The following op-ed, by ICBA President and CEO Chris Gardner, was first published in the Journal of Commerce on Tuesday, August 5, 2025.
The construction industry is under pressure.
Global trade tensions. A housing crisis. Shortage of people. An aging population. Rising costs. An economy in decline. Political uncertainty.
For many, it’s a perfect storm. For ICBA, it’s an opportunity to lead.
Marking its 50th anniversary in 2025 – and recently named North American Trade Association of the Year for an unprecedented fourth time – ICBA is rewriting the playbook for what a modern business association can be. We’ve never been more focused, more energized, or more determined to grow with purpose and to deliver value for our members.
It’s the story of how one independent organization evolved from a grassroots B.C. movement into Canada’s largest and most dynamic construction association, and one of the largest business organizations in the country.
It started in 1975, when 169 open shop contractors gathered in Trail, B.C., to fight for their right to bid on government-funded work. Until then, the privilege was only available to unionized businesses. ICBA’s founders and early supporters knew that freezing out contractors and their teams simply because they used a different labour model wasn’t fair, and they weren’t going to back down. The proposition was simple: you can’t build a stronger construction industry if the starting point is excluding most of the people working in it. Their principled stand and ultimate success changed the trajectory of construction in B.C. – and set the tone for ICBA the next 50 years.
We’ve always been a champion for free enterprise – for the entrepreneurs, the risk takers and the contractors whose skill, hard work and initiative supports families and builds businesses and communities. And since day one, ICBA has never asked for or received government funding, because independence and initiative is central to everything we believe in. The ability to have candid and sometimes uncomfortable conversations with policy makers at all levels of government matters.
In early 2017, I joined ICBA as president. The future was unclear, but one thing was certain: in its history, ICBA had never once gone to government and said, “We have a great idea, we just need a government handout to make it happen.” So, in charting a path forward, we rely on the very things that drive the business and growth of our members – ingenuity, resourcefulness and good old fashioned hard work. If we lost sight of our purpose and could not provide products and services for our members that were relevant to their companies and added value, like them, we too would be out of business.
To succeed, we needed to grow purposefully, and we needed to ensure that everything we did mattered to our members – what we say, what we offer, what we do – everything had to be ground in our core purpose. The construction industry moves fast; new technology, new ways of designing what we build, new supply chain logistics, and new ways of performing the work. Our members move fast to meet the needs of their customers, and we need to be just as nimble to meet the needs of our members.
We built a business based on growing with purpose and with one goal in mind: deliver real, tangible value to our members. And when it comes to being a voice for our members, we are fearless about speaking clearly and consistently about the opportunities and challenges that define construction and the men and women who wake up every day, go to job sites and offices, all to build everything around us.
The result? From our humble beginnings in Trail some 50 years ago, we have grown across B.C., expanded into Alberta, and have a business footprint that extends across Canada to the Maritimes.
Whether it’s our apprentice sponsorship programs, our group health benefits business, our award-winning mental health program for people working in construction, our public policy research and advocacy, or hosting some of the most exciting events in the industry, ICBA is grounded in serving construction contractors and their teams.
One of the central challenges of our time is how to build more, build faster, and build affordability. Because if construction can do that, we all win. Everything we do is built around this simple truth: when construction succeeds, B.C., Alberta and Canada succeed.
Our first 50 years have not been easy. It’s taken vision, discipline, and a relentless focus on execution. But the payoff is clear: a stronger, more independent ICBA that helps build the future our industry needs.
As we look ahead to the next 50 years, our mission is unchanged: stand with our members, fight for free enterprise, lead with purpose, and in all of this, be relevant.
