The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) is again calling on governments to commit funding to municipalities to ensure that budgets are balanced and capital projects can be tendered.

“Governments must keep the momentum going and collaborate on a Safe Restart Agreement 2.0 for the upcoming construction season,” says RCCAO board chair Peter Smith. “We appreciate the financial relief that was provided late last year but there is a pressing need for funds to continue flowing in 2021 or municipalities will face the prospect of having to cancel projects, which could lead to heavy job losses in construction and other industries.”

The alliance released a video on January 14 in which it renewed it call for funding. The video references a report prepared for RCCAO by Prism Economics, and which concludes that the province could be heading toward significant economic stagnation as well as large numbers of job losses in construction and related industries if planned capital investments by municipalities dry up.

The report indicates 41,000 construction-related jobs are at risk if the number and value of institutional building permits continues to decline. Overall, 117,000 direct construction, supply chain and broader economy jobs are under threat due to cancellations.

Ontario contractors report that project tenders are already down, and hundreds of construction workers have already been laid off.

“The first round of funding for 2020 was a step in the right direction and showed what can be accomplished when governments work together,” says Nadia Todorova, interim executive director of RCCAO. “However, they must now follow through on the next phase of funding so that municipalities can give the green light to much-needed state-of-good-repair projects for 2021. Otherwise, the pipeline of projects will be delayed or cancelled, resulting in more layoffs and uncertainty.”

Cities are facing increased costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are being forced to raid their capital funds to balance their budgets. A Safe Restart Agreement 2.0 would provide municipalities with financial certainty so they can proceed with necessary state-of-good repair projects.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said as much on January 12. At a speech to the Empire Club of Canada, he indicated his city would have to cut as much as $860 million in capital spending if it did not receive additional funding from higher levels of government.

“This is an issue that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later or the 2021 construction year will be lost,” says Smith. “The health of the economy and hundreds of construction jobs are at stake.”