oper plans to build eight stories of
apartments (with 68 units), along with
two storeys of commercial space and
two underground parking levels. The
former Royal Bank site has been va-
cant since the building was demol-
ished in 2016.

A company called 880 Broadway
Holdings Ltd. is listed in the report as
the applicant for a five-year tax abate-
ment, but the project is listed on the
website of Saskatoon-based Baydo
Development Corporation Ltd., the
newspaper reported.

City administration recommends
the tax break be approved under a
program intended to encourage de-
velopment of vacant lots.

The project is expected to be com-
pleted in the spring of 2021 and any
tax abatement would start the follow-
ing year, the report says.

MANITOBA WCA seeks action to
reduce trade barriers
The Winnipeg Construction Asso-
ciation (WCA) says there is a need to
increase efforts in by the next Mani-
toba government to reduce trade bar-
riers. In its newsletter the associations
says: “Specifically, we’d like to see
the next provincial government:
Update to the 2015 version of the
National Building Code. Manitoba is
currently five years behind the rest of
the country; and
Reduce the Limitations of Actions
Act, which is currently twice as long
as the rest of the country.”
WCA vice-chair John Enns outlines
in a video why breaking down trade
barriers is important for the construc-
tion industry.

ONTARIO Bidding process for City of
Toronto construction
projects goes digital on
September 1
On Sept. 1, bidding for projects for
the City of Toronto transitioned to e-
bidding solution SAP Ariba Sourcing.

The city has conducted training
courses for suppliers to become fa-
miliar with the SAP Ariba system in
advance of the change.

Additionally, the city has created
training systems online, for suppliers
to attempt a mock request for pro-
posal, request for tender, and request
for quotation, to make sure they un-
derstand the online process.

Suppliers also need to register on
the SAP Ariba network in advance of
bidding. Transitioning to e-bidding is in-
tended to make the procurement pro-
cess faster and more efficient,
reducing the amount of time it takes
to award a contract. Notification func-
tions within the system allow bidders
to comply with addendums as they
arise, or be made aware of updates
or cancellations of the competitive
process. While bids can be downloaded
and printed through the system, all
bids and proposals must be com-
pleted online.

SAP Ariba is a cloud-based busi-
ness-to-business marketplace. Its
functions allow suppliers to search
opportunities across the network,
and be notified of upcoming opportu-
nities. As proposals transition to the new
online platform, there will undoubt-
edly be some growing pains. For in-
stance, for all bids submitted during
August for solicitations posted on the
existing online call document system,
responses need to completed and
delivered to the physical location at
city hall.

The change to SAP Ariba has been
ongoing since November of 2018.

During the rollout, some opportuni-
ties were posted on the existing sys-
tem, and some on the new. While all
bids and request for proposals sub-
mitted after September 1 will have to
be completed through the SAP Ariba
system, the opportunities document
will still show up on the City of
Toronto Online Call Document page.

Questions regarding solicitations will
also need to be posed through SAP
Ariba. City of Toronto staff that handle
the bidding process will remain con-
stant throughout the transition.

QUEBEC Quebec tribunal rules
against regional hiring
priority clauses
Quebec’s administrative labour tri-
bunal has declared regional hiring pri-
ority clauses in the construction
industry invalid and inoperative, say-
ing they impeded on rights to free-
dom and privacy, the Montreal
Gazette reports.

In a judgement released on Aug.

9, The tribunal sided with l’Associa-
tion de la construction du Québec,
which was supported by l’Associa-
tion des constructeurs de routes et
grands travaux du Québec.

Though the tribunal is invalidating
two articles of the regulation relating
to the hiring and mobility of construc-
tion employees in the province, it’s
suspending its decision until collec-
tive agreements in the construction
industry can be renegotiated, the
Gazette reported.

Current collective agreements are
set to expire on April 30, 2021. The
decision is therefore suspended until
their renewal.

Issues surrounding regional hiring
priority in the construction industry
stem from the demands of regional
workers. They want to be able to
work at construction sites in their
own areas, rather than having a con-
tractor who wins a contract come
with his own workers from another
region. This situation has caused friction
between regional and outside em-
ployees. Judge Raymond Gagnon said in
his decision that employees’ right to
privacy and their freedom to establish
their homes in a place that is conve-
nient to them is being infringed upon.

He also ruled that there’s a restriction
for employers to hire employees they
need based on where they live.

The Canadian Design and Construction Report — Summer/Fall 2019 – 25