Earlier today, Dr. Brent Roussin announced further restrictions will be coming in to place across the entire province of Manitoba. For details on the restrictions and what they mean for the construction industry, click here.

As of 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 2 the Winnipeg Capital Region has been designated as RED (Critical) on the COVID-19 response plan, while the rest of the province moved to ORANGE (Restricted). For details on what this means for construction, click here.

On Wednesday, October 21 WCA hosted an industry forum on COVID-19: Preparing for the worst. WCA President Ron Hambley was on hand to moderate and we had three expert industry panelists speak on actionable steps contractors can take to prepare for the possibility of a positive test on their site, a province-wide construction shut down and more.

You can find a recording of the one-hour webinar here.

You can find the answered Q&As here

CSAM Executive Director also references several resources during the webinar, which we’ve linked below:

Staff Memo

Guidelines following a positive test

Sample Staff email

The Construction Safety Association of Manitoba has released a step-by-step guide on what to do if an employee tests positive for COVID-19. You can find it here.

As of Monday, Winnipeg will be designated as Restricted (Orange) under the provincial Pandemic Response System. Here’s what that means for members: https://lnkd.in/gXzXBP3

If you missed our BuildWorks 101 webinar on September 11, a recording is now available here.

WCA members enjoyed a beautiful day at Minnewasta Golf & Country Club on September 10. Congratulations to all our winners:

Winning Team:

The winning team this year, with a score of 60, was team 3B from the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba. CSAM beat the team from Dave’s Quick Print (16B), who also shot 60, based on a countback.

Congratulations to Sean Scott, Derek Pott, Keith Steffano and Ray Clark on their great round! They’ll each receive a $100 gift card to Golf Town.

Closest to the Hole:

Men’s: Matt Krahn, McCaine Electric Ltd. – Garmin Apprach S20 Watch

Ladies: Eva Martel, Trotter and Morton Industrial Contracting Inc. – Garmin Approach S20 Watch

Longest Drive:

Men’s: Brett Preun, Penn-Co Construction – $150 Amazon Gift Card

Ladies: Micha Kyliuk-Smith, Contemporary Office Interiors – $150 Amazon Gift Card

Door Prize:

Adam Hodgins, Flynn Canada – Yeti Cooler

Random Draw Prizes:

Frogger BrushPro club cleaner & 12 golf balls:

Alex Coelho, Gardon Construction

Sal Maida, Antex Western

Tyler Clegg, Parkwest Projects

$25 gift card to Starbucks & coffee thermos:

Christa Lee, PCL Constructors Canada

Dave Rowe, AccessSMT

Albert Krahn – WinnPro Construction Ltd.

On Thursday, the provincial government released its long-awaited design study for the south perimeter. The south perimeter has become a very busy highway and an extremely important trade route across Canada and for trade with the U.S.

The design study will provide the blueprint for upgrading the south perimeter to make it safer and better accommodate the traffic volumes now and into the future. The study identifies structural design modifications required for nine existing crossings and new roadway designs required for 13 connection/crossing locations.

The vision for the south perimeter is to be at freeway standard with no at-grade crossings from Trans-Canada West to Trans-Canada East. The investment outlined is clearly very large in scope, but benefits from the ability to be broken up into manageable smaller projects. This report as an important first step for a substantial government investment into the highway. 

WCA would like the provincial government to provide an accompanying document outlining the schedule for investment in the structures over the next 10 years. There needs to be a clear ongoing financial commitment for the south perimeter described in the blueprint to become reality. 

The Full study can be found here: https://www.gov.mb.ca/mit/hpd/pth100/studies.html

Provincial Travel Restrictions Loosen

Earlier today, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced Phase 3 of Restoring Safe Services, Manitoba’s Pandemic and Economic Roadmap for Recovery. You can view the full report, which includes changes across many industries, here.

By far the biggest change for many of our members is the loosening on inter-provincial travel restrictions. Starting on Sunday June 21, anyone entering Manitoba from designated western Canadian jurisdictions (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut territories) or Northwestern Ontario (defined as west of Terrace Bay) is not required to self-isolate for 14 days if they are asymptomatic and have no known exposure to COVID-19. Anyone travelling to northern Manitoba must continue to respect any restrictions that have been put in place by local communities and First Nations.

This means our members are free to perform work in all provinces west of Manitoba, and in Northwest Ontario up to Terrace Bay. Prior to Phase 3, construction workers were restricted to performing work “close to the Manitoba border”. WCA had been asking for clarity on this, and we’re pleased to see the borders open up so our members can perform work in other provinces.

In addition to this, the phase 3 plan states “Consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis to lifting self-isolation requirements where sectors propose and provide satisfactory plans to address public health requirements for necessary travel.” If you have a job east of Terrace Bay and believe you can perform the work safely, we encourage you to contact the provincial government to seek an exception to the self-isolation requirement.

CERB Extended By Eight Weeks

In other COVID-19 news this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday his government is extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit by eight weeks. Trudeau also hinted at potential changes to the program, which has been criticized for disincentivizing workers from returning to their jobs, but not details on changes are available at this time. 

On Wednesday June 10, the province announced the projects which would be receiving funding under the Manitoba Restart Program. Click here for our thoughts.