January 7, 2008

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Canadian non-residential construction industry enjoyed another strong year in 2007

Canadian Construction Association will continue to take the lead on key issues in 2008

MICHAEL ATKINSON

CCA PRESIDENT

In the wake of another strong year for the non-residential construction industry in Canada, the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) has taken the lead on a number of key issues of interest to the non-residential construction sector.

Labour Supply

• CCA met with officials from the office of the Minister of Labour to discuss the federal and provincial government’s commitment to eliminate interprovincial labour mobility barriers by April 1, 2009. The government confirmed this objective and stated that it will use the labour market agreement between Alberta and B.C. as a template for a national agreement.

• The federal government unveiled a number of announcements designed to facilitate the entry of Temporary Foreign Workers into Canada, including expedited processing times, the ability to claim permanent status while working on a temporary basis and a doubling of the time that a Temporary Foreign Worker could work in Canada.

Tax reform

• Budget 2007 responded to a specific CCA request by increasing the capital cost allowance for buildings from four to six per cent.

• The March 2007 Federal Budget announced that Finance would be working with the CRA and the Office of the Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism) to identify simplification options that could help further reduce the tax compliance burden on small businesses, including options to simplify the tax provisions relating to automobiles and taxable benefits.

• In his October 30 mini-Budget, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced an acceleration of the reduction to the small business tax rate – it will now be 11 per cent as of Jan. 1, 2008. Furthermore, the general corporate tax rate will be lowered to 15 per cent by 2012, and EI rates were being lowered by 7 cents per $100 of insurable earnings for employees and 10 cents for employers.

Standard Documents

• In conjunction with the other members of the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC), the updated version of CCDC2 was released in 2007, with the eventual release planned for early 2008.

• CCA61, “Risks of Pre-Purchasing Equipment and Materials for Construction Projects” was also finalized. CCA61 will look at various factors involved in pre-purchases and recommend best practices to ensure that the decision to pre-purchase contributes maximum net value to the successful outcome of a project.

Electronic Tendering

• CCA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) that grants CCA member association plan rooms with unfettered access to all federal contract tenders. CCA member associations can now access, print, disseminate and distribute tender information for the purpose of facilitating and supporting the procurement process for the federal government.

• CCA successfully coordinated an initiative spearheaded by the COO Committee called CANet, or Construction Association Network. Its vision is to be recognized as the Construction industry’s one-stop shop for accurate, timely information about construction tender opportunity information.

Infrastructure

• After an aggressive lobbying campaign on the part of the CCA, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled the federal Budget in March 2007 that contained what was claimed to be the largest single investment in Canada’s infrastructure since the Second World War. More than $33 billion in new infrastructure investments were announced. As of November 2007, the first federal-provincial agreements to implement these funds were being signed.

• These announcements are in addition to $4 billion as of yet unspent from previous infrastructure programs, but which will be spent by 2011-12.

Gold Seal

• The Gold Seal program enjoyed resurgence in 2007, with close to 600 certifications in 2007 – double the number compared to last year. The roadbuilding and heavy construction sector recorded one of the strongest growth rates among all industry sectors participating in Gold Seal.

• Gold Seal also introduced a new Construction Safety Coordinator designation which has been extremely popular across the country.

• The quality system which is an essential component of Gold Seal’s credibility and success, has been formalized, with planning and resources put in place to revise occupational profiles and exams on a regular basis. In 2007 the Specialty Trades and Electrical profiles, along with their exams, were updated and work commenced on the project manager and roadbuilder profiles.

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