Seasonal workloads, reduced investments in building construction, and ongoing public-health measures to control the spread of COVID-19 combined to lower construction employment in January.

The company will use the money to manufacture more of its COVID-19 contact-tracing devices, and to create more jobs.

The group head of Plenary Americas’ buildings division previous served for seven years with Infrastructure Ontario and Ontario Realty Corp. She takes over her new role at IO in April.

ADP Canada’s latest national employment report shows country-wide job losses of more than 231,000 in January, including 45,000 in the construction industry.

In a series of announcements in February, the senior levels of government announced more than $6 million in funding for infrastructure projects in three communities.