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Features Roads & Paving
Removing barriers on road building industry

March 24, 2016  By Ontario Road Builders’ Association


March 24, 2016 – The partnership between Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) and the Province of Ontario in an Ontario Open for Business Roundtable, will help to remove barriers and burdens to businesses in the road building industry by reducing the time and effort that ORBA members spend complying with provincial requirements.

“Our government knows the importance of building strong, reliable infrastructure. We are pleased to partner with the Ontario Road Builders’ Association to support the growth of our province’s booming transportation sector,” said Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. “The roundtable process is an excellent way to make sure that government and industry are working together and I am thrilled with the progress we have made today.”

Intended to identify opportunities to streamline processes and improve operations, the Open for Business Roundtable was established to create tangible, positive impacts for ORBA members.

In December, the Opening Roundtable was held in Toronto and was chaired by Minister Duguid with representatives from Open for Business, lead provincial ministries and ORBA Board of Directors.

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The five following issues were presented for review with a focus on improving coordination and operations:

1.         Oversize/Overweight permit application process
2.         Recycled aggregates
3.         Species at risk: Contract compensation
4.         Species at risk: Information sharing and mapping
5.         Permit to Take Water (PTTW) / Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR) for Short-Term Water Takings

To address each issue, working groups were created that comprised of provincial staff and ORBA representatives. The working groups had 60 days to develop mutually-agreeable solutions to these issues. If a solution was not able to be achieved within 60 days, the working group was required to provide an agreed upon plan of action that identifies how the issue can be resolved.

Over the next several weeks, additional media releases will be sent out highlighting the specific solutions for each of the five issues and the benefits to ORBA members.

About ORBA
ORBA supports and promotes the growth of Ontario’s transportation infrastructure industry. As the voice of over 200 road building contractors and suppliers, ORBA members build and maintain the majority of Ontario’s provincial highway system, municipal roads, bridges and other public transportation infrastructure, employing over 30,000 workers. Visit orba.org for more information.


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