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Trade Contracting
September 29, 2009
CanaData Conference 2009
2010 will be busy with stimulus, Canadian Construction Association says
The Canadian Construction Association reports that its members are starting to see the benefits of federal stimulus spending.
“We are starting to see a lot of competition for infrastructure projects,” said Bill Ferreira, CCA director of government relations and public affairs. “We expect to see most of the benefit next year and the year after. Many of our members say they are very busy and it will be one of the busiest seasons on record.”
Ferreira delivered an update on federal government infrastructure spending at the 24th annual CanaData Construction Industry Forecasts Conference in Toronto.
He noted that infrastructure spending is one key tool the federal government can use to “prime the pump” and move an economy to fight an economic slowdown.
Despite an increase in activity, the recession has impacted the construction industry’s workforce, said Ferreira. The Canadian construction industry has lost approximately 116,000 jobs from its pre-recession workforce of about 1.26 million workers.
“That is (a significant percentage) of our pre-recession workforce,” he said.
The impact of Ottawa’s stimulus plan is not the only program coming on line that is benefitting the construction industry, explained Ferreira. The Building Canada Fund, announced in the Conservative’s March 2007 budget, is now starting to show dividends, he said. The $33 billion fund over seven years had its last provincial-federal framework agreement signed in September 2008.
“It took 16 months to sign all the provincial-federal frameworks and this is really the first construction season for the Building Canada Fund,” said Ferreira. “It is radical and is making a significant difference in the remaking of our public infrastructure.”
Progressive infrastructure funding is critical, Ferreira said, because Canada’s increasing urbanization has placed incredible pressures on its infrastructure.
From 1961 to 2001 Canada’s population increased from 18 million to 32 million. Roughly 83 per cent of that population now resides in and around urban centres. Meanwhile, 28 per cent of Canada’s current public infrastructure is more than 80 years old and 31 per cent of it is between 40 and 80 years of age.
“It is old, getting older and needs to be replaced,” he said.
Critical to addressing the infrastructure deficit is helping municipalities who have seen their share of infrastructure responsibility grow to 55 per cent since 1955 when it sat at just 30 per cent. During that time the federal government’s portion has decreased to less than 10 per cent.
Cities are “eager to get on with the business of dealing with infrastructure” but need help and support to increase their ability to fund infrastructure work, Ferreira said. Using property tax revenue is just not enough for them to tackle a $128 billion municipal infrastructure deficit.
“We are concerned that there is not a proper funding mechanism for infrastructure funding.”
Check out the executive summary from the 2009 CanaData Conference.
VIDEO: B.C. Construction Association welcomes standardized contract forms
Standardized construction documents are long overdue, says the president of the B.C. Construction Association.
Port Mann Bridge under construction
Time-lapse footage shows the progress of construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Metro Vancouver.
VIDEO: How effective has stimulus spending been?
If you want a good indication of how effective government stimulus spending has been in Canada, look at the “remarkable” institutional starts statistics for the first half of 2010, CanaData chief economist Alex Carrick says.
VIDEO: Owners must lead charge toward BIM adoption
The greatest challenge in getting the architecture, engineering and construction industries to embrace building information modeling is convincing individual players they’d be better off working collaboratively, says the chair of the Canada BIM Council.
VIDEO: Canada’s economy is slowing down
As fall approaches, the Canadian economy is slowing down, but this lower growth is due to factors that beyond the nation’s control, says CanaData Chief Economist Alex Carrick.
VIDEO: Canada should embrace rainscreen cladding systems
Canada has been too slow to embrace rainscreen cladding systems, despite the advantages they offer in terms of better performance, low-cost maintenance and longer-lasting structures, says a distributor of architectural building products.
VIDEO: Ontario General Contractors Association shows support for Gold Seal
All the directors on the board of the Ontario General Contractors Association have become Gold Seal Champions, part of an effort to help promote the national construction certification program.
VIDEO: Green building critical in triple bottom line accounting
Building design and construction standards will undergo significant changes as “triple bottom line” accounting becomes more commonplace in the industry, says a Saskatchewan-based economist.
VIDEO: Boom truck tips over at Vancouver condo project
A boom truck tipped over while delivering lumber to a low-rise condominium construction project in Vancouver’s trendy Kitsilano neighbourhood, near Vine Street and First Avenue.
