Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Quebec government is injecting $120 million into the construction industry to prepare for infrastructure projects announced in Bill 66.
“The sector is doing well, but it must respond to the demand that the government is preparing to make to revive the economy,” Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel, aid at a news conference on Sunday.
It is expected that the province’s $53-billion construction industry will need to hire an additional 11,000 workers per year in order to keep pace with infrastructure projects the provincial government has planned as part of its post-pandemic economic stimulus package.
That package fast-tracked 180 infrastructure projects around the province, including highway extensions, new elderly care homes and school renovations. The government has earmarked $3 billion in infrastructure spending for the current financial year at a time the construction industry faces a labour shortage that was an issue even before the pandemic started, Labour Minister Jean Boulet said Sunday.
The government will spend about $120 million over the next three years to help ensure the construction industry can meet the demand created by the stimulus.
The plan includes a series of announcements to help businesses grow and increase their productivity.
But the government also wants to tackle the problem of labour scarcity in the sector. It wants to add 11,000 workers a year to the industry.
“What we’re seeing is that there will be a lot of retirements in the next five years, there’s a drop in enrolment that was seen before the pandemic in the vocational training centres,” explained Labour Minister Jean Boulet.
“We want to ensure that in this sector, which is crucial to economic recovery, we have enough workers.”
Efforts will also be made to retain existing employees, especially under-represented groups such as women, immigrants and Indigenous people.
Because of the pandemic strong measures are needed to jump start the economy.
“Investing in infrastructure … has been proven to be very efficient for jump starting the economy,” LeBel said. “If we do have a massive injection of money in that sector we have to make sure that sector is able to respond.”
The new funding for the construction industry includes $32.4 million over three years to address labour shortages.
Boulet said the government wants to help companies hire more women, immigrants, visible minorities and members of Indigenous and Inuit communities, as well as people with disabilities.
Among measures announced Sunday were plans to facilitate how companies bid on public contracts and inducements for small municipalities to tender major projects together.
The government also wants to encourage construction companies to modernize their business operations.
“New digital technologies can speed up the whole construction process thanks to prefabrication in controlled environments that reduce waste and the possibility of mistakes,” LeBel said.
Construction companies welcomed the new measures detailed by the government. Quebec’s association of construction professionals said the reforms will help stabilize businesses following a difficult period.
Quebec’s $53-billion construction industry employs about 265,000 people.