Ontario Permits More Businesses and Services to Reopen in the Coming Days
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On Monday, June 8, 2020, the Ontario government announced that it is getting more people back to work and more recreational activities open by moving forward with a regional approach to Stage 2 of reopening the province.
In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and local health officials, the government is easing restrictions in communities where it is safe to do so, based on trends of key public health indicators such as lower rates of transmission, increased capacity in hospitals, and progress made in testing.
Effective Friday, June 12, 2020 at 12:01 a.m., the province will increase the limit on social gatherings from five to 10 people across the province, regardless of whether a region has moved to Stage 2.
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Ontario Extends Emergency Orders to Support Its Reopening Efforts
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Province Extends the Suspension of Limitation Periods and Time Periods for Legal Proceedings until September
The Ontario government, after consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, has extended all emergency orders currently in force under s.7.0.2 (4) of the
Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act
until June 19, 2020. Extending these emergency orders will give employers of frontline care providers the necessary flexibility to respond to COVID-19 and protect vulnerable people and the public as the province gradually and safely reopens.
Current emergency orders that have been extended include those that enable frontline care providers to redeploy staff where they are needed most, allow public health units to redeploy or hire staff to support case management and contact tracing, and prohibits long-term care and retirement home employees from working at more than one home or for another health service provider.
Additionally, due to COVID-19's unprecedented impact on the justice system, the province is extending the suspension of limitation periods and time periods in proceedings until September 11, 2020 under
s.7.1
of the
Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act
. This will ensure people will not experience legal consequences if the original time requirements of their case are not met while this order is in effect. The province is working closely with the courts to ensure operations can resume as soon as it is safely possible.
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Labour market bounces back in May as tens of thousands of construction workers return to job sites
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Construction employers in May patched up some the considerable damage COVID-19 has caused to the industry’s labour market.
In its latest Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada said about 73,700 workers returned to job sites last month, bringing the total construction workforce to just under 1.25 million. The positive momentum counters major job losses a month earlier, but falls well short of returning labour levels to their pre-crisis level.
Construction skated through March with few job losses, but in April, Quebec and Ontario forced the closure of large segments of their building industries. As a result, construction
shed more than 300,000 jobs
, or about 20 per cent of its workforce on the month.
Seeing a 6.3 per cent increase in employment in May, construction rebounded more quickly than the overall Canadian economy, which recorded a 1.8 per cent rise in employment on the month. The construction labour market remains about 16 per cent below its pre-pandemic high water mark of approximately 1.5 million workers.
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Construction supply chain holds up through pandemic, helped by contractors adopting digital delivery options
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The construction supply chain has strained under the considerable weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in spite of slowdowns at manufacturing plants, revamped procedures at Canadian borders and stricter protocols on job sites, haulers have, generally speaking, continued to deliver the materials needed to keep projects moving forward.
In Ontario last month, three out of every five contractors in the ICI (industrial, commercial and institutional) sector reported supply chain disruptions at a medium or high level, according to a survey conducted by the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS). A similar study conducted several weeks earlier found 63 per cent of contractors were affected by supply chain issues, illustrating marginal improvement between April and May.
With COVID-19 forcing contractors’ hands, the construction industry looks likely to emerge from the pandemic with a firmer grasp of technology and a greater willingness to embrace it.
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The Residential and Non-Residential Construction Industry Will Lead the Post COVID-19 Economic Recovery
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The Canadian and Ontario Home Builders’ Associations (CHBA and OHBA) and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) have submitted a 20-point plan to the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee to help kick-start the Canadian economy post COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on Canada, Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Millions of people lost their jobs and the economy has all but ground to a halt. As governments at all levels start to look at recovery, they will need to focus on the GTA. The region is the engine of Canada’s economy, accounting for 20 per cent of Canada’s GDP and 50 per cent of Ontario’s GDP.
The residential and commercial building and development industry, and the professional renovations industry, are major contributors to economic activity in the region. Collectively, they employ more than 360,000 people in the GTA, paying $22 billion in wages and generating $42 billion in investment value annually.
Proposed measures include transferring mortgage tenancy to the date of occupancy for new condominiums, eliminating security deposits for Ontario Land Transfer Tax on affiliated transfers and freezing municipal increases to Property Tax Reassessment and development charges.
Another proposed recommendation is to free up monies that would otherwise be stuck in such things as municipal agreements (refundable deposits paid by developers) and replace them with surety bonds, freeing up billions in potential investments that otherwise would have been parked.
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TCA Resources on COVID-19
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To access TCA dedicated Covid-19 Updates,
click here
.
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