News & Events

Calgary new home builders, renovators and community developers are again on the national stage as the Canadian Home Builders’ Association has chosen its finalists for the 2023 National Awards for Housing Excellence.

The annual awards, to be held in February, showcase and celebrate the breadth and innovation of Canada’s residential construction industry.

“This program is about capturing the full spectrum of homes and communities that Canadians live in and all of the planning, creativity and skill that goes into them. Our industry is present in every community across the country, and we’re proud to build and renovate the places Canadians call home,” said CHBA CEO Kevin Lee.

He said the association received 800 entries with 150 industry experts judging entries by images, floor and site plans and project descriptions. The CHBA chose 55 finalists from Calgary and area to compete in six categories with multiple awards in each. Calgary companies received 19 nominations in New Home categories, 18 in Renovations, nine in Marketing, four each in New Home Spaces and Community Development and one in Net Zero Homes.

Read more at the Calgary Herald.

Building a new home can require a lot of patience. It can take as long as 10 months (sometimes longer) to move into a pre-sale home, and not everyone has the luxury to wait that long. But there’s an easier way, and that’s by getting into a quick possession home.

The quick possession home – or spec home – is an industry staple that provides buyers on a tight timeline the opportunity to own a new home and helps the builders themselves keep their tradespeople busy with a steady workflow. It’s a win-win.

These homes are constructed using builder specifications (hence, “spec”) and most are move-in ready and available for a quick possession. The last couple of years, however, saw supplies of spec homes depleted to almost nothing as a hot homebuying market took hold, coupled by supply chain interruptions.

The spec home pool in Calgary has since stabilised and experienced builders were well prepared for the eventuality, relying on veteran leadership, a reliable trade base, and deep pockets for a steady supply of construction materials. Here is how some were able to navigate the choppy waters and have new spec homes ready for buyers that need them.

Read more at NextHome.

It was a morning filled with thousands of cookies along with thousands of dollars — all for a good cause.

The third Global Calgary holiday cookie sale was a hit with Calgarians as the proceeds from the sale, along with day-of donations, reached $31,705.

Hundreds of people were lined up at ATCO Park Thursday morning where people were able to pick out their baker’s dozen of cookies from more than 75 chefs who donated a minimum of 250 cookies for the sale.

During Global News Morning Calgary, host Leslie Horton announced Trico Homes and Willowpark Wine and Spirits donated $5,000 each, along with Pete the Plumber donating $1,000 towards the daily total.

Money raised goes towards the Morning of Giving, which will benefit the Magic of Christmas charity.

Read more at Global Calgary.

After almost three years of considering a move to a smaller home, Maria and Larry Smith took the plunge, purchasing a bungalow by Trico Homes in the southeast community of Seton.

“When our daughter got married and moved out in 2019, that’s when we really started to think seriously about it,” recalls Larry Smith.

For the past 14 years, they’d been in living in Calgary’s Evergreen community in a large, five-bedroom, 4,100-square-foot, two-storey home. But as retired empty nesters, the home had become too big for them. They wanted something low-maintenance with few or no stairs, a place close to nature and amenities and most importantly of all, their new home had to be within walking distance of their daughter, son-in-law and new grandchild, who had settled in Seton, a master-planned community by Brookfield Residential.

“We didn’t even consider any other communities,” says Larry Smith. “We wanted a new community, a new build home and it had to be a bungalow. And we wanted all of the daily services that we would require within walking distance.”

Read more at the Calgary Herald.

Wayne Chiu found success and fulfillment by putting Albertans first

In 1980, Wayne Chiu graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in mechanical engineering and returned home to Hong Kong to begin his professional career. By 1982, he was newly married and immigrating to Canada with his wife Eleanor.

The next four decades would be filled with hard work, wild success, countless acts of philanthropy and many well-deserved accolades—including Chiu being appointed to the Order of Canada in 2015.

This past summer, he was recognized by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce with a 2022 Distinguished Business Leader Award, for demonstrating ethical leadership.

Read more at ATB online.

If there’s one home designed to fit a specific lifestyle, it has to be the bungalow. This single-level, not always-single-family home type is a mainstay of the homebuilders’ repertoire and a perennial favourite, especially among the older generations. But today, you might be surprised at how many more variations of the bungalow there are that fit not just the senior lifestyle.

The bungalow is traditionally a single-storied house with a sloping roof. Encyclopedia Britannica says the name derives from a Hindi word meaning “a house in the Bengali style” and came into the English language during the era of the British administration of India.

Read more about bungalows at the New Home + Condo Guide online.

Living together is cultural, and it also helps control rent, inflation and daycare costs.

Calgary has seen a mini-boom in homes expressly built for multigenerational living, driven largely by the Indian community.

At first, these were concentrated in the new northeast communities of Cornerbrook and Homestead. But Trico Homes sales area manager Akshat Mathur says the demand is growing in the southeast community of Pine Creek as well.

Read more at CBC online.

Calgarians Robert Brawn, Elizabeth Cannon, Eleanor Chiu, Cheryl Foggo and Art Froehlich are being invested as new members

Five Calgarians and two Edmontonians are being honoured for their contributions to the province and community building by being invested into the Alberta Order of Excellence on Thursday.

The afternoon ceremony, hosted by Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani, will boost membership in the Alberta Order of Excellence to 204 since its creation in 1979. This is the highest honour the province offers its citizens.

Calgarians Robert Brawn, Elizabeth Cannon, Eleanor Chiu, Cheryl Foggo and Art Froehlich are being invested as new members.

Read more from the Calgary Sun here.

BILD Alberta recognizes top work in communities and homes.

Calgary-based Trico Homes earned accolades for its Concord single-family home model in the community of Ambleton, winning in the category of best single-family home $425,000 to $475,000 at the BILD Alberta Awards. Jessica Knight Coronado, Trico Homes’ sales associate in Ambleton, attributes the success of the Concord model to its versatility.

“There is no wasted space. It can be suited to so many different needs, and it is also a go-to for unique custom changes, as the kitchen layout lends many options. Plus, it has a very cosy and welcoming feel,” she says.

Read more at the Calgary Herald online.