Recent Articles

Frustrated with single-window procurement? You’re not alone.

It is our understanding that the ideology behind single-window procurement was to streamline processes that would enable greater efficiency and smoother operations. It has become abundantly clear that this is not happening. 

Unnecessary delays in awarding tenders has become commonplace for many of our members. That is why I, on behalf of our association, recently sent a letter to government requesting immediate changes to this process. I encourage everyone to practise patience as we await a response from government. Hopefully this letter hits the ears it is intended for and a resolution is found sooner rather than later.

We are well aware that this procurement process needs improvements. I outlined in the letter that our recommendation for resolve is simple – our association would like to be consulted on any proposed changes moving forward.

We as an association welcome consultation and we are available to offer input and suggestions as to how we can improve operations. Good communications and consultation are central to the management process and assume critical importance when dealing with changes in working practices and procedures.

We appreciate attempts by the procurement staff at fixing a broken system, but their inexperience in road building and construction hinders their ability to assess the critical areas that need mending.

Effective consultation would allow the procurement team and our association to voice concerns and hopefully find common ground that would resolve this issue.

We are looking for accountability from our government. We ask that projects are awarded in a timely fashion to ensure completion dates can be met and to provide clarity for spring and summer scheduling. After all, association members are expected to present their bids before the tender closing dates.

Our business community suffers because of these delays and we understand our members are feeling pinched and they manage a balancing act of over-promising and under-delivering on jobs. 

We’re hopeful we will see progress with this sputtering procurement system and a more streamlined way of doing business. Thank you for your patience. Stay tuned.

The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (MHI) is continually exploring ways to improve the way we do business. Innovation helps us respond to the changing environment in which we operate. The Innovation Pipeline (TIP) is a new tool that will help us to innovate together. MHI is currently using TIP for innovation challenges to help us solve problems and come up with innovative solutions on a wide array of issues.

To this end, MHI is seeking input from key stakeholders using this new tool and are in the process of planning an innovation challenge to address the issue of late season paving.

MHI will be reaching out to members of the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association (SHCA) to seek their participation in this upcoming innovation challenge.

A request (sent via email) will be sent out to SHCA members for participation in this innovation challenge. MHI is seeking one (1) participant from each organization/company of SHCA to participate in this TIP challenge.

More information about the challenge is below. 

 

Context

Each year, contractors are faced with challenges when striving to complete their paving work in the late fall months when the days are shorter, and the temperatures are cooler. Our current specifications have temperature limitations to ensure adequate bonding – to reduce the risk of slip failures, density and joint density. This past season the temperature limitations were lowered, however, anticipated outcomes were not achieved. This innovation challenge will seek out other ideas that can be considered by MHI for implementation.

 

Goal

The end-goal is to allow for late season paving while still producing quality asphalt concrete and to ensure the safety of the travelling public is paramount. This innovation challenge is aligned to the MHI’s strategic goals of improved road conditions and improved safety supporting the vision: Transportation – Connecting Saskatchewan to the world.

 

Challenge outcome

All ideas submitted will help inform the solution that the MHI will adopt for late season pavements, beginning as early as Fall 2020.

SHCA members are asked to indicate their interest in participating in the challenge before Fri., Feb. 21. The tentative start date for the challenge will be in March 2020.

Click here to download the information package.

The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), the voice of Saskatchewan’s hometowns, announced recently that it is changing its name to Municipalities of Saskatchewan.

“The name Municipalities of Saskatchewan encompasses all of our communities – our cities, towns, villages, resort villages and northern municipalities – and demonstrates the true breadth and strength of Saskatchewan’s hometowns,” said president Gordon Barnhart.

SUMAdvantage, the group purchasing program, will be renamed CentralSource to represent the hub for procurement, expertise and partnership opportunities.

“Our values and principles will remain the same,” said Barnhart. “We will continue to ensure the interests of our members are represented to other orders of government, we will continue helping our hometowns save money, and we will continue to provide resources to make local government operations more effective.”

The rebranding announcement was made during the SUMA AGM at the 115th Annual SUMA Convention, which took place in Regina from Feb. 2–5.

Rebranding changes will be made over the next year and will include a new website. Work is also being done to amend the legislation incorporating the association.

Employment in Canada’s construction and maintenance industry is anticipated to grow by 50,200 workers by 2029. When coupled with the anticipated retirement of more than 257,000 construction workers over the same period, the industry will need to recruit more than 307,000 workers over the decade to keep pace with demand, according to the labour market forecast released today by BuildForce Canada.

BuildForce Canada’s 2020–2029 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward national report forecasts intensifying labour demand commencing in 2020, propelled by major public transportation and infrastructure, utility, liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline and health services projects. New-housing construction is expected to bounce back in most provinces, building on growing non-residential construction and maintenance demands fueled by ongoing investments in public and private infrastructure and increasing heavy industrial maintenance requirements.

“Canada’s construction outlook has strengthened from last year,” said Bill Ferreira, executive director of BuildForce Canada. “Our scenario predicts that growth will slow in the latter half of the decade, although labour market challenges are anticipated to intensify as the retirement wave crests and the pool of available youth shrinks.”

The most significant growth is expected to take place between 2020 and 2021.

British Columbia will remain the fastest growing market in 2020 and 2021, driven by public transportation projects, pipelines and work on the LNG Canada project and related pipeline infrastructure.

Ontario is expected to peak in 2020, driven by major project requirements in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Southwestern Ontario. These include light rail transit (LRT) projects, two nuclear refurbishment projects, and other infrastructure-related demands. This will be followed by a second peak expected in 2026.

Quebec’s infrastructure investments in roads, highways, bridges, health care, education, and public transit are expected to accelerate in 2020 and 2021, building on four years of growth.

Prince Edward Island also continues to grapple with expansions in housing and institutional requirements, while Nova Scotia braces for increased demands driven by several health care projects expected over the next few years.

“Meeting anticipated peak employment demands in British Columbia and Ontario will likely require significant levels of interprovincial mobility,” said Ferreira. “Accessing workers from provinces where market conditions have softened will be critical.”

Non-residential employment demands are also expected to grow throughout the scenario period. The principle driver has been an explosion of major projects in the energy and utilities sectors, public transportation, and other institutional infrastructure projects. Growth in retail and wholesale trade, the transportation and warehousing sectors, and manufacturing should further boost construction of industrial buildings, while immigration-driven population growth will maintain upward pressure on commercial and institutional construction.

Employment in non-residential construction is expected to rise by 33,100 workers (+6%) over the scenario period.

The development of skilled tradespersons in the construction industry takes years, and often requires participation in a provincial apprenticeship program. As such, replacing retiring workers typically requires several years of pre-planning to avoid skills gaps. By 2029, an estimated 257,100 construction workers, or 22% of the 2019 labour force, are expected to retire. Based on historical trends, Canada’s construction industry is expected to draw an estimated 227,600 first-time entrants aged 30 and younger from the local population, leaving the industry with a possible retirement-recruitment gap of 29,500 workers. When coupled with demand growth, the industry may be short as many as 82,400 workers by 2029. Clearly, an ongoing commitment to training and apprenticeship development will be necessary to ensure there are sufficient numbers of qualified tradespeople to sustain a skilled labour force over the long term.

To meet its growing needs, the construction and maintenance industry will need to increase recruitment from groups traditionally underrepresented in the current construction labour force, including women, Indigenous people and new Canadians.

In 2019, Canada’s construction industry employed approximately 191,700 women, of which 27% worked directly on construction projects. Of the 1.1 million tradespeople employed in the industry, women made up only 4.7%. Similarly, Indigenous people accounted for little more than 4.9% of the total, of which about 81% work directly on construction projects. Increasing the participation of both these groups would go a long way to help the industry address future labour force needs.

New Canadians currently make up approximately 18% of Canada’s construction labour force. Over the coming decade, Canada is seeking to admit an average of 330,000 newcomers every year, making the immigrant population an important source of potential workers.

“The construction industry will need to concentrate on recruiting, training and retaining young workers, even as peak labour demand slows,” said Ferreira. “Even if the labour market leverages full interprovincial mobility, the industry will still need to be diligent in recruiting, training, and retaining young workers, and expand recruiting efforts for new workers from local labour, other industries, and new immigrants to meet ongoing labour needs.”

BuildForce Canada is a national industry-led organization that represents all sectors of Canada’s construction industry. Its mandate is to provide accurate and timely labour market data and analysis, as well as programs and initiatives to help manage labour force requirements and build the capacity and the capability of Canada’s construction and maintenance industry. Visit www.constructionforecasts.ca.

The championship finals are set for the Global Operator Challenge, the largest global campaign in Caterpillar history. Nine regional champions from around the world will compete in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, for their quest to be named the best of the best and awarded Global Operator Challenge Champion. The finals will take place at the Cat Operator Stadium inside Caterpillar’s booth in the new CONEXPO outdoor Festival Grounds.

Participants’ operating skills were put to the test through a range of machines and tasks. Operators were scored on speed, accuracy and operating best practice with penalties imposed for errors. The operator with the lowest overall time for all tasks was acknowledged as the local champion and moved onto the regional championships.

A total of 32 finalists, divided in eastern and western divisions of the U.S. and Canada, competed in four machine challenges in the North American regional competition during the week of October 21, 2019. Alberta, Canada’s Jaus Neigum, representing Finning Cat, won the Western Regional finals.

At CONEXPO, there will be three final machine challenges: operating a medium hydraulic excavator using GRADE 2D, a medium wheel loader with Production Management and a Next Generation Mini-Excavator. After completion of the skills challenges, awards will be presented for the lowest time for each individual challenge, best team performance, and announcement of the Global Operator Challenge Champion based on overall performance.

SHCA is cheering for you, Jaus! For those not attending the show, a live broadcast of the competition will be held on www.cat.com.

More information on the Global Operator Challenge can be found at cat.com/challenge and cat.com/conexpo.

SHCA members are encouraged to attend SARM’s largest annual event in Regina, beginning March 9. There is no registration fee and everyone is invited to attend.

Learn more: SARM Annual Convention.

The Heavy Construction Safety Association of Saskatchewan is hosting its AGM Awards Banquet on March 27, 2020 in Regina.

Register here.