TORONTO – The Ontario Construction Consortium (OCC) has issued a statement calling on the Ontario government to reopen construction when the present stay-at-home order expires on May 20.
The construction sector has one of the best safety records of any industry and is not contributing to the spread of COVID-19, said OCC executive director Phil Gillies, in a statement.
“Construction has been in and out of various restrictions for over a year now, both regionally and across the province,” said Gillies. “But a recent snapshot of 10,000 Workplace Safety and Insurance Board claims related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began showed that fewer than 200 of those cases originated in the construction industry.”
The statement asserted that construction contractors have gone to great expense providing personal protective equipment, improved washroom facilities and running water on sites.
“The construction industry contributed eight per cent of Canada’s GDP and employed more than 1.2 million people in 2019. It is essential that the government do everything it can to support this vital segment of the economy,” Gillies said. “That begins with allowing all construction to resume as soon as possible.”
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