A group of construction industry organizations and stakeholders have launched the Build for Recovery campaign, an effort to encourage all levels of government to prioritize infrastructure investments to fuel Canada’s post COVID-19 economic recovery.
The partners who are organizing the campaign include the Canadian Construction Association (CCA), Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada (ACEC), the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP), Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) and the National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada (NTCCC).
“Even though there seems to be a lot of support for infrastructure investment for being a part of recovery, we don’t want to take it for granted,” said John Gamble, president and CEO of ACEC Canada. “We want to make sure that infrastructure is stop of mind for policy-makers.”
But it’s not as simple as just committing to build infrastructure.
Gamble explained that in order to get jobs and money to Canadians and businesses, all levels of government need to set aside their differences and work together.
“Every province and territory should try and get the best deal for their constituents, but we all have to get on the same page,” said Gamble. “We don’t want to have construction seasons lost to negotiations or red tape.”
Gamble also noted that the kind of infrastructure government chooses to invest in matters as well.
He said the current federal leadership is an activist government with a green economy brand. He said while active transportation, solar farms, community centres and other “soft infrastructure” add value, leaders should not forget about bread and butter infrastructure projects.
“We need infrastructure that will grow the economy and generate revenue so we can do those more aspirational things,” said Gamble.
The campaign is encouraging Canadians to visit the Build for Recovery website (www.buildforrecovery.ca) which has a streamlined web form process to contact federal and provincial government officials about prioritizing infrastructure investment.
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