CHBA – Victoria is pleased to welcome Prince George Home Builders’ Association (PGHBA) and their members back to the association.  We look forward to their participation and friendly faces around the provincial board table! 

Spring has arrived in Victoria and it’s time to start thinking about getting back out on the greens.

Bring the HOLE gang for a fun day of golf at Olympic View Golf Club - only $150 (+gst) per person.  Sign up early – the 2006 tournament was sold out in April.  Register a foursome or just yourself!

Book the afternoon of Wednesday, May 9 off – it will be a great time! Hole Sponsorships are also available at only $175. Get your company name out there and support CHBA – Victoria at the same time. 

Call the office at 250.383.5044 for more details, to register for the tourney or to sponsor a hole. Prize donations are also requested.

Go to www.chbavictoria.com for more information or to sign up!

The following companies are now new members of CHBA – Victoria. Our membership just keeps growing – thanks for all of your support!

Welcome to:
ConstructoGroup - Stephen Lentz
Swiftsure Woodworkers Ltd. - Roy Sandsmark
Scansa Construction Ltd. - Kory Gronnestad
Carmanah Technologies Corp. - Christine Farrington
Pure Design Firm - Leah Rourke and Jenny Martin
Trail Appliances Ltd. - Rob Richardson and Dan Shea

There is also one new application that will be up for second reading in April: Cherry Hill Estates, Stewart Story and Bruce Story.

Vancouver Island's most popular Home and Garden Show premiered at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre - March 2, 3 & 4. The show featured 150 home renovation booths, plus Neil Davies, Jane Lockhart, Shell Busey, Carolyn Herriot, Jennifer Berkeley, the chefs from Victoria and the Canadian Culinary Federation, and more than 2000 sq ft of garden exhibits. It was a very successful show thanks to our volunteers, exhibitors, suppliers and sponsors.

We are now starting to work on the second fall show – HomeDesign and Renovation Show. It will be held on the weekend of September 21 to 23 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Booths reservations are underway – if you want to exhibit or sponsor this event, call the office at 250.383.5044.

A special thanks to our Spring Home & Garden Show Sponsors: Gold - Terasen Gas, BC Hydro PowerSmart; Silver - WorkSafeBC, and Media - Times Colonist.

Information about the show will be on our website, www.chbavictoria.com, soon!

On Wednesday, March 14, our guest speaker, Ralph Belisle, President, CHBA-BC and owner of TQ Construction, presented 8 local members with certificates acknowledging their participation in Built Green™ BC as “Certified Built Green™ BC Builders”.

Congratulations to:

Pat Caporale, Caporale Construction Ltd; Bill Patterson & Mike Dalton, Città
Construction Ltd., Greg Miller, G.E. Miller Builder & Contractor Inc.; Gordon English,
Genco Construction Ltd.; Gordon Hemsworth, Gordon Hemsworth Construction Ltd.; Kevin Fraser, K2 Developments Ltd.; Mike Baier and John Sercombe, Limona Construction Ltd.; and Chris Ricketts, Ricketts Construction Ltd. If you missed the General Meeting last night – your certificates will be mailed out to you. 

CHBA-BC is also pleased to announce that they have recently received proposals from six local association offices for promotion of the Built Green™ BC program over the coming months. CHBA- Victoria submitted a proposal and was successful in securing a Gold CARE Sponsorship from Built Green™ BC. 

CHBA-BC is currently producing marketing collaterals to assist builders with marketing activities. Watch for posters, window stickers, consumer brochures, building site signage and a vertical display for each local to be shared with their builders. 

For more information about the Built Green™ BC Program, visit www.chbabc.org and click on the Built Green™ logo.

The following Certified Residential Builder courses are coming up:

· Financial Management - March 30 & 31 – Deadline to register: Wednesday, March 21

· Sales & Marketing - April 13 & 14

Call CHBA-Victoria at 250.383.5044 to register. Courses will be held subject to sufficient registration. Course descriptions found at www.chbabc.org.

Don't miss the 5th Annual Open Shop Construction Conference, May 3 - 5, 2007 at the
Delta Ocean Point.  Speakers include Premier Gordon Campbell.

For more info go to www.iosc5.com

On Sunday March the 4th, 2007, Garnet Ruben Hawthorne was born at 8:52pm to the proud MacFarlane family.  He is a healthy 8Lbs 6oz., the second boy. 

Proud daddy, Lee MacFarlane, AV Energy Ltd. and Director on the CHBA – Victoria Board of Directors will be pleased to know that Garnet’s first General Meeting Dinner will be courtesy of CHBA - Victoria!

We have more generous Sponsorships confirmed for the 2007 CARE Awards: Gold - National Home Warranty Programs, Terasen Gas and Built Green™ BC; Silver – TELUS Communications Company, Victoria Real Estate Board, and RBC Royal Bank; Bronze – Eclipse Creative Inc and Travelers Guarantee Warranty Company. A big thank you for their support, which goes a long way to assist CHBA-Victoria's many activities - from education and training to addressing building policy issues and regulations. 

The 2007 CARE Awards is quickly approaching. The Call for Entry will be on-line at the end of March, so it’s time to start thinking about your award-winning entries. The CARE Awards accomplishes three main CHBA goals:

»       Highlights professionalism in our industry

»       Creates public awareness for our members' award-winning work

»       Acts as a fundraiser to promote our industry's issues 

To view last year's winners and sponsors, go to www.careawards.com. For more information on how to enter and tips on making your entry the best it can be, contact the office at 250.383.5044. Here's the most important tip: ANSWER THE CATEGORY CRITERIA. The judges award points based on responses to the criteria. Gold CARE Award winners answer each of the criteria outlined in the category. Unsuccessful entrants often write a general paragraph on the attributes of their project, which may not answer the criteria. 

If you are considering sponsoring the CARE Awards, call Casey, Shelly or Debra at the office and ask for the sponsorship package. They'll be glad to chat about the benefits of sponsorship and your participation in the most important construction awards event on Vancouver Island.

Don't miss the upcoming forum on housing affordability: 

2007 CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT AFFORDABLE HOUSING FORUM

March 29, 2007
7:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Hotel Grand Pacific
463 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC
Registration Fee: $65, Lunch included

Space is limited, register early at www.civicinfo.bc.ca/Conference/housing2007.asp  

See attachment for all details.

At CHBA’s 64^th National Conference on February 24, 2007 in Charlevoix, Quebec the National SAM Awards were presented. Congratulations to CHBA – Victoria member, G.E. Miller Builder & Contractor, Inc., for bringing home the SAM Award for the Best Renovation Award – Any Room.

Effective January 1, 2007, apprentices completing their first or second level of a Red Seal apprenticeship program are eligible for a $1,000 Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG).  Please note that only those apprentices demonstrating progression on or after January 1, 2007 will be considered eligible. Information and forms are available at www.hrsdc.gc.ca/apprenticeship. 

Employers of apprentices registered in Red Seal trades may now be eligible to claim the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit for wages paid after May 1, 2006.For more information, please visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whatsnew/apprenticeship-e.html 

Certified tradespeople and apprentices may be eligible to claim the new tradesperson’s tool deduction for tools and equipment purchased for work purposes after May 1, 2006. For more information, please visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whatsnew/tools-e.html. 

All of this information and more is available on the Industry Training Authority website, www.itabc.ca.

Once again, CHBA-Victoria is part of the 17th Annual Home Design and Renovation Tour, a fundraising event for Young Life Victoria. This tour helps raise funds for Young Life to continue to work with and help teens in Victoria. Three CHBA – Victoria members, Limona Construction Ltd., MAC Renovations Ltd., and Signature Interiors have entered a total of 5 projects in the tour.

Tickets for the event go on sale April 1. Join the tour on April 21 and 22, your weekend pass is only $25 and you can buy them at member locations of Cloverdale Paint, The Finishing Store, and Lumberworld. For other locations or questions about the tour, contact the Young Life office, please call 472.2004 or CHBA – Victoria at 383.5044.