertall skyscraper in Toronto's business district, which is set to become the country's tallest building at 306 meters, reported The Dezeen. It will be Canada's tallest inhabitable building and it's second-tallest man-made structure after the CN Tower, a 553-metre communications and observation tower. At 85 stories and over 300 meters in height, the building will be classified as a supertall skyscraper. The rectilinear design by British firm Foster + Partners and Ontario-based Core Architects will feature an expressed structure, with vertical, horizontal and diagonal elements covered in "champagne bronze" colored cladding. The skyscraper will be broken up into a series of blocks by regularly spaced bands that cut into the structure, correlating to the placement of the building's mechanical floors. The One's upper floors will be dedicated to living space, providing approximately 560 apartments. This will include several duplex penthouses offering inhabitants impressive views out to Lake Ontario and beyond. The eight lowest levels will be occupied by shops, restaurants and cafes linking with the city's Yorkville neighborhood. To keep the building's base exclusively for commercial use, all of the homes will be accessed via a sky lobby above the shopping podium. Here there will be communal spa and fitness facilities, as well as an outdoor terrace, library, and formal entertainment rooms.

Penda, in collaboration with Canadian company Tmber, have proposed what they are calling the Toronto Tree Tower, an 18-story residential block that would stand 62 meters tall, with a modular structure made from cross-laminated timber (CLT), reported The Dezeen. Wood would also clad the building's staggered walls, and trees would grow from the homes' balconies. "The warm, natural appearance of wood and the plants growing on its façade bring the building to life and that could be a model for environmentally-friendly developments and sustainable extensions of our urban landscape," said Penda partner Chris Precht. The Toronto tower would encompass 4,500 square meters of residential area and 550 square meters of public space, which would include a café, a children's daycare center, and community workshops. Penda is renowned for incorporating plants into its architecture. A modular hotel built from bamboo, a tower in India with hanging-garden façades, and a vast network of plant-filled building blocks for Beijing's horticultural expo are among recent proposals. Furthermore, its use of CLT may be a sign of things to come, as architects predict that CLT and other engineered timbers will overtake concrete and glass as this century's architectural "wonder material.” Penda favors this method of construction as it is faster, quieter, uses less waste and is more environmentally friendly. "Our cities are assemblies of steel, concrete, and glass," said Precht. "If you walk through the city and suddenly see a tower made of wood and plants, it will create an interesting contrast." What is a ‘community workshop’? A community workshop is an occasion where people from within a community gather together and engage in some form of interaction which allows them to share their knowledge, experiences and ideas. These workshops can take various forms and perform different functions, including: Information exchange, including both giving information to and collecting information from workshop participants; Consultation with participants about their views and opinions; Teaching / Learning new skills and abilities; Building relationships between participants

The city of Vancouver just approved a unique new tower that promises to be one of the greenest skyscrapers in all of Canada. The Exchange is a 31-story tower that will be built directly on top of the existing 11-story Old Stock Exchange building, which was built in 1929. The new building was designed by architect Harry Gugger, who previously worked for Herzog & de Meuron and is credited with designing the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing and the Tate Modern in London. The entire project is seeking LEED Platinum certification. The new 31-story tower will rest partially on top of and it will stand partially alongside the existing Old Stock Exchange Building. The Stock Exchange building will be completely renovated and incorporated into the new development, and it will become Canada's first LEED Platinum heritage conversion. The project, which is already being described as Canada's largest green office building, will feature a variety of energy-saving technologies. Shading louvers will be incorporated into the facade, preventing direct sunlight from hitting the building's windows, and reducing the need for air conditioning. The building will also feature a high-efficiency hydronic heating and cooling system. Solar thermal panels will provide hot water, and the building will feature storm water retention and reuse system. Inside, the building will feature lush landscaped sky gardens for workers to enjoy. Overall, the building's green features are expected to result in 50 percent less energy use, which will translate to a 35 percent reduction in energy costs. Construction on the US$ 200 million building is scheduled to begin in October, and the project is expected to be completed in 2017.

The Surete du Quebec in conjunction with Revenue Quebec's investigative division, have been working on investigation since 2008 to uncover tax evasion schemes in construction industry in province. They already receives warrants for 14 people and expects to raid a dozen homes and businesses in Montreal and Laval. Arrest warrants were issued for charges of tax evasion or by leading a tax evasion scheme. All suspects are working in the construction industry. They used fake invoices, paid employees in cash without deduction of local taxes. Unlike Canada, where shadow construction and repairs as the white Crow, in Armenia shadow is almost all market of individual housing construction and repairs, and works done without any contracts or papers, or complex tax avoidance schemes. It seems more logical and obvious, when works done by craftsman or craftsmen teams . Note also that in Armenia, for legal contracts with licensed construction company, the labor cost of the work increases by 50% ( VAT and all other taxes and fees)! Here is a huge tax differences in shadow and legal markets, what ultimately lead thriving shadow and legal business to die out. There is the unequal competition with deep tax gorges to align and Government should launch a long and hard program to equal tax burden for all parties involved and provide live opportunities for small and middle construction companies legal development. Maybe after creating such "equal working conditions", we can act like Canada...