CCA, NTCCC support federal construction sites staying open
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The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) supports keeping federal construction sites open involving defence, security, infrastructure and the administration of justice and government as long as the sites are compliant with COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
“This is reaffirming our commitment to keeping projects open where the workforce, the public, families and communities are going to be our first priority in terms of safety,” said CCA president Mary Van Buren.
“Our message has consistently been that as long as sites are compliant with measures and guidelines of public health authorities and if they cannot then they need to shut down and this is true of the federal government projects as well. There are many critical federal infrastructure projects that are ongoing and very important to both the economy today but also in the future. Defence, security, critical infrastructure, justice and government, these are projects that need to keep moving.”
The National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada (NTCCC) said it is supportive of the CCA-led initiative.
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COVID-19 Legal Resources for the Construction Industry
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Mandatory worksite closures and occupational health and safety laws are a concern for construction employers, employees, and suppliers right now. In addition, COVID-19 has caused supplier closures, limited courthouse access, disrupted supply chains, and frustrated contract performance in many cases. People at every level of the construction supply chain may want to better understand the government support programs available while COVID-19 runs its course.
Fortunately, there are many legal resources available to the construction industry online to better understand their rights in the context of COVID-19. For a focus on emergency legislation, please visit our Canada COVID-19 Emergency Law Tracker. If you have a resource to add to this list, please submit it for review on the Contact page.
Click here
to view the list of links and resources.
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Employers must push beyond CPO’s COVID-19 guidelines
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The Chief Prevention Officer’s (CPO) Guide to construction worksite health and safety best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic is not the final word on a contractor’s responsibilities, advises construction lawyer Norm Keith.
Keith, of Toronto’s Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, has authored a number of legal advisories during the pandemic offering advice to construction and other employers; his latest, released April 13, presents 32 answers to frequently asked questions in the workplace.
The
guidelines prepared by CPO Ron Kelusky and released March 29 should be taken as a starting point as employers prepare health and safety strategies, Keith argued.
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COCA’s ‘Help Desk’ answers flood of COVID-19 questions
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As construction sites have had to change on a dime to adjust to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, communication and clarity regarding safety has become crucial.
The Council of Construction Associations (COCA), which represents the major construction associations in the province and acts on behalf of the construction industry in all WorkSafeBC matters, has been working to streamline communication with the safety agency.
First, COCA created a fast channel of communication with WorkSafe to move questions back and forth.
“Workers are first,” said Dave Baspaly, COCA President. “We don’t want anyone to be unsafe or make a mistake because of something they didn’t know.”
The association has also been hosting virtual town halls with a delegation of WorkSafeBC senior directors. To further deal with the many questions coming, COCA has created a “Help Desk” where builders can get rapid answers on WorkSafeBC-related inquiries. Baspaly said answers, advice or validation from WorkSafeBC can often be obtained from the tool and its experts in just a few hours.
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OGCA and industry partners donate 10,000 masks to frontline healthcare workers
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The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) says it has worked with a group of industry partners to deliver 10,000 surgical masks to Ontario health care workers.
The association says industry partner Alliance Creative Marketing acquired the surgical masks and appealed to and appealed to clients to come together to donate to priority healthcare workers through the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. The masks were delivered on April 9.
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NEWS ALERT: FAO Releases Report on Ontario’s Labour Market Results for March 2020
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The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) has released a report looking at Ontario’s March 2020 labour market results in the wake of government measures to contain the COVID‑19 pandemic in the province.
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Key Points from the Report:
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- Ontario employment declined by a record 403,000 jobs (or -5.3 percent) in March, more than four times greater than the previous largest monthly job loss.
- Ontario’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.6 percent in March from 5.5 percent in February, the largest monthly increase in the jobless rate on record.[1]
- Almost all the job losses were related to the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted a progressive province-wide shutdown of most non-essential activities beginning in mid-March. The FAO estimates that about 1.2 million Ontario workers were directly affected by the shutdowns through either job losses or sharply reduced hours, representing almost one in six jobs in the province.
- Given that government-mandated restrictions widened following the March Labour Force Survey, Ontario would be expected to experience significant additional job losses in April
- In a forthcoming report to be released in May, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) will provide an economic and fiscal outlook for the province which will incorporate impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as government policies responding to the crisis.
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The Economy Under COVID-19: Notes from the Trenches - April 21, 2020
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There are currently two crises underway simultaneously. The advance of the novel coronavirus is taking a terrible toll in terms of physical and emotional well-being. At the same time, job losses resulting from ‘social distancing’ are sending the economy into a tailspin. To fight on both fronts, governments are advancing rescue packages of never-seen-before dimensions. Every day, the tremendous number of factors in play reconfigure in a new way. These ‘from the trenches’ notes attempt to shed some light along a murky pathway.
- Retail sales by some U.S. shopkeepers in March were prodigiously bad. The revenue rung up by clothing and accessory stores was only half February’s level. Versus the month prior, motor vehicle and parts dealers and furniture stores had their earnings slashed by one-quarter. Moving in the opposite direction, though, were grocery stores, were sales soared by more than a quarter. Rumors of shortages prompted panic buying.
- The first wave of giant job losses in the U.S. (and Canada) occurred in the leisure and hospitality sector. Now it’s being reported that sales by U.S. ‘food services and drinking places’ (i.e., bars and restaurants), were -23% in March compared with February.
- The share of U.S. oil imports supplied by Canada has risen from 25% in 2000 to over 60% in early 2020. There’s currently a recession underway and U.S. total demand for oil is on the decline. While fewer imported barrels will be needed, the supply from Canada should hold up relatively well, because delivery through pipelines is easy and the price of WCS oil is even cheaper than WTI oil (i.e., Western Canadian Select versus West Texas Intermediate). Canada’s share of U.S. oil imports could increase to 70% or 80%.
- An increasing share of U.S. oil imports won’t mean a lot to Canadian producers, though, if the number of barrels they ship falls. What everyone working in the industry would like to see is an increase in price. To achieve that end, Russia and Saudi Arabia and some other oil producers have come to an agreement to significantly lower output levels.
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TCA Resources on COVID-19
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To access TCA dedicated Covid-19 Updates,
click here
.
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