ICBA celebrates 50 years of serving open shop construction this year, and we are looking back every week at some of the significant moments, milestones, and people who helped ICBA become Canada’s largest construction association.
Today, we turn back the clock to 2017 and the hiring of ICBA’s third president, Chris Gardner
Chris Gardner walked into ICBA in 2017 with the same energy that drives a crew mobilizing at dawn—clear plan, tight timeline, no nonsense. He became our third president at a moment when the industry was changing fast and the policy headwinds in B.C. were stiff. The brief was simple: make ICBA faster, sharper, and more useful to builders on the ground. Nearly nine years later, that’s the story—an association that moves at the speed of construction and doesn’t apologize for defending open competition, opportunity, and growth.
Chris Gardner being interviewed in 2017, via the phone, by a reporter.
Part of what makes Chris so effective is where he came from. He grew up in Langley, studied political science at SFU, and earned a law degree from UBC—useful tools for a life spent translating policy into practical outcomes. Early in his career he worked in South Korea, practicing corporate law, before returning to the Lower Mainland and working for political campaigns and construction companies; all this gave him respect for speed and clarity, and a healthy allergy to red tape. He’s not a theoretician; he’s a builder’s advocate who understands the file, the room, and the deadline.
From day one, he doubled down on ICBA’s independence. We don’t chase government grants; we chase results. That bias for impact shows up in the growth of our services and our footprint. Under Chris’s leadership we expanded into Alberta and widened the lane for open-shop builders across Western Canada. That wasn’t about logos in new places; it was about solving members’ problems wherever they’re bidding and building.
Training is where his “outcomes-first” approach really pops. Our course catalogue stopped behaving like a dusty list and started acting like a living system—tight, modular programs that map directly to jobsite realities. When forepersons need leadership tools, estimators need sharper takeoffs, or PMs need contract-law refreshers, the content is there—in person, live online, or on-demand. It’s why our leadership certificate program became a go-to for companies trying to turn great tradespeople into great supervisors without pulling them off the tools for weeks. That’s Chris’s thumbprint: build capacity that shows up as better crews, safer sites, and stronger margins.
He also pushed us to talk more honestly about mental health—and he did it with his own story. Chris has been open about losing his father to suicide when he was a child, and about the decades of “what ifs” that followed. That kind of truth cuts through the stigma that still keeps too many conversations underground. Our industry isn’t spared from the crisis: in B.C., more than half of the employed people who’ve died of opioid overdoses in recent years worked in construction; WorkSafeBC logged a 25% rise in mental-health claims from 2017–2019; and research has reported suicide risk for construction workers many times the national average. Set against a post-pandemic wave of isolation, strain, and grief—and with most Canadians still uncomfortable raising these issues with their employer—Chris’s message has been simple: this belongs in the safety meeting. His work on Wellness, and his courage in sharing his own story, led to Chris being named Ragan’s 2022 Wellness Executive of the Year, a prestigious North American award.
ICBA Wellness was built for that reality and for real jobsites. We consulted contractors, workers, and clinicians and designed the program around construction’s unique pressures—tight schedules, physical wear-and-tear, remote camps, and project cycles. It’s holistic and practical: toolbox talks, supervisor guides, short videos, posters, and check-ins that help crews spot trouble early and act fast. We launched it in the teeth of COVID and made it free for ICBA members because the need was urgent and universal. When Chris tells that story publicly, he doesn’t recite stats; he connects the dots between a steadier workforce, safer projects, and families who get their people home. That’s leadership with a human core—and it’s shifted safety culture across our membership from “hard hats and harnesses only” to “add mental wellness to the kit.”
Benefits is another place where the Gardner playbook pays off. The industry is mobile and seasonal; plans have to flex with hour banks and project cycles. ICBA Benefits focuses on speed, clarity, and zero bad surprises—benefits that actually help companies recruit and retain, and supports that workers understand without a PhD in fine print. Pair that with our wellness work and you get something powerful: employers who can compete for talent, and teams who feel looked after. (You’ll hear Chris talk about that everywhere—podcasts, panels, and shop-floor conversations—because he knows repetition drives change.)
On policy, he kept ICBA’s voice clear and unapologetic. We argue for faster, more certain permitting; open, competitive procurement; and standards that add value instead of cost. We’ve built coalitions, produced research, and stuck our necks out when it mattered—including national conversations about investment, productivity, and competitiveness. When Ottawa overreaches or Victoria experiments with procurement models that shut most of the workforce out, we bring data and solutions, not just decibels. That’s why Chris keeps getting tapped as one of B.C.’s most influential leaders—and why our arguments land with people who disagree with us on Monday and call us for advice on Friday.
Recognition isn’t the point, but it’s not nothing. SiteNews has named Chris one of construction’s Most Influential People, highlighting his advocacy and the way he’s broadened ICBA’s impact, including our expansion into Alberta and our industry-leading focus on mental health. Business in Vancouver’s BC500 and Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 have also recognized his influence multiple times, reflecting what a lot of people already know: when Chris shows up, the conversation gets sharper and the outcomes get better.
None of this happens without a team. ICBA has grown in people and capability—communications and research that punch above our weight; training that scales; benefits and wellness that work; events that connect dots across the industry. Chris would be the first to say the wins belong to members who put on boots and shoulder risk. Fair. But leadership sets the tempo. The tempo here is fast: identify the friction that’s slowing builders down and remove it—policy, paperwork, or lack of skills—so projects get built and careers move forward.
If you want the one-line verdict on the Gardner era, it’s this: clarity under pressure. In a province where it’s too easy to complicate simple things, Chris has kept ICBA focused on the basics—compete fairly, build well, take care of your people, and tell the truth about what’s working and what isn’t. That’s how you grow an association, and it’s how you help build a province.
