Fee could add millions to Manitoba construction projects: Industry

Manitoba’s construction industry wants the auditor general to probe a provincial jobs agreement. CTV’s Jeff Keele reports.

The construction industry in Manitoba wants the auditor general to examine a provincial jobs agreement.

The province says the Manitoba Jobs Agreements sets standardized terms of employment for large infrastructure projects valued at more than $50 million.

Chris Lorenc, president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association, says the group has written to the auditor general requesting a review of the agreement.

“It should terrify all of us that the government, over the next five to six years in office, is going to impose that kind of measure,” said Lorenc.

Lorenc says the measure includes an 85-cent-per-worker, per-hour fee applied to projects. The fee is paid to the Manitoba Building Trades, a council made up of construction unions.

He says projects such as schools, roads, and hospitals—including the new CancerCare facility—could cost millions more as a result.

“That could have been spent on nurses, on CAT scans, on MRIs, on schools, on teachers, on playground equipment,” Lorenc said. He added that instead, it’s going to a single union entity.

Tanya Palson, executive director of the Manitoba Building Trades, says the agreement is similar to those in other provinces and that the fee covers administrative costs.

“It supports things like site representatives, legal services, and reporting and outcomes functions related to the policy,” said Palson.

Mintu Sandhu, Manitoba’s minister of public service delivery, says the money will be used to train local workers and increase the number of Manitobans employed on construction sites.

“We don’t want to bring in a workforce from out of province — this is our number one focus,” Sandhu said. “We want to make sure we have the workforce here so that we can have good-paying jobs.”

However, the construction industry also has questions about who will oversee the collected funds.

“We hope that the Manitoba auditor general takes the matter seriously. We think it’s a huge red flag for all of us,” Lorenc said.