Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario has extended construction hours for essential projects as the number of COVID-19 cases in the province grows.
Speaking at Queen’s Park on Wednesday alongside Minister of Health Christine Elliott and Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the decision was made in order to accelerate projects related to critical health infrastructure, including assessment centres and temporary facilities to deal with the pandemic.
“We are extending hours of construction to help get these projects built faster, to help get hospitals built faster, to get more beds and more capacity built in the system,” Ford said. “We have to be ready for any scenario and the health and safety of our essential workers is always top of mind during this pandemic.”
The new order will allow companies to staff construction sites 24 hours a day. It also makes adjustments to local noise bylaws in order to accommodate the work. Also, extended hours will give managers the ability to stagger shifts and limit the number of workers on each site.
“During this escalating crisis, we are taking immediate steps to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place, particularly to properly care for those with severe COVID-19 symptoms and other patients who require critical care,” Ford said. “That’s why we’re extending construction hours to allow us to build essential infrastructure faster, while ensuring construction workers can practice physical distancing on work sites to stay safe and healthy.”
The premier also said noise bylaws will not apply to these types of essential construction activities beginning April 7 – allowing for expedited construction on key facilities, such as new hospital builds, expansions, temporary COVID-19 response units or structures, and COVID-19 assessment centres.
Ontario is also:
- Redeploying more than 30 employment standards officers to help businesses understand and comply with health and safety requirements;
- Working with health and safety associations to deploy up to 30 specialists to support employers and workers in the field;
- Doubling the capacity of Ontario’s Health and Safety Call Centre from 25 to 50 phonelines;
- Providing job-protected leave under the Employment Standards Act for workers who need to self-isolate or care for a loved one because of COVID-19;
- Issuing a call to recently-retired inspectors who may be able and willing to return to their positions;
- Providing compliance assistance and enforcing the emergency orders issued under the Emergency Measures and Civil Protection Act.
“Our government is doing everything in its power to make sure workers on the job are safe during this pandemic,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. “That means more inspections, more inspectors, more phone lines, and more people to take your calls. We have conducted thousands of inspections and investigations across the province in March and we will continue to conduct more this month. We will do everything in our power to keep the essential workers of our province safe.”
The health and safety of construction workers is also a top priority, according to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“Temporarily limiting noise bylaws to extend the hours for construction work will help make it possible to stagger shifts and have fewer workers on site at any given time so they can practice physical distancing,” he said.