Hospital HVAC equipment needs to be maintained. (The picture is of the Laval University Hospital in Montreal, Que.)
Ontario is extending construction hours for essential construction projects, such as critical projects in the health care sector, to 24 hours a day. Work on new hospitals, expansions, and COVID-19 assessment centres will be able to continue any time of the night or day. This will accelerate the construction of these important projects and enable employers to take additional steps to protect the health and safety of workers.
Premier Doug Ford, Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, training and skills development, and Christine Elliott, deputy premier and minister of health, made the announcement April 8.
“During this escalating crisis, we are taking immediate steps to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place, particularly to properly care for those with severe COVID-19 symptoms and other patients who require critical case,” said Ford. “That’s why we’re extending construction hours to allow us to build essential infrastructure faster, while ensuring construction workers can practice physical distancing on worksites to stay safe and healthy.”
Ont. will also temporarily limit local noise bylaws from applying to these construction activities.
“Our government is doing everything in its power to make sure workers on the job are safe during this pandemic,” said McNaughton. “That means more inspections, more inspectors, more phone lines, and more people to take your calls. We have conducted thousands of inspections and investigations across the province in March and we will continue to conduct more this month. We will do everything in our power to keep the essential workers of our province safe.”
