The Ontario government is expanding essential construction to allow below-grade multi-unit residential construction projects like apartments and condominiums to begin and existing above-grade projects to continue.
The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) welcomes the Ontario government’s announcement to further expand the residential construction industry. “As Ontario looks towards getting our economy back online, residential construction is a key element of this,” said Richard Lyall, president of RESCON.
“We support Premier Doug Ford’s methodical and thoughtful approach to opening up the province. Housing supply must proceed in an uninterrupted way as possible and today’s announcement of further expansion of residential construction activity is an excellent one.” Ford made the announcement at Queen’s Park in Toronto May 6.
Businesses must still follow public health measures and should review the workplace safety guidelines, such as promoting physical distancing and frequent handwashing, sanitizing surfaces, installing physical barriers, staggering shifts, and using contactless payment options to stop the spread of the virus.
“We haven’t been sitting on our hands. Whether it’s releasing our framework for reopening or putting in place the workplace safety guidelines needed to help businesses adapt to the new environment, we’ve been laying the groundwork for the safe, measured, and gradual reopening of our province,” said Ford.
“As the trends improve, we can move forward with reopening more and more of our economy and getting people back to work.”
A list of 60 sector-specific health and safety guidelines were released by Ontario’s health and safety associations.
“Small businesses across Ontario have done their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, associate minister of small business and red tape reduction. “I encourage all business owners to learn the new health and safety guidelines, so when it comes time to reopen you will be prepared to hit the ground running and provide the services we all count on every day.”
The government’s framework for reopening the province with guidelines was released on April 27.