The Ontario government recently released its Fall Economic Statement. The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) is encouraged by the progress detailed therein regarding transit and transportation infrastructure. These projects have been made possible by historic investments in transportation infrastructure and demonstrate impressive progress on the enabling infrastructure for the Bradford Bypass, design, environmental assessment, and field work on Highway 413, and tendering for the Ontario Line.
“Ontario has made substantial progress on key transit and transportation projects that will provide significant improvements to Ontario’s transportation grid,” explained Nadia Todorova, Executive Director of RCCAO. “This continued focus and follow through are critical to Ontario’s future.”
RCCAO is excited by the Ontario Government’s continued focus on recruiting a new generation of builders and expanding training capacity across Ontario. They welcome new colleagues from all walks of life to help build Ontario. Long-term economic competitiveness is highly dependent upon the renewal of Ontario’s skilled and construction trades workforce.
Despite this welcomed progress on provincially controlled infrastructure, RCCAO still implores both the Governments of Ontario and Canada to step up with funding support to municipalities that will address budgetary shortfalls brought about by the COVID pandemic. Such concerted support from the federal and provincial governments is required or else municipal capital and state-of-good repair projects are at risk of being delayed or cancelled.
The ramifications of such potential delays and cancellations would have highly negative consequences for workers while adding significant strain to infrastructure that is already operating with a backlog in state-of-good-repair work. Tenders and projects could proceed if funding assurances were in place, rather than risking losses during construction season.
