2023-2024 WRLA Annual Report

WRLA MISSION & VISION

OUR VISION

To be the strategic partner our members rely on to attract talent, shape government policy, and connect with stakeholders to support our industry.

OUR MISSION

To be the voice and an essential resource for the Building Materials Industry in Western Canada by facilitating critical industry events, delivering valueadded training, and advocating to resolve key industry issues.

OUR ROLE

Attract. Connect. Educate. Advocate.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

1. Industry and Member Driven

We embrace a servant leadership mentality with the industry and our members.

2. Strategic Partnerships

We realize we cannot do everything ourselves so we collaborate with “best in class” partners to ensure optimum value for our members.

3. Embrace Technology

We embed technology within our operations and find new ways to deploy it within the industry.

4. Innovation and Continuous Improvement

We constantly improve our programs to exceed industry expectations and always seek new, innovative ways of doing things.

5. Professionalism

We employ strong business acumen and are committed to integrity and respect in everything we do.

6. Diversity and Inclusiveness

We promote and embrace diversity in the workplace, the board room, and within our operation.

7. Corporate Social Responsibility

We are responsible to our people and our planet, while ensuring financial sustainability.

FRAMING THE FUTURE

THE WRLA IS celebrating 135 years in operation next year. As one of the largest organizations of our kind in Canada, we have a unique perspective within the Building Materials industry. Looking from our vantage point, it’s clear to see how much the sector has grown and changed. From our beginnings as the “Retail Lumbermen’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company” to the fast-paced, high-tech present as the Western Retail Lumber Association, the one constant has been the respect we have for our members’ businesses. From resources to manufacturing, from distribution to the retail shelf, our industry has depth and complexity that makes our role as an association so rewarding.

WRLA, as a member-based association, is more than a singular annual event, and the programs we’ll be rolling out this year, reflect that. We’ve reworked, retooled, and revamped our education courses and made connections with industry experts to help us deliver training in critical areas like HR, Marketing, and management. This coming year you’ll see the results of our ongoing efforts to connect with provincial and federal governments as we take our “Let’s Go Build” program to the next level with a member-exclusive job portal. These meetings, especially with the governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta, have started to gain some real traction as WRLA is becoming known as a real voice for our industry. This year, we’ll be leveraging the government’s support to bring our industry to the job seekers through career fairs. And we’ll continue to connect our membership with our annual events that promise to be even bigger and better this year.

The biggest change that lies ahead as we “frame the future” of WRLA is that we have begun a rebranding process. Over the course of the year, we’ll be exploring what our association means to the industry, and discovering an identity that reflects the incredible diversity of businesses in the LBM space. Make sure to attend the Building & Hardware Showcase in 2025 to be the first to see our new brand!

2023 was a great year, and 2024 is already looking even better, and the reason for that is that each and every member of the WRLA is passionate about their business, and about the industry. Thank you all for your support. We can’t wait to show you what’s next!

Liz Kovach President, WRLA

“ I continue to be impressed with what I consider to be the best show in Canada and am excited to continue participating…it’s by far the best value we get for our time and money over all other events we participate in.”

—Gillfor Distribution Inc.

2024 WRLA BUILDING & HARDWARE SHOWCASE

In January 2024, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Building and Hardware Showcase. Thirty years ago, the yearly conference became a destination “buying show” that folks in the industry started planning around, both for the networking opportunities and for the chance to make great deals. In 2020, we rebranded the buying show as the “Building & Hardware Showcase.” This move recognized that while some purchasing habits changed, the show is an ideal place to collect leads, make new connections, see new products, and reconnect in person with friends and colleagues alike.

The theme of the show was “Framing the Future,” which reflects on the changes of the past and looks ahead to the exciting developments that the coming years will bring, including our very next Showcase in January 2025 in our newest host city—Edmonton AB! Next year’s theme is “Making Moves and Breaking Ground”. See you there.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS YEAR’S EVENT:

Breakfast and Big Ideas!

◊ We kicked off this year’s event with a deluxe breakfast event, complete with Taiko drummers and a keynote speech from mental performance coach, Lauren Johnson, who talked about the choices we make to “make the boat go faster”

Sights—Sounds—Smells!

◊ Thanks to some truly incredible sponsors, we had more things to see and do around the show floor than ever before—from a virtual golf simulator to tasty samples from local breweries, to a round of football toss hosted by CFL legend Chris Walby, to the return of everyone’s favourite—the popcorn station—the exhibition was electric with activity and excitement

The WRLA “House”

◊ For the first time in a few years, our association had a booth on the floor, and what a booth it was! Built for us by All-Fab Building Components, we literally “framed the future” with our two-room frame house in the middle of the show floor

A Three-Day Show

◊ On Wednesday the 17th, we welcomed participants in for a full day of PD sessions delivered by industry experts. Having a dedicated day for these workshops was great, and provided a lot of learning for everyone who attended— including us—as we start planning the sessions for next year

Awards Night

◊ Murray Finkbiner received the Industry Achievement Award and shared some incredible advice from his many years in the industry

◊ Everyone joined incredible cocktails, appetizers, desserts and treats, live music, and a luxury assortment of prizes in our silent auction, thanks to the support of our member partners, who sponsored the evening

◊ John Randell (Gillfor Distributing), Joe Maher (Taiga Building Products), Derek Warren (Metrie), and Jillian Richards (Canadian Engineered Wood Products) took home the hardware for Sales Representative of the Year!

Key Stats

◊ 700+ Delegates

◊ 245 Exhibitors

◊ 55 New Products

◊ 35 Sponsors

◊ $51,000 Donated to Love Jayne Foundation

◊ $3,016 Donated to Trees Canada

◊ 1 Incredible Keynote Speaker

◊ 1 CFL Superstar

◊ >5,000 Virtual yards carried on the golf sim

◊ 138,400 Jellybeans served

JOIN A STABLE AND DYNAMIC INDUSTRY

The building supply sector is a $146.4B industry...

Directly employs over 461,000 Canadians.

Scan the QR code on the left and let’s go build!

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ATTRACT

LABOUR STUDY COMPLETE AND LET’S GO BUILD HITS THE ROAD

In Spring of 2024 we completed a comprehensive Labour Study in concert with the government of Alberta, and what we found reaffirms that our efforts to bring more awareness to the LBM industry as a career destination of choice are on the right track.

Highlights include:

◊ Employers estimated that the majority of their departing employees will opt to leave the sector altogether, rather than transitioning to other employment within the sector.

◊ over the next five years the average anticipated rate of retirement is estimated to be 19%.

◊ the overall annual growth rate of Alberta’s building supply sector is estimated to be 2.5% over the next five years.

◊ 8,918 new employees will be required over the next five years, which equates to about 1,780 employees per year.

Let’s Go Build

In 2023/24, WRLA promoted our “Let’s Go Build” campaign—one of our most high-profile marketing efforts in association history to let the public know about the vast opportunities that exist to find a great career in the LBM Industry.

On November 15, we attended a career fair at the Edmonton Convention Centre, hosted by Career Fair Canada. Along with some of our WRLA Members, including Kenroc, Durabuilt Windows & Doors, Taiga Building Products, we collected hundreds of resumes. The employees are out there!

Then, on the final day of the WRLA Building & Hardware Showcase, January 19, we held our first WRLA exclusive Career Fair. What we learned from that event will inform us as we help our members hire for 2024. (By the way—we found out afterwards that at least one person in attendance received a job offer as a result of the fair!)

Next up

Get ready for the WRLA Job Board! This is a member-exclusive job posting board hosted on the WRLA website. Find your next superstar!

ALBERTA LABOUR MARKET STUDY

6. THE INDUSTRY IS EXPERIENCING GROWTH

7. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, THE AVERAGE ANTICIPATED RATE OF RETIREMENT IS ESTIMATED TO BE 19% (APPROXIMATELY 4% PER YEAR)

72.3% OF EMPLOYERS REPORTED THAT THEY EXPECT TO SEE AN INCREASE IN THE OVERALL SIZE OF THEIR WORKFORCE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

8. HIRING EMPLOYEES FROM NON-TRADITIONAL LABOUR POOLS ACCOUNTS FOR ONLY APPROXIMATELY QUARTER OF

CONNECT

BRINGING OUR MEMBERS TOGETHER FOR FUN (AND MUTUAL PROFIT)

Golf Tournaments

Our annual golf tournaments were a highlight again this year. The combination of the fun and relaxed environment of the golf course, along with the fundraising efforts that directly benefit members and their families makes these tournaments some of our favourite days of the year. We sold out our Winnipeg and Calgary events, and altogether raised over $19,000 that was distributed to 19 students this past Fall to help with their education. We can’t wait for more contest holes, laughs, and networking at the 2024 tournaments!

Networking Events

We had our first-ever networking breakfast in November, featuring a meet and greet with CFL hall-of-famer, and TSN analyst Milt Stegall. It was great to see our members come together in an informal setting, enjoy some breakfast.

On December 7, we hosted a networking evening at One Great City brewing in Winnipeg (last seen handing out samples at the Showcase!)

Some other networking highlights included:

◊ September 6 Networking event at our AGM in Calgary

◊ November 16 in Edmonton at MKT

◊ November 21 in Calgary at The Hyatt

◊ Regina November 27 at Hotel Saskatchewan

EDUCATE

WRLA EDUCATION IS EVOLVING TO MEET OUR MEMBERS’ NEEDS

Beginning with the re-imagining of our Estimating curriculum in 2022, the WRLA team has been working hard to expand our educational offering to meet the needs of the LBM industry. In the past year, we debuted a new online Blueprint Reading course which feeds directly into our Estimating Courses and allows that program to start at a higher level.

As we work to promote the many career opportunities that exist in our industry, we wanted to help make it easier for new hires to come on board, and designed the Industry Terminology course, which acts as a perfect introduction to the most common terms that one is likely to come across in their day-to-day job. It also helps free up valuable training time and gets employees up to speed in record time.

In January, we debuted our newest iteration of “Improving Profitability Through Yard & Warehouse Management” which is designed to help businesses improve their efficiency, and by extension, make sure they’re not leaving money on the table.

Sometimes it’s tough for members to take time away from their business to attend our sessions, so we’ve made it easier to join our courses as we rolled out a live streaming option. We’re piloting this option in 2024, and plan to offer it alongside most of our in-person sessions going forward!

Coming up in 2024, we’ll be continuing to expand our offering with additional courses in Marketing, Human Resources and more.

We’ll also be bringing you additional educational opportunities throughout the year with quick, informative webinars from industry experts, deep dives on current topics with our members on the WRLA podcast, and Professional Development sessions at the Showcase and throughout the year. There’s truly something for everyone!

ADVOCATE

2023 WAS A BIG YEAR FOR THE WRLA IN OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS EFFORTS.

In the words of our president, Liz Kovach, “We need to be at the table. Our voices must be heard at all levels of government, and outreach sessions like these are intended to emphasize the important work our member companies do. It also demonstrates to government that our industry’s success is the success of the province and beyond.”

2023 Highlights

◊ Completed a Labour Market Study with support from the Alberta government

◊ Confirmed that WRLA training courses are eligible for provincial training grants, making it easier than ever for our members to get the education they need to grow their business

◊ Obtained provincial grants to continue expanding our “Let’s Go Build” program which directly addresses the labour gaps in the industry by attracting new talent

2023 Government visits

◊ In December, WRLA representatives, including members met with the new NDP government in Manitoba

◊ Met with Honourable Malaya Marcelino, Minister of Labour and Immigration.

◊ Discussed recruitment and retention challenges in the LBM sector

◊ Explained the “Let’s Go Build” campaign to the Minister.

◊ The minister agreed with the need to provide pathways to employment opportunities

◊ Also met with Principal Secretary to Premier Wab Kinew, Emily Coutts

◊ Discussed “Let’s Go Build” and noted our willingness to partner with government,

◊ Spotlighted workforce attrition expected in coming years due to impending retirements.

◊ Ms. Coutts noted the government’s willingness to work with industry to promote workforce expansion

◊ Met with MLA’s in Regina, SK to gain support for Let’s Go Build

◊ For the first time since the Building & Hardware Showcase has been held in Winnipeg, the city’s mayor attended. Mayor Scott Gillingham thoroughly enjoyed learning about the LBM sector and demonstrated keen interest in each booth he visited

◊ We also welcomed NDP MLA Rachelle Schott, representing the riding of Kildonan-River East, MLAs Jeff Bereza and Carrie Hiebert, also in their first term and hailing from the ridings of Portage-la-Prairie and Morden-Winkler, respectively, as well as Winnipeg City Councillor Markus Chambers, who represents St. Norbert-Seine River, and Acting Deputy May

FINANCE

RE VENUE