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priority for the Provincial Building and Construction and April 2020, the province’s construction industry
Trades Council of Ontario was the health and safety lost 94,000 jobs as a result of this voluntary
of the construction workforce and this message was retrenchment.
clearly conveyed to the provincial government. This
meant that a number of immediate improvements As the construction sector remained open, the
had to be implemented on construction jobsites, Provincial Building Trades Council began hosting
and the industry, along with government, came weekly conference calls of the Provincial Executive
together to make those changes. Board, of the Local Building Trades Councils from
across Ontario, of the Building Trades Training
On March 20, a “COVID-19 Advisory for Providers, and of all the Provincial Councils from
Construction Workplaces in Ontario” notice was across the country. The purpose of the calls was
jointly released by the Construction Employers to share critically valuable information about
Coordinating Council of Ontario (CECCO), the (1) any reported cases of COVID-19 infections
Council of Ontario Construction Associations affecting construction workers, including whether
(COCA), the Construction and Design Alliance of those infections were contracted on jobsites; (2)
Ontario (CDAO), and the Provincial Building and overall Building Trades construction employment
Construction Trades Council of Ontario (PBCTCO) levels; and (3) the state of jobsite conditions and
outlining essential and immediate actions that compliance with established safety protocols,
had to be implemented on construction jobsites
across the province, to ensure the health and
ONTARIO INSULATORS
safety of workers by reducing the risk of COVID-19
transmission which would allow the contractors to
ENERGY CONSERVATION SPECIALISTS
operate safely. LEADERS IN MECHANICAL INSULATION, ASBESTOS REMOVAL & FIRESTOPPING SERVICES
Premier Ford declared construction as an ‘essential
service’ on March 23, 2020 and the sector was kept
open. With the widespread closures of non-essential
businesses across the economy however, a portion
of Ontario’s construction industry did shut down
voluntarily as some owner-clients and contractors
closed down jobsites, impacting individual Building
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Trades workers who stopped working. Premier Ford WWW.INSULATORS95.CO
Ontario Insulators Local Ninety-Five
told workers who were afraid of contracting COVID- Insulators95
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19 at work, to go home. In fact, between February
APRIL 2021 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 27
