Page 13 - Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario
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priority for the Provincial Building and Construction   and April 2020, the province’s construction industry

        Trades Council of Ontario was the health and safety     lost 94,000 jobs as a result of this voluntary

        of the construction workforce and this message was      retrenchment.
        clearly conveyed to the provincial government. This

        meant that a number of immediate improvements           As the construction sector remained open, the
        had to be implemented on construction jobsites,         Provincial Building Trades Council began hosting

        and the industry, along with government, came           weekly conference calls of the Provincial Executive

        together to make those changes.                         Board, of the Local Building Trades Councils from
                                                                across Ontario, of the Building Trades Training

        On March 20, a “COVID-19 Advisory for                   Providers, and of all the Provincial Councils from
        Construction Workplaces in Ontario” notice was          across the country. The purpose of the calls was

        jointly released by the Construction Employers          to share critically valuable information about

        Coordinating Council of Ontario (CECCO), the            (1) any reported cases of COVID-19 infections
        Council of Ontario Construction Associations            affecting construction workers, including whether

        (COCA), the Construction and Design Alliance of         those infections were contracted on jobsites; (2)

        Ontario (CDAO), and the Provincial Building and         overall Building Trades construction employment
        Construction Trades Council of Ontario (PBCTCO)         levels; and (3) the state of jobsite conditions and

        outlining essential and immediate actions that          compliance with established safety protocols,

        had to be implemented on construction jobsites
        across the province, to ensure the health and
                                                                   ONTARIO INSULATORS
        safety of workers by reducing the risk of COVID-19
        transmission which would allow the contractors to
                                                                    ENERGY CONSERVATION SPECIALISTS
        operate safely.                                             LEADERS IN MECHANICAL INSULATION, ASBESTOS REMOVAL & FIRESTOPPING SERVICES



        Premier Ford declared construction as an ‘essential

        service’ on March 23, 2020 and the sector was kept
        open. With the widespread closures of non-essential

        businesses across the economy however, a portion

        of Ontario’s construction industry did shut down
        voluntarily as some owner-clients and contractors

        closed down jobsites, impacting individual Building
                                                                                      1.800.268.339
                                                                                      1.800.268.3396 6
                                                                                      WWW.INSULATORS95.COM M
        Trades workers who stopped working. Premier Ford                              WWW.INSULATORS95.CO
                                                                                      Ontario Insulators Local Ninety-Five
        told workers who were afraid of contracting COVID-                            Insulators95
                                                                                      OInsulators95
        19 at work, to go home. In fact, between February



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