Recent Articles

As inflation rises, and with it, economic uncertainty, On-Site pinpointed five projects to watch as construction continues across Canada.

Click here to read about the projects On-Site highlighted.

A multi-year series of highway safety improvements is nearing completion on Highway 7. The latest upgrades include passing lanes between Kindersley and the Saskatchewan-Alberta border. Since 2014, the Government of Saskatchewan has invested about $120 million on major safety improvements on Highway 7 between Saskatoon and the interprovincial boundary.

This year, the province is investing $18 million to build six passing lanes between Kindersley and the border. The project also includes intersection improvements at Marengo and Alsask. Construction runs from about 27 km west of Kindersley to nearly 2 km east of Alberta.

Passing lanes will provide additional opportunities for travelers to pass safely.

“Safety is our business and it is great to see the improvements on Highway 7 including passing lanes and turning lanes in our area,” Janelle Layton, the owner of Jorann Safety in Kindersley, said. “These safety improvements have been well received by our local community and the professional drivers alike.”

Highway 7 is a busy highway corridor and pivotal for travelers between the largest cities in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

In addition to 22 passing lanes from Delisle to the border, 31 km of twinning was completed southwest of Saskatoon to Delisle in 2019.

Did you know that with the redesigned SaskHeavy.ca website, anyone can do a comprehensive search of SHCA members by specialty?

If you need asphalt hauled, aggregate tested, equipment parts, financing, landscaping, logging, surveying and more, visit the member directory on SaskHeavy.ca and conduct a search. Find and support fellow SHCA members!

Give it a try.

The Western Canadian Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Association (WCR&HCA) are heading to Waikiki, Hawaii, Feb. 5–9, 2023, for the Stronger Together Conference. Hosting hundreds of delegates from across Western Canada, the conference offers industry speakers, education and an array of networking events. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect!

Click here for more information about the conference; we hope to see SHCA members there!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Find out more.

Busy, busy, busy. It’s that time of year when many in the province are enjoying their summer vacations, while those of us in the heavy construction industry are hard at work, continuing to make progress on important initiatives.

This month, one of the initiatives I am working on involves the City of Regina. A motion that I have been following closely was up for debate by Regina city council.

That motion is about local procurement and economic recovery. What was of particular interest in that motion is that it calls for a fair wage policy for all construction, maintenance and service contracts.

In mid-August, the motion came up before council and I made a submission on behalf of the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association. Ours was among a number of submissions made by private employers, business groups, industry associations, labour groups and more.

SHCA’s position is that a fair wage policy should not be implemented at this time. This was the recommendation of city administration, and we agree with that recommendation. To us, it is government over-reach.

Council voted on the motion that would bring about a fair wage policy on Aug. 17. The vote was split, 5-5, meaning the motion was defeated. Mayor Sandra Masters was quoted in the media as saying, “The information that was shared with council is that we are providing a solution for a problem that may not quite exist right now.”

In my submission, I explained the implications of such a policy and raised questions not yet answered about it. I share this so you know what we brought forward.

For example, I described the current financial stresses in the construction industry with increased costs for fuel, building materials, equipment, vehicles, parts and more.

Competition for labour is very tight right now, so employers recognize they need to pay their people well. Asking these employers to pay even more would mean some would have to lay off employees or close their doors.

Second, I reminded them that contracts awarded by the City of Regina are usually with a general contractor, who enlist sub-contractors. A GC would have difficulty providing wage information for the employees of the sub-trades. Then, there is the administration of that wage information. There are privacy implications. Plus, it would be difficult to control or manage that information as contractors can and do move workers between job sites. City officials would also have more work, which could further delay the awarding of contracts, which would impact scheduling and capacity for the industry.  

Third, in response to it being proposed that a mandatory apprenticeship requirement be enacted, I explained that heavy civil construction does not have apprenticeship or journeyman designations for occupations outside of the heavy equipment mechanic positions. Having such a requirement for all contractors would exclude our sector from bidding on city work.

Fourth, I explained how employees in our industry are compensated, which is based on skill, training, experience and the type of work they are undertaking. These factors are also weighed against what the market will bear. Only mining employees receive better pay than those in our industry in our province. Employees in our industry also receive benefits such as medical, dental, health spending accounts, company vehicles and additional training.

Finally, I described the quality of the work done by our members. I explained that those doing municipal construction work invest significantly in quality control to ensure the products and materials they provide meet or exceed specifications. Contractors invest in quality control testing, spending on equipment and services.

The City of Regina has been doing a remarkable job on local procurement. Almost all construction services are awarded locally, and all have been staying with Saskatchewan contractors. The community benefits when local vendors are trusted.

That is also why we asked that city administration and council to work with sectors such as ours on a second motion around Indigenous procurement that was before council. We encouraged the City of Regina to work with sectors like ours as it creates its policy on this as we have strong representation of Indigenous people working in our industry. We know there is more work to be done as we talk and learn while building a stronger relationship, but a lot has been learned so far that we could share. This motion on Indigenous procurement was passed unanimously.

I appreciate that city administration and council engaged business as it considered these motions and policy to be developed. Industries like ours have learned a lot as we worked through policy changes with various levels of government. Being able to bring that valuable experience to the table contributes to government’s understanding what business needs to be successful working with them.