From the very start, James Brothers Construction has been heavily involved in the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. Early on, they provided services including hauling gravel, hauling soil, and excavation. Since then, they have continued doing work on the Trans Mountain Expansion as well as work beyond the Trans Mountain Expansion. They now provide heavy civil construction services for clients throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Their work in both provinces varies greatly in size and scope – according to Alfred, their smaller projects might require one or two gravel trucks per day, while their larger jobs require up to 120 gravel trucks per day. Again, Alfred says that contractors on those largerscale projects choose James Brothers Construction for a few key reasons. Firstly, the fact that they are an Indigenous-owned business is important: “That’s definitely one of the reasons we stand out,” Alfred says. “About 80-to-90 per cent of our employees are First Nations. That has an impact.” James Brothers’ employees are also largely happy to be there, and Alfred believes that employee engagement is also a point of difference: “We have a lot of friends of employees who want to come on,” he says. “Right now we have so many people asking to work for us. They’ve seen the growth of the company and they want to jump on board. When spring starts up again, we’re going to have a line of workers waiting.” Alfred partly credits that high level of interest to James Brothers’ aforementioned commitment to investing in employee training. He also says that “we treat them well and we pay them above average.” “I’ve been a labourer myself,” MAY 2024
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