Stimulating the Economy

“Banner year” for road construction in 2020

Few sectors can admit it has been business as usual over the past 12 months.

A global pandemic transformed life as we knew it. Mandatory lockdowns, limited capacity for restaurants and retail outlets, working and learning remotely all wreaked havoc on local, provincial and national economies.

Amidst the chaos, the heavy construction industry hummed along relatively unscathed, albeit with a few adjustments.

Overall, the industry enjoyed a productive season in 2020 and expects more of the same this year as much of the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus.

“Despite COVID-19 and all of the additional precautions that were put in place, we actually had a really productive year [in 2020],” said Shantel Lipp, president of the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association. “I think we got more built last year than we did the year before (2019). I don’t know if part of that was because there were fewer people on the roads and that meant fewer obstacles and fewer shutdowns at certain times.

“Despite COVID-19 and all of the additional precautions that were put in place, we actually had a really productive year [in 2020].”

– Shantel Lipp, Saskatchewan Heavy Construction AssociatioN

“It was a banner year for road construction in terms of the amount of work we accomplished.”

Early in the pandemic, road builders and the work they do was considered by the government an essential service. Lipp praised SHCA members for their dedication to adhering to enhanced health and safety protocols that were introduced last year.

Safety meetings became virtual or were altered for those in attendance to be physically distanced. Equipment was frequently sanitized throughout the day, hand-washing stations were added to job sites. Those were just a few of the adjustments that crews made to enable them to safely work a full season during a pandemic.

Because of their actions, there were no major outbreaks of the virus on job sites across the province.

“The guys were extra diligent because they knew that should a COVID outbreak happen on their job site, they were going to be shut down for two weeks,” she said. “And you talk to any contractor, they’ll tell you that they can’t afford to be shut down for two weeks.”

The look was similar in Manitoba, a province that enforced a full lockdown for several months in 2020.

Chris Lorenc, president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association, says his members continued working last summer through adjusted procedures. He says daily temperature screening was common on job sites, as were virtual meetings with occupational health and safety officials to ensure everyone knew what was expected.

“Our industry has been permitted to continue providing its construction, maintenance and rehabilitation services throughout the pandemic, so we’re very grateful for that,” he said.

Viewed as an economic driver, the road building industry will be relied upon to stimulate the local and national economies post-pandemic. Provincial governments and the federal government already have indicated additional spending for this sector.

Road improvements are coming to more than 50 rural municipalities across Saskatchewan, thanks to $16.5 million in funding from the provincial government’s two-year, $7.5 billion infrastructure stimulus plan.

The funding is part of a three-year plan with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities to upgrade municipal roads, bridges and culverts.

In Manitoba, the provincial government unveiled last summer the $500-million Manitoba Restart Program. Of that funding, approximately $150 million is dedicated to resurfacing more than 240 kilometres of provincial highways and $65 million for major projects that will improve highway safety.

Major irrigation projects that will benefit members in both provinces are in the works. The Saskatchewan government plans to embark on a $4-billion irrigation infrastructure project at Lake Diefenbaker.

It’ll be the government’s biggest infrastructure project to date and SHCA will be major players over the next 10 years of construction in three main phases.

The government said it will create more than 2,500 construction jobs per year over the next 10 years, which is welcomed news to our industry.

In Manitoba, Lorenc is waiting to see the outcome of discussions between the provincial government and the federal government over the terms of the Lake Manitoba–Lake St. Martin outlet channel project (a $550-million, multi-year project that aims to mitigate the impacts of flooding).

“The stimulus program announced in 2020 didn’t flow nearly as much as was anticipated, so we assume that it will flow at a healthier clip for the construction season this year.”

– Chris Lorenc, Manitoba Heavy Construction Association

“The stimulus program announced in 2020 didn’t flow nearly as much as was anticipated, so we assume that it will flow at a healthier clip for the construction season this year,” Lorenc said. “There will be a nominal increase to the highways capital program…the Lake Manitoba project…If all of those approvals, along with the Investing in Canada’s Infrastructure program, materialize, I think Manitoba’s economy will get a good shot in the arm with infrastructure programs.”

In Alberta, the province plans to provide more infrastructure dollars to municipalities this year through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) with a $1.2-billion investment to provide economic stimulus and create jobs.

But this means a funding drop to $485 million in each of the following two years, where municipalities were initially slated to split $860 million.

Despite the cut to municipalities, a $20.7-billion capital plan will invest in 41 new infrastructure projects across the province and create about 90,000 jobs through 2024.

The 2021 capital plan will include new construction of roads, bridges, overpasses and water projects.

“When you consider that 65 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product is tied to trade and roughly 18 per cent of Canada’s workforce is tied to trade, it’s really important for Canadians to understand and for governments to understand this,” said Lorenc. “There is the infrastructure we want like our parks, swimming pools and recreation facilities. There’s infrastructure we need like healthcare facilities and schools. And then there’s the infrastructure that pays for all of these things – that is our trade infrastructure.

“We think there should be a significant long-term focus on investing in trade gateways and corridors in Western Canada to allow the region to become an even more prolific global trade partner to keep the economy humming.”