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Canada’s Team Just Got the Bill (and So Did You)
Charlie Cichetti
September 27, 2026
Smart strategies. Sharp stories. Sustainability that sticks.
📬 INTRO: O CANADA IN ORCHARD PARK
The Buffalo Bills host the Chargers Sunday, and the crowd will hear two anthems. The team now plays O Canada before every home game. About 12% of season ticket holders are Canadian. “The Bills are Canada’s team,” said team executive Kate Husman before the Barenaked Ladies sang it at the Sept. 17 opener.
They sing it in a new Highmark Stadium, announced at $1.4 billion in 2022 and finished at $2.1 billion in June. Gov. Kathy Hochul told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle this month that the state isn’t on the hook for overruns, “which is fortunate because a lot has happened with inflation and tariffs.”
Most projects don’t have a billionaire owner covering the overrun. Here’s a rundown on what’s pushing budgets this fall!
🌍 FIELD NOTES: WHAT’S CROSSING THE BORDER (AND WHAT ISN’T)
🪵 The Timber That Dodged the Tariff
Skanska’s Tom Park says steel prices climbed 25% in a year and lead times stretched to 55 weeks, with data centers eating mill capacity. Lumber escalation sits at 0% to 3%.
On Sept. 15 the Canada tariff widened to steel columns and aluminum profiles, which now pay 75% in combined duties. CLT and glulam are not on the list. LVL and plywood are. “Clients are interested in alternative materials given the supply chain strain,” says Skanska’s Dean Lewis.
If steel sits on your critical path, price a mass timber option now.
🔌 Copper Worth Stealing
Copper hit a record $14,875 a ton on Sept. 10. The same day, thieves posing as a trucking company picked up six pallets of copper wire worth nearly $600,000 in DeKalb, Ill. It was bound for a plant that makes HVAC line sets. Police found it in Kentucky eight hours later.
Rooftops are targets too. In Houston, a repairman checking dead AC units found a man on the roof taking them apart. Police found the suspect hiding inside one.
Cage the condensers and lock the roof ladder.
🇨🇦 “Our US Business Is Dead”
Apex Aluminum Extrusions in British Columbia earned about 40% of its revenue from US customers. Stacked duties ended that on Sept. 15. “Our US business is dead. There will be nothing more crossing the border,” CFO Darren McQueen told Bloomberg.
Those extrusions become storefronts, curtain wall mullions, and window frames.
Ask your glazing sub where the extrusions come from before you release shop drawings.
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🏛 BUILT TO LAST:
In AGC’s latest survey, 55% of contractors had projects canceled, postponed, or scaled back in the past six months. ConsensusDocs 200.1 names the volatile materials and ties them to a market index. It works both ways, so the owner saves if prices drop. Settle who pays for escalation before you sign.
By role:
📐 Designers: Price a CLT or glulam option on steel-heavy structures. Neither pays the Canada tariff.
🔨 Builders: Buy out copper-heavy electrical and HVAC packages early.
🏢 Operators: Cage rooftop condensers and lock roof ladders. Thieves watch the copper price too.
🌱 Emerging pros: Learn to read an HTS code. CLT and LVL are both engineered wood, and only LVL pays 50%.
💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Steel takes 55 weeks right now. Put a mass timber option on the table at schematic design, while it’s still cheap to change your mind.”
— Charlie Cichetti, CEO of Skema and LEED Fellow
🧠 TL;DR
Steel is up 25% with 55-week lead times, CLT and glulam dodged the Canada tariff, and record copper has thieves stripping rooftops. Price a timber option and settle escalation before you sign.
🧱RETROFIT THIS
🔧TOOLS DOWN:
The Bills budgeted $1.4 billion in 2022.
The stadium opened at $2.1 billion.
Steel now waits 55 weeks.
Copper set a record Sept. 10.
Thieves loaded $600,000 of it the same day.
The team’s owners covered their overrun.
Make sure your contract says who covers yours!
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✍️ Brian Bollinger, our Head Writer, helps sustainability professionals connect performance, workflow, and real-world results.
🌍️ Charlie Cichetti, our Fearless Leader is the CEO of Skema and a LEED Fellow. He has guided more than 150,000 professionals as building practice continues to evolve.
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