Human Side of Construction

David MacDonald, Division Manager at Dewar Industrial Services, joins Angelo to talk about the one trait he hires for above everything else: telling the truth. From a Red Seal carpenter who nearly went bankrupt in 2008 to building a new ICI division inside a nuclear contractor, David shares why honesty gets you help, why schedule lies are really trust failures, and why the people on the tools are the most important people on any project. The conversation closes on mentorship, mental wellness, his daughter’s electrical apprenticeship, and what it will take to get more women onto Canadian job sites.Key topics• Why “we’re on schedule” so often turns into “we’re not hitting it” the week before• Pay now or pay later: difficult conversations versus nuclear explosions• How accountability rolls downhill until it reaches the trades, who can’t push risk anywhere• David’s sweatpants interview and the leader who hired him to build teams, not to know HVAC• Hiring for honesty, respect for the customer and being a good human• Mentorship as letting people fail with calculated risk• Process-heavy nuclear work versus ICI, and why sector experience isn’t interchangeable• Shielding your people’s time off and sitting with them when things are hard• Women in the trades: the image problem, the messaging problem, and what actually moves the number• Why promoting your best installer to foreman can backfireGuestDavid MacDonald is Division Manager at Dewar Industrial Services, building the company’s ICI division. A Red Seal carpenter and former owner of The Alcon Group, he spent nearly nine years at Black & MacDonald as a project manager and operations manager. He is in his fourth discipline within construction and plans to keep learning. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com

ENR’s 2026 Top 600 Specialty Contractors report shows $275 billion in revenue driven by the AI data centre boom, and a craft worker shortage that keeps getting worse. In this solo episode, Angelo argues the boom isn’t a recruiting problem. It’s a stress test of whether construction leaders can develop people, carry risk and protect basic dignity at speed. He closes with one thing every leader can do on site this week.Key topics• Why the boom is sorting firms rather than lifting all of them• The shift from finding workers to developing them, and why foremen are the real bottleneck• How risk pushed down the contract chain lands on crews and erodes psychological safety• The “bathroom clause”: meals, clean washrooms and paved walkways as recruiting strategy• The Canadian picture: BuildForce hiring needs and data centres in the GTA and Alberta• A one-week site walk and the one question to ask your foremanMentioned in this episode• ENR, “ENR Top 600: AI Boom Tests Talent Pipelines” (Oct 21, 2026): https://www.enr.com/articles/64024-enr-top-600-ai-boom-tests-talent-pipelines• BuildForce Canada, Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward 2026–2035• Associated Builders and Contractors, 2026 workforce shortage model: https://www.abc.org/wfshortage• HSOC Episode 10, Health & Safety 2.0 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com

Red Seal master electrician Anna Lary joins Angelo to answer the question she asked at a panel that left the room silent: how does the way we resource a job site affect the mental health of the people working on it? They cover silica behind caution tape, washrooms that drift out of reach, why fewer than half of apprentices in Canada’s largest trades finish, why generic EDI training backfires, and what owners, contractors and foremen can do about it. Anna also shares how the ConnectHER Hub at BCIT grew from one message into a funded program that has connected more than 2,000 people.Key topics• Site logistics as a message about worth: dust, washrooms, access, debris• Apprenticeship completion in Canada: 47% of men, 34% of women in the 15 largest Red Seal trades (2021)• Why apprentices leave: starting wages, the first employer, apprentice EI, training backlogs, condensed technical training• Generational change in how apprentices are trained and spoken to• Why foremen need training to intervene, and the social-connection problem• EDI training built for construction, and calling men into it• Bystander intervention and calling people in rather than out• Owner and policy levers, minimum standards and ‘where practicable’• Invested workers speak up; resentful workers stay silent• The ConnectHER Hub, Equity in Electrical and Equity in ContractingGuestAnna Lary, Red Seal and BC master electrician, M.Ed. Former BCIT electrical apprenticeship instructor. Project Lead, ConnectHER Hub at BCIT.Mentioned in this episode• ConnectHER Hub, BCIT: https://www.bcit.ca/construction-environment/welcome-to-the-connectherhub/• Equity in Electrical and Equity in Contracting events (Anna Lary)• Leaders in Trades training, BC Centre for Women in Trades• Future of Work panel, Pitt Meadows Plumbing, April 2026• Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, apprenticeship completion analysis (2023 and 2024 reports)• Anna Lary on LinkedInSupport resourcesThis episode discusses workplace harassment and sexual assault. If any of it is your story: Ending Violence Canada directory at endingviolencecanada.org; RAINN at 1-800-656-4673 (US); Assaulted Women’s Helpline at 1-866-863-0511 (Ontario, 24/7); call or text 988 in a crisis (Canada and US).Work with Angelo: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com

Content noteThis episode discusses sexual harassment and assault. If that is heavy for you right now, take care of yourself. Support resources are below.Episode summaryA woman who built a career she loves in construction wrote to Angelo and a few other men with industry platforms with one request: tell the men to check whether the women they work with feel safe. In this solo episode Angelo reads her letter, with her permission and with identifying details removed. He then speaks to the men in the industry about the hidden hazard assessment women run every day, why so many reporting processes end in the woman leaving, and five concrete things men and leaders can do starting this week.Key topics• The field-level risk assessment women run on top of the actual job• Why news like the Cornell case reopens old experiences for women on job sites• A listener’s letter on harassment, close calls and leaving the industry• Survey data from Ontario, Nova Scotia and the US on harassment, reporting and retention• Reporting systems versus exit systems• Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and workplace sexual harassment• Why “as a father of daughters” misses the point• Psychological safety for everyone, not a team with an asterisk• Five ways to check in and act without making it worseSupport resources• US: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673, 24/7 (rainn.org)• Ontario: Assaulted Women’s Helpline, 1-866-863-0511, 24/7 (GTA 416-863-0511, #SAFE (#7233) on Bell, Rogers, Fido and Telus mobiles)• Canada: directory of sexual assault centres and crisis lines, endingviolencecanada.org• In crisis anywhere in the US or Canada: call or text 988Sources and links mentioned• Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen (OBCT), survey of 342 women, released at the 2025 Ontario Building Trades convention• YWCA Halifax, survey of 101 women and gender-diverse skilled tradespeople, released March 2024• Institute for Women’s Policy Research, A Future Worth Building: What Tradeswomen Say (2021 survey, 2,635 respondents)• Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, workplace harassment provisions (Bill 132, in force 2016) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com

Hammad Chaudhry, VP of Innovation and Digital Construction at Pomerleau, joins Angelo to talk about the human side of construction technology. Hammad explains why AI adoption stalls when companies don’t understand their own business processes, why field “resistance” is usually a rational response to risk, and why the most valuable tools rarely look revolutionary. The conversation turns to the workforce gap, procurement incentives, and why investing in mental health and change management is part of any serious technology strategy.Key topics• From architecture and BIM coordination to leading innovation at Canada’s largest builders• Why tech companies misread construction as one monolithic industry• There’s no holy grail: understanding your business process before you buy AI• Data strategy as table stakes, and clients asking contractors for their AI strategy• The timing problem: investing too early vs waiting until your back is against the wall• Resistance as risk management, and changing a tire on the Gardiner• Conway’s Law, silos, and a workforce with no time left to learn• Startups vs contractors: hero syndrome and the unflashy wins• Will AI replace people? The labour gap and growing demand• Incentives, procurement and contracts as the real barrier to tech’s potential• Pomerleau’s investment in mental health and change management• ROI, insurance, and why the human case is the business case• The doorman lesson: what you lose when you optimize for ROI alone• Hammad’s advice to executives: start with the business objectiveGuest bioHammad Chaudhry is VP of Innovation and Digital Construction at Pomerleau and Vice Chair of Building Transformations, a non-profit built for the industry, by the industry. He started on the architecture side in Alberta, moved into construction as a project coordinator and BIM coordinator, and worked through estimating, preconstruction, proposals and special projects (including the conservatory renovation at the Banff Springs Hotel) before leading innovation and technology teams at some of the largest general contractors in Canada. He has also worked directly in the construction tech startup space, including time at Cupix, and is a Top 40 Under 40 in Canadian construction. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com