Photo by Richard Bain

Vince Laberge began his involvement in housing and construction as a teenager, and today he’s pretty much done it all, from construction and site management, to sales and marketing, company management and licensed real estate broker.
He’s also given back, and given back tirelessly. In the past, Laberge has served as president of both CHBA – Edmonton Region and CHBA – Alberta, been on the Board of Directors of the Alberta New Home Warranty Program, and served as the president of his community league. Today, he is on the boards of the Millwoods Cultural and Recreation Facilities Association and the Realtors Association of Edmonton.
At the National level, Laberge has served four terms on the CHBA Board of Directors and three years on the Association’s Executive Board. He also chaired the Association’s Urban Council for two years.
Laberge comes to the role of CHBA president with impressive credentials and a passion for the industry. We met up with him to discuss his vision for the coming year:

Home BUILDER Magazine: Tell us a bit about your business philosophy, and how it might transfer to your role as incoming president, CHBA.
Vince Laberge: My business focus has returned to my roots: custom homes and renovations with a much stronger focus on renovations. I am a RenoMark renovator [president of Elena Contractors Inc.] and my term will be dominated by the renovation side of my business. I’m also an R-2000 builder and Certified Built Green Builder [WendyLynn Custom Homes Inc.].
We prefer building in the bedroom communities of Edmonton where strong relationships can be fostered. Our Edmonton projects have centred on infill opportunities. I believe this will be a very dominant part of our business going forward. The aging housing stock dictates the increased activity in renovations or complete rebuilds.

HBM: What do you see as your mandate in the role of president, CHBA?
VL: My role is simple: engage members. By that I mean engage members with government, and engage members in the analysis of our business environment so that they can make informed decisions as our markets change.
In relation to governments, there are many issues we need to be active on. We must be engaged at every level, and encourage our members to provide their experience and expertise to the work of our Association.
My role is also to be the next steward in bringing the Association along one more year. This means respecting the lessons we have learned, continuing our work at every level, and being ready for tomorrow.

HBM: If you had only one message to deliver to CHBA members, what would it be?
VL: Are we ready to take on the product type of tomorrow? With our aging housing stock and our aging population are we ready to adapt our current business operations?

HBM: You’ve volunteered at many levels of the Association over the years. How does that sort of involvement within the industry transfer to your day-to-day business?
VL: I have a deep passion for volunteering. What I discovered is that the lessons I learned from the people I’ve met have allowed me to become a better person, and a better new home builder and renovator.
If members recognized how much they and their businesses could gain from being active in the CHBA, we would have line-ups to become involved. Simply put, volunteers learn firsthand from their peers. So, to answer your question, I would sum it up simply by saying “I become a better me.”

HBM: What impact has the “green” movement had on the Canadian residential construction industry in the past five years?
VL: The great thing about “green” with respect to our industry is that we are leaders and embraced this long before it got into the mainstream. We were, and still are, far ahead of the curve. Our industry has not needed regulations to bring on innovation in relation to the green aspects of our businesses. And this has helped us avoid the many unintended consequences that poorly-conceived regulation brings with it.
As with every new technology, we need to be certain that what we do works well and delivers real value to our customers. While we need to embrace new technologies, we have to be disciplined enough to know that not all are going to work, and some may actually work against our goals.
We cannot go at new green initiatives with the attitude that every new idea is good, until the proper research and analysis is done. Nobody gains from being overzealous in bringing on new technology without knowing all of the outcomes beforehand.
And we do need to pay very close attention to the costs versus benefits side of the question. We must be certain our customers are getting the value and the performance they are looking for.

HBM: What will your key messages be as CHBA president in relation to governments?
VL: Both business and government have learned many lessons over the last two years, as a result of the financial crisis and the recession. For instance, there is no doubt about the importance of our industry to Canada’s economic well-being. It’s clear that we have to apply these lessons, going forward.
One specific example: we know that the level of household debt matters given today’s historically low interest rates. Recently, the Minister of Finance took some prudent steps in relation to mortgages and home equity borrowing, aimed at ensuring Canadians will be able to handle a return to more normal rates of interest.
For our industry, it all comes down to housing affordability and choice—can our customers get the home they want at a price they can manage? 
My central message to governments is that tighter lending rules address only part of the problem. The other part has to do with governments’ own role in driving up the cost of a new home. This happens through endlessly rising development charges, levies, taxes and charges. And it also comes through all manner of requirements placed on new development to pay for things that benefit the entire community. Increasingly, we’re seeing governments shift social costs into the mortgages of new home buyers, and that is irresponsible.
As well, the whole development approvals process takes too long, and ties up too much capital. This hurts our productivity, it makes it far more difficult to innovate, and it ends up meaning fewer jobs and less economic activity. We must get serious about cutting unnecessary red tape.