The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour is concerned the millions of dollars being allocated for affordable housing may lead to the cutting of corners in the rush to build homes.
Gil McGowan is calling for strings to be attached to future funding for residential projects.
The federal government announced in November a $1-billion fund dedicated to getting more affordable housing built.
Calgary will be the beneficiary of $228 million in funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) after the federal government supported the city’s recently approved housing strategy.
The funding is set to fast-track the construction of more than 6,800 housing units over the next three years, and fund initiatives to spur the construction of upward of 35,000 new homes over the next decade.
McGowan says the large amounts of money that are being earmarked by governments at the federal and municipal levels for new housing projects are an opportunity to address not only the housing shortfall but will serve as a chance to “clean up” the residential construction sector.
He says there is a model that’s being pioneered in the industrial construction sector, which he believes should be followed in the residential construction sector.
Over the past two years, he said people in the labour movement have been working with the federal government on investment tax credits for industrial construction.
He points to the Dow project near Edmonton that’s being aided through the industrial tax credit.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced a new $8.9 billion investment by Dow last month.
Both the federal and provincial representatives claimed the Dow project was proof of success of their respective tax breaks and grants.
McGowan said that in the AFL discussions with the federal government, the organization introduced a notion he describes as “labour conditions.”
“We said that we should attach strings to make sure that the jobs that are created are good jobs,” said McGowan. “So, with the investment tax credits that were approved in last year‘s federal budget, in order to qualify for these investment tax credits or for the full benefit of them, employers in the industrial sector have to demonstrate they are hiring workers at the prevailing wage which is defined by the union contracts in that sector and they also have to demonstrate that at least 10 per cent of the workers on any project have to be apprentices.”
He said the conditions only apply to the specific investment tax credits included in federal Budget 2023 (for Clean Tech, Hydrogen and CCUS projects) and he want to see them attached to the funding for residential construction.
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“I think you could even consider attaching some labour conditions related to workplace health and safety, because the sector has an awful track record in terms of injuries and fatalities,” McGowan said. “A lot of these companies traditionally have been cutting corners when it comes to health and safety.”
The president of Peden Safety Consulting says the biggest concerns he sees at job sites are companies not having a budget for safety or not having an understanding of why a safety program should be important to them.
“Lots of them see it as extra cost but it’s been proven over and over again that it reduces cost through Workers Compensation Board (WCB) premiums being lower, less time being spent covering injured workers, their jobs being vacant, and it improves morale,” explained Rick Peden.
He sometimes sees people cutting corners trying to get a job done too quickly.
“For example, it only takes a couple of minutes to do this. We won’t bother putting on our fall protection because it takes too long. It’s typically rushing to get the job done (where) corners get cut.”
He says workplace safety is a shared responsibility between workers and employers.
“It falls to the employer to make sure the workplace is safe for everybody,” said Peden. “Going back to the rushing trying to get the work done – that definitely lies with the worker. Trying to cut corners to get the job done. Working after hours no one’s around, so I won’t bother following this to get this done because it only takes a minute to get it completed. That’s normally when I see incidents happening.”
Peden says with the rush to get more affordable housing built, inexperienced workers may be put as risk.
“Where we may end up seeing some issues is with inexperienced workers coming in and having to fill these jobs without the proper training or the proper mentoring from more experienced workers to help them along,” Peden said.
Peden says special care should be taken to make sure new Canadians understand everything they are told.
“English is a second language becomes a barrier for a lot of these places because they’re not able to convey the health and safety policies and standards and we also see cultural things. For example, a person might say I can’t report this incident because I’m gonna be fired, which is not true here in Alberta. We want those things reported so we can address them so it doesn’t happen again,” Peden said.
He urges employers to have a solid safety program and to have the right equipment and training to do the job. He said employers may have to think outside of the box to come up with ways to communicate with people where English is an issue.
“Maybe translating parts of the safety manual so people can understand it or having a translator on staff to help people because if they’re not following procedures, it could lead to catastrophe,” Peden said.
McGowan said discussions about extending labour conditions to other federal tax credits and investments are in the very early stages.
The concept has been raised at the House of Commons Finance Committee as part of deliberations on budget 2024.
Building Industry and Land Development Association – Calgary Region (BILDCR) is an industry advocacy group that works with various levels of government and stakeholder groups.
The organization says it’s working with the Alberta Construction Safety Association and Alberta Occupational Health and Safety to promote and improve safety throughout the residential construction industry.
“Our members also remain engaged with the government of Alberta and several non-profits in designing specific safety and language training to provide the knowledge and skills needed for any new Albertan to work safely,” read a statement from BILDCR.
A spokesperson said housing projects funded by federal and municipal governments are typically built by large commercial contractors through a competitive bid process and not traditional residential home builders.
Katherine Cuplinskas, a senior communications advisor and press secretary for the deputy prime minister, confirmed to Global News that businesses that receive federal funding through clean technology tax credits must meet certain criteria to ensure workers are safe and compensated appropriately.
“The federal government is making over $120 billion in historic investments to grow Canada’s clean economy, including by creating clean technology investment tax credits that encourage employers to pay prevailing union wages and create apprenticeship opportunities,” said Cuplinskas in a statement to Global News. “This was done deliberately to ensure that the tax credits, by design, create and sustain good, high-paying, jobs in Canada.”
Occupational Health and Safety legislation in Alberta requires that companies with more than 20 employees have a health and safety program that meets criteria laid out by the government.
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