Current restrictions on non-essential construction projects will not likely be removed imminently, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade of Ontario Vic Fedeli suggested in a recent interview.
Asked if he could speculate whether builds currently designated as non-essential might be approved in the stage one or stage two batches of restarts laid out in the recently unveiled three-stage framework for reopening sectors closed due to the pandemic, Fedeli would not give a positive answer.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Fedeli said on April 29. He then laid out the benchmarks for recovery recommended by public health officials including “looking for two- to four-week numbers in our daily cases.
“These are the guidelines that we are getting from the chief medical officer of health. We want to make sure those are in place. It is always about creating a safe, lasting path to recovery. The last thing we want to see is a setback that is very harmful to all of our businesses, including in the construction sector.”
Premier Doug Ford acknowledged that businesses are eager to get back to work during his April 30 address to the province.
“I want companies to start getting ready,” he said. “We’re getting close.
“I am feeling more positive over the past four or five days. I am laser-focused right now on opening things up as quickly as we can in a safe and measured way.”
Told Fedeli’s comments, Gillam Group president Craig Lesurf said he nonetheless expects the construction sector to get the go-ahead to resume work within weeks.
The three-stage framework, announced April 27 by the government, will see select workplaces open in stage one if they can “immediately modify operations to meet public health guidance.” Stage two will see more workplaces opened, based on risk assessments, and stage three will see all workplaces open.
Each stage of the framework will be monitored for two to four weeks, the government said.
The framework is a roadmap, not a calendar, Fedeli said, echoing Premier Doug Ford’s comments from April 27.
Stage one will include “a very small amount” of businesses that meet the public health guidelines, Fedeli said.
Stage two might see “more actual workplaces open” with more public gatherings permitted and more outdoor spaces, he added.
“Our MPPs across Ontario are out there talking to businesses, entrepreneurs, all of the different sectors, they are assisting in determining which workplaces can modify their workplace to meet the public health guidelines,” Fedeli explained, mentioning construction. “That is the stage we are at right now. That means there are things in addition to the business that will be looked at.
“That is what we are asking right now, what can you do to make your workplace safe.”
Fedeli is a member of the government’s Jobs and Recovery Committee with 11 other cabinet ministers. He was asked whether the government planned to maintain existing spending pledges on capital projects in future, or whether project spending might be curtailed to fight the burgeoning deficit or boosted to provide extra stimulus.
The status quo will be maintained, Fedeli said, later suggesting there may not be a boost in stimulus spending in the sector. Current projects within the mandate of Infrastructure Ontario are on track, he said, and the government remains committed to its previous pledges to spend $14.7 billion on infrastructure this year and over $28 billion on four major subway projects in the Toronto area over the longer term.
“We have seen people in construction grow from 527,000 to 563,000 before COVID-19, we know there is good growth in the construction sector,” Fedeli remarked, pointing out the government has taken a number of steps to support the sector including lowering taxes and WSIB payments and boosting programs for apprentices.
He also noted there are 250,000 jobs in the sector going unfilled.
“Post COVID-19, many of the (construction) companies are still operating and the pieces we put in place to lower the cost of doing business in Ontario are all still in place and that should help stimulate the economy in this sector,” he said. “There are other sectors that are going to need some relief and that is why we have our MPPs out hearing from businesses directly including construction to see if there is anything that needs to be done.”
Fedeli was also asked about contractor complaints of confusion in determining which builds fit the list of essential projects. He was told one contractor executive has said, “It seems any public owner can decide on their own what is or is not essential.”
He has sympathy for contractors, he said: “They are all playing by the rules and working hard.
“The default should always be to the essential business list. This is what was approved by cabinet, this is what was published on the website.”
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