On this episode of the Construction Record Podcast, Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce national managing editor Vince Versace, digital media editor Warren Frey and staff writer Russell Hixson look at the continued effects of COVID-19 on the construction industry in both western Canada and Ontario.
Vince and Russell highlight how construction associations have come together in British Columbia regardless of their individual ideologies to adapt the industry to new norms of social distancing and determining what work counts as “essential” and what doesn’t. The situation in Ontario is more fluid and nuanced, with requests for clarity from some stakeholders as Ontario moves to contain the pandemic.
Warren virtually attended the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers online conference last week, and the major conclusion reached by many speakers was that even though the oil and gas industry is facing both a pandemic and an oil price crash, it has come to “expect the unexpected.” Some energy producers pointed out that while the industry has adapted to downturns before, there may be little fat to trim to deal with the current crisis, and Russell points out that an Alberta work camp has recently experienced an COVID outbreak.
For more COVID-19 coverage, make sure to go to both the JOC and DCN COVID feature pages.