CCA's Priorities and Achievements

Industry Summit Still Shaping Association’s Priorities

Canadian Construction Association (CCA) held a national Non-Residential Construction Industry Summit in January of 2010 designed to identify the major trends that will impact the non-residential construction industry in the short term. The following six themes were identified:
Labour supply and training;
Infrastructure investment;
Awareness of environmental issues;
Public-private partnerships (P3s);
Increased competition from global/foreign firms; and
New technology.

Testament to the foresight of the summit participants, these themes are still top priority areas for the Canadian construction industry.

1. Labour Supply

According to Construction Sector Council’s (CSC) 2011 Labour Market Information (LMI) assessment, the construction industry in Canada will need to find some 335,000 new entrants by 2019 to replace retiring workers and to keep pace with increasing demand.

Recruitment

In the spring of 2011 CCA launched a new civil construction careers website. See www.careersincivilconstruction.ca.

Immigration Reform

The CSC LMI study concludes that of the 335,000 new construction entrants required by 2019, domestic sources can only provide some 163,000 leaving a net total of 172,000 that will need to come from foreign sources. Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program and immigration system generally, however, need to become much more “construction-friendly”. CCA is lobbying for a number of changes in this regard to ensure that these programs work more effectively for the construction industry.

2. Post-Stimulus & Infrastructure Investment – What Comes Next?

With regard to infrastructure investment and the post-stimulus marketplace, CCA continues to lobby for permanent, long-term infrastructure re-investment programs.

This past year the federal government followed-up on its promise to make the $2 billion annual Gas Tax contribution to municipal infrastructure a permanent program.
Last January, a National Infrastructure Summit was organized by the Big City Mayors Caucus within the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The purpose of the summit was to identify ways by which municipalities, working with senior levels of government, can best address the growing sizeable municipal infrastructure deficit. CCA was a prominent sponsor and participant in that event and was invited to participate in follow-up discussions.
Subsequently the federal government made a commitment to work with the provinces, territories, the municipalities and other stakeholders to develop a long-term plan for public infrastructure that extends beyond the expiry of the current Building Canada Plan in 2014. CCA expects to be involved at some stage in that process.

Infrastructure Report Card

CCA is also working with the FCM, the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the Canadian Public Works Association to develop a National State of Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, which it hopes to publish on an annual basis as a credible measurement of the current state of Canada’s key public infrastructure. The first phase will concentrate on core municipal infrastructure (e.g. roads, water systems and sewers). More than 400 municipalities have participated to date. The inaugural report is expected to be released early in 2012 to coincide with the lead-up to the 2012 federal budget.

3. Environmental Issues

On the environment front, CCA eagerly awaits the parliamentary review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act scheduled for later this year.
Environmental assessment in Canada is an extremely lengthy and inefficient process due primarily to the overlapping of federal and provincial jurisdictions. CCA recommends that the federal act be significantly revised to create a national environmental assessment standard and to reduce the federal “triggers” to cases where the federal government itself is the project proponent or where no other jurisdiction has assessment authority.

4. P3s and Foreign Competition

The move to the P3 delivery model by Canadian governments, especially at the provincial level, has attracted a number of large, international construction firms with considerable expertise in the P3 delivery method. These firms often bring with them competitive financing options not available to most Canadian domestic firms.
The interest in the Canadian construction market by foreign firms, especially those in Europe, is at an all-time high given the buoyant projections for the Canadian construction market and the devastating impact the recent recession has had on the US and European markets. Last March, Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics released a global forecast for the construction industry over the next decade to 2020. Entitled Global Construction 2020, it predicts that by 2020, Canada will have the fifth largest construction market in the world behind China, the US, India and Japan. It also says that while global construction activity on average will grow by 5.2 per cent annually, Europe’s construction market will experience stagnant growth of just 1.7 per cent, causing its construction firms to look elsewhere for work.
CCA strongly supports free trade and open access to the Canadian market. Access; however, must be conditional upon equality of treatment and reciprocity between countries. As such, CCA has adopted a position that supports the equal opportunity and access to government procurement or government funded infrastructure development and/or construction opportunities for foreign firms operating in Canada, provided reciprocal access is granted to Canadian firms in the respective foreign country.
Most of Canada’s construction businesses are small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. While CCA appreciates scale is important to overcome higher P3 pursuit costs, governments must, in balancing their needs, not adopt policies that disadvantage SMEs or create insurmountable obstacles to their participation in this growing segment of the public infrastructure market.
CCA will continue to pursue fair and equal treatment for SMEs in the growing P3 market, including the pursuit of new policy options with the federal government to help SMEs play a greater role in the emerging P3 market.

5. Technology

With respect to new technology, CCA has established the new Institute for BIM in Canada (IBC) and is examining the feasibility of creating a Canadian Construction Research Institute.

New BIM Institute

CCA led the establishment of the Institute for BIM in Canada last November. The new institute has created its own website, developed a business plan, completed a BIM environmental scan, started the development of a BIM practice manual, started to issue bulletins, and completed a communications strategy. A working group has also been formed to look at the development of contract language for the purposes of BIM. The website is www.ibc-bim.ca.
IBC has also established a Canadian chapter within buildingSMART International (bSI).

Proposed New Construction Industry Research Institute

CCA is exploring with like-minded organizations the possible establishment of a Canadian Construction Industry Research Institute to:
•   Identify the R&I needs in the construction industry;
•   Formulate a plan to fulfill these needs;
•   Strengthen the relationship and collaboration between industry and academia;
•   Learn from successful models implemented in other developed countries.

Other CCA Priorities

Hours of Service

CCA submitted its final application in support of an industry exemption from the cycle requirements of the federal Hours of Service Regulations and is working on a Winter Maintenance exemption request to be submitted in the late fall.

Gold Seal Construction Management Certification Program

CCA’s Gold Seal certification program has gained considerable momentum in recent years, and is proving to be a timely and cost-effective investment for construction employers in terms of corporate HR recruitment, employee retention and professional development strategies.
2010 was another good year for Gold Seal with the accreditation of an additional 152 construction management education courses/seminars and the designation of six Gold Seal Projects. There are now over 7,500 Gold Seal certified individuals!

CCA 2011-2013 Strategic Plan

Another recent development that will affect CCA’s future course is the new Strategic Plan endorsed by the CCA Board of Directors in March of 2011. The strategic plan is available for CCA members in the Members Only section.

The strategic plan addresses seven major areas:

Advocacy – To ensure that CCA’s voice is an effective one with the federal government on issues of concern to the Canadian construction industry;
Best Practices – To ensure that CCA continues to be a significant force in the development and use of best practices in the construction industry;
Communications – To ensure that CCA communicates effectively to its members, its Partner Associations, its peer groups, government and the public-at-large;
Partnerships – To ensure that CCA continues to enhance and make more effective its partnership with its Partner Associations;
Membership Retention and Growth – CCA must work with its Partner Associations to ensure effective strategies to retain and grow our membership base;
Advanced Business Practices – CCA must strive to become a source for information on new business trends and technologies that will impact the construction industry; and
Organizational Capacity – CCA must streamline its internal operations and structure to better fulfill its mandate.

Conclusion

The outlook for the construction industry in Canada has never looked better. CCA is pleased with the progress it has made in 2011 in regard to its priority areas and looks forward to taking its efforts to a new level in 2012.

Canadian Construction Association