Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) support Ontario’s decision to remove the construction permitting restrictions and the prohibition on starting new renovations that were part of the emergency orders that came into effect January 13.
As the province transitions back to the COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open, all residential construction, including renovations and related support activities may resume Feb. 10 with strict COVID-19 measures in place, Premier Doug Ford announced Monday.
“The health and well-being of workers and residents continues to be our top priority,” said Dave Wilkes, BILD president and CEO. “Our industry looks forward to ensuring a healthy supply of new homes and workspaces, allowing workers to provide for their families and making our contribution the economy under strict health and safety protocols.”
Changes will enable the construction industry to meet housing, non-residential building and renovation needs of residents across Ontario, while continuing to protect workers’ health and well-being.
Health and safety are always priorities on construction work sites. During COVID-19, the industry has adopted strict measures that meet or exceed the requirements outlined by the provincial government. While there have been isolated cases, the overall very low number of construction-related COVID-19 cases compared to other industry sectors demonstrates how the industry has, and will continue to, respond to this public health crisis.
“Our industry continues to implement the Ministry of Labour’s guidelines on construction site health and safety during COVID-19,” said Joe Vaccaro, OHBA CEO. “Keeping colleagues, employees, and homeowners safe needs to continue to be the priority, and that includes Ministry of Labour inspections and, if necessary, closing any site that doesn’t meet or exceed these requirements. We need to keep each other safe as we continue to deliver keys to homeowners.”
Ontario is moving to a regional approach and maintaining the shutdown in the majority of the public health regions in Ontario, including the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health and workplace safety measures. When it is safe to do so, the province will gradually transition each region from the shutdown measures to a revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open (the “Framework”).
“Our number one priority will always be protecting the health and safety of all individuals, families and workers across the province,” Ford said at a press conference. “But we must also consider the severe impact COVID-19 is having on our businesses. That’s why we have been listening to business owners, and we are strengthening and adjusting the Framework to allow more businesses to safely reopen and get people back to work.”
Limited in-person shopping in Grey-Lockdown zones will be permitted with public health and safety measures, such as limiting capacity to 25 per cent in most retail settings. In addition, public health and safety measures in retail settings will be strengthened for other levels of the Framework. Individuals will also be required to wear a face covering and maintain physical distance when indoors in a business, with limited exceptions.
Based on improving local trends including lower transmission of COVID-19, improving hospital capacity, and available public health capacity to conduct rapid case and contact management, the following regions moved back to the Green-Prevent category:
- Hastings Prince Edward
- Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington
- Renfrew County and District
For most areas, the stay-at-home order will be lifted Feb. 16 and in Toronto, Peel and York regions it will be in place until Feb. 22.
Recognizing the risk posed by new variants to the province’s pandemic response, Ontario is introducing an “emergency brake” to allow for immediate action if a public health unit region experiences rapid acceleration in COVID-19 transmission or if its health care system risks becoming overwhelmed.
“While we are seeing our numbers trend in the right direction, our situation remains precarious as the variants of concern remain a serious risk,” said Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams. “This is not a re-opening or a ‘return to normal’ and we must continue to limit close contact to our immediate households and stay at home except for essential reasons.”