PCA Applauds Ontario Budget Focus on Skilled Trades and Rebuilding Economy

Toronto (4/28/2022) – The Progressive Contractors Association of Canada (PCA) commends the Ford government for its strong and ongoing commitment to the skilled trades in Budget 2022.

“We’d like to acknowledge the Ford government for its genuine and unprecedented commitment to the skilled trades,” said Karen Renkema, VP Ontario, at PCA. “From shutting down OCOT to launching Skilled Trades Ontario and revamping ratios, this government has made tremendous headway in making the trades a practical, and worthwhile career choice for more people.”

Budget 2022 includes an additional investment of $114.4 million over four years in the province’s Skilled Trades Strategy. This is funding that will be used to simplify the system, promote the trades, and ramp up in-class training which was curtailed during the pandemic.

Another central budget theme is infrastructure. The government has earmarked $158.8 billion for core infrastructure projects over the next decade, with the goal of spending $20 billion this fiscal year.

PCA believes the Ford government has made a huge difference in ensuring public construction work is more affordable for taxpayers and accessible to workers through the passage of Bill 66. The legislation, which passed in 2019, allows all Ontario municipalities to open up public construction work to competition.

“While Bill 66 is ground breaking, unfortunately it is not bullet proof,” added Renkema. “With such a large infrastructure spend in this budget, we’d like to see changes that ensure these investments are maximized on every tax dollar spent on construction, including in the City of Toronto.”

Toronto is the only city in Ontario to opt out of the cost saving benefits of Bill 66.