HAMILTON, Ontario, May 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hamilton-Brantford Building and Construction Trades Council is very disappointed that the Ontario Government has decided to cancel building the Halton Consolidated Provincial Courthouse P3 Project.
The news comes as a real surprise to the HBBT Council, since the project was planned to be awarded this spring and was already scheduled to start construction in late 2020. The construction costs of the project were estimated to be close to $500 million while millions of dollars have already been spent to move this project to market over the past couple of years.
This would be the second substantial public infrastructure project cancelled in the region in the past few months, following the cancellation of the $1 Billion Hamilton LRT Project. Taken together, these cancellations have generated real concerns among the local construction workforce being able to get back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If the region is losing almost $1.5 Billion in direct public infrastructure investments, there is a real fear that the local economy will fall into further recession in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Mark Ellerker, Business Manager and Financial Secretary-Treasurer of the Hamilton-Brantford Building and Construction Trades Council.
"It also means that the Ontario Government is sending a mixed message about restarting the local economy for workers and local businesses after the COVID-19 outbreak," noted Ellerker. "When we hear about the local economy losing $1.5 Billion in direct construction investment, that is only part of the story. When we factor in that every $1 spent directly on construction locally generates another $3 for the local economy, the lost opportunities will be devastating for our community.”
“Losing these two local projects amounts to the region actually losing $4 billion in local investments. These are big losses for the community that is already dealing with the consequences of COVID-19,” warned Ellerker.
“The Hamilton-Brantford Building and Construction Trades Council strongly believes that the local economy needs the Halton Consolidated Provincial Courthouse project approved by the Ontario Government in order to help sustain local jobs for workers and businesses at a time of great uncertainty,” he concluded.
For more information contact:
Mark Ellerker
Business Manager
Hamilton-Brantford Building and Construction Trades Council
Phone: 905-870-4003
Email: mark@hbbt.ca