The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) submitted its fall 2020 Budget submission.
RCCAO provided testimony to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs and saw certain recommendations, including no. 6 which stated that, “The provincial government should work with supportive stakeholders to aggressively advocate for federal infrastructure stimulus support on provincial priorities.”
Even though RCCAO is a provincially based organization, its labour-management alliance has been actively promoting increased infrastructure funding for the past five months with the federal government, including a pre-budget submission.
A primary RCCAO focus since its inception in 2005 has been the importance of investing in public works—from transit and water systems to road and bridges—and doing so smartly and efficiently for taxpayers and daily users of infrastructure.
Infrastructure lays the foundation for building a prosperous and inclusive province and provides a significant opportunity for economic growth, competitiveness, and fostering strong Ontarian communities. RCCAO says the role of infrastructure has never been more important than it is now. Investing in infrastructure is one of the best ways to help Ontario recover from the effects of COVID-19. RCCAO will continue to advocate in concert with the provincial government for additional federal infrastructure stimulus to support provincial priorities.
Storm clouds on the horizon: Contractors have advised RCCAO there has been a big reduction in the number of tenders for fall 2020 work across many types of civil construction. While it is difficult to ascertain municipal tender activity across the entire province, in some regions the drop has been 25 per cent or more. Municipalities cannot let maintenance and repair work diminish or there could be impacts on public safety. For the construction sector, RCCAO are concerned about impending layoffs of workers, currently estimated at 25,000 direct and indirect job losses, if left unaddressed.
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