AROUND THE COUNTRY BRITISH COLUMBIA VRCA report indicates ongoing and increasingly severe provincial labour shortage The Vancouver Regional Construc- tion Association (VCRA) and Hays Canada have recently partnered in a re- port that indicates an ongoing and in- creasingly severe labour crunch. The VCRA Salary Guide provides a cross section of construction industry salaries, with an analysis of key eco- nomic issues affecting the industry this year. “The B.C. construction industry is in really good shape, with lots of work ongoing and due to start, and we know more than 65 per cent of con- struction employers expect business to get better in 2016,” Hays vice pres- ident for western Canada Jim Fearon said in a published report. He also said the new federal budget’s increased in- frastructure spending and the pro- posed major Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline, “progressing slowly but surely, no one’s expecting a decrease in investment.” The greatest skills shortages this year are in the roadbuilding and other specialty trade contracting fields, while shortages are expected to in- crease this year in general construc- tion, electrical and mechanical contracting. The report indicates the most sought after employees are superin- tendents, project managers and co-or- dinators, with a third of employers currently looking for workers with high expertise in these areas. As well, two thirds of Vancouver construction em- ployers reported they are facing “mod- erate to extreme” hiring difficulties. These numbers are a slight im- provement from the 69 per cent re- ported in 2015, but indicate that hiring is still a concern. “The industry unreservedly agrees there’s a skill shortage and there has been one for quite some time,” Fearon was quoted as saying. Labour and contractors meet with provincial government to share success of progressive labour and construction The Progressive Contractors Asso- ciation of Canada (PCA) and the Chris- tian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) met in early May with various British Columbia Ministers, MLAs and senior staff, sharing the benefits of progressive labour and what the or- ganizations describe as “Open Man- aged sites,” they announced in a news release. “We appreciate the chance to share the benefits of our progressive labour model, in particular Open Managed sites, with the B.C. government today,” said PCA president Paul de Jong. “No longer is construction in B.C. done in a polarizing ‘union’ or ‘non-union’ manner. There is a third way that now represents roughly half of all industrial construction in Western Canada.” PCA construction companies across Canada have at least part of their labour force represented by CLAC, which overall represents nearly 45,000 workers in western Canada. “We’re proud to stand up for our members in a collaborative and co-op- erative spirit and work for their best in- terests, as well as the best interests of the companies they work for,” said CLAC regional director Wayne Prins. “Our progressive labour model has a robust training to employment ap- proach, maximizes the number of British Columbians who can work in B.C. and brings value to taxpayers by making projects competitive.” PCA and CLAC say the Open Man- aged Site model also works directly with First Nations and develops ap- prentices. Having built some of B.C.’s most prominent public works projects, like the Port Mann Bridge, the Sea-to- Sky highway and the South Fraser Perimeter Road, PCA and CLAC want to bring their expertise in heavy indus- trial projects in other parts of Canada to help build B.C. future industrial proj- ects – such as LNG, pipelines and Site 20 – May-June 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report C, they say in the news release. “We believe our model is a no brainer,” said Prins. “And the more we get to tell our story, the more owners – including governments – agree and want to make it possible for our com- panies and workers to build a better B.C. for the future.” LNG Canada begins engineering and planning work for its workforce accommodation centre LNG Canada is beginning engineer- ing and planning work on Cedar Valley Lodge, its Workforce Accommodation Centre to house a 4,500-person work- force required during construction of its proposed liquefaction and export facility in Kitimat, B.C. LNG Canada selected the Bird- Civeo Joint Venture as the contractor for the design and construction of the centre, the company says in a news re- lease. This joint venture includes wholly owned subsidiaries of each of Bird Construction Inc., and Civeo Cor- poration. The lodge’s construction will com- mence only if LNG Canada’s joint ven- ture participants make a positive final investment decision. In the interim, Bird-Civeo will advance engineering and planning work for the centre. If constructed, the size and scale of the Lodge will be significant, with a total floor space of more than 1.2 mil- lion sq. ft. This includes a number of core buildings at more than 260,000 sq. ft. with a kitchen and dining area of almost 80,000 sq. ft., entertainment areas of almost 35,000 sq. ft., and a sports and recreational facility of more than 56,000 sq. ft. Final actual num- bers may vary as the conceptual de- sign progresses through detailed engineering.