Archive for category: Uncategorized

March 18, 2020

Good afternoon CANS members,

To provide information to you and share your concerns with government, CANS will do our very best to provide up-to-date information on the current COVID-19 virus as frequently as necessary through our digital channels.

To that end, we are sharing a survey conducted by the CFIB, which you can access by clicking here.

CANS Participation in Working Group – 

CANS is also participating in a joint working group with other industry associations, labour leaders and government officials. This group is meeting via conference call every second day for the foreseeable future to share information, gather intelligence and inform policy wherever possible. As your voice to government, I want to hear your ideas, concerns, etc. As such, I encourage you to call, email or text me with issues, questions or possible solutions that you would like taken forward to our government partners.

CANS Staff Working Remotely Throughout Closure – 

While our physical office will remain closed at least until Monday, our team is remotely connected and able to provide most services through our digital platforms. We are doing our very best to stay on top of this rapidly evolving situation and communicate effectively with you. Our newsletter, website and social media have several articles, etc. that you may find useful as we navigate this pandemic.

Some of the important issues we are communicating to the government on your behalf:

• Immediate access to EI as a result of temporary layoffs
• Exploration of tax relief and access to low-cost cash
• Moving bonding to a digital platform to make responses to tenders quicker
• Temporary removal of infection control training requirements in tender responses. (while this sounds counter-intuitive, our partner CSA has suspended all offerings of the course for the foreseeable future). As soon as this course is available again, we will ask that the requirement be reinstated.
• Tenders should be issued earlier and/or extended to allow greater response times with potentially diminished staffing.

Finally, here is a link to a very useful Harvard Business Review article, Lead Your Business Through the Coronavirus Crisis.

Again, please feel free to communicate additional items that are important to you as a member, particularly those related to COVID-19.

Duncan P. Williams
President & CEO
Construction Association of Nova Scotia

March 18, 2020

In-Person Services Suspended at WCB Nova Scotia Offices in Halifax and Sydney

Over the past few days, WCB Nova Scotia has been adapting our operations in response to COVID-19.

Effective tomorrow, Thursday, March 19, we will be suspending our in-person service. It’s very important to note that as an operation, we are not closed. Our services continue, and we continue to provide the important services we need to.

Suspending in-person service means:

– Our facilities will be closed to the public, including all front-desk services;
– PMI exams are cancelled, and are being rescheduled;
– Meetings and case conferences should happen by phone or video, where possible; and
– Field representative visits, workplace visits, and any other in-person services will be postponed.

This temporary suspension of in-person services is needed for the safety of our employees, and for those we serve. And it’s about our organization doing what we can to help reduce the spread of the virus.

We have made great progress in moving our employees to work remotely, in keeping with the government’s directive for public sector employees. This will continue. Where our employees need to be on-site, we have increased sanitation, are encouraging social distancing, and we continue to follow all directives of the Office of Public Health.

We are keeping our website and phone lines up to date with the information you need. We encourage you to contact us through our secure online services – MyAccount for employers or WCB Online for workers and tiered service providers. As always, you can call us at 1-800-870-3331 during regular business hours.

Thank you for helping us prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

March 22, 2020

Premier McNeil announces state of emergency in Nova Scotia

Sunday, March 22 –

Premier Stephen McNeil has declared a provincial state of emergency in Nova Scotia as of Sunday morning, March 22, 2020. The move is an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 and will strengthen the special measures and restrictions on public movement already in place.

Among the new measures, Nova Scotia’s provincial borders will be tightened and self-isolation will be required for anyone who has travelled outside of the province. Gatherings are now restricted to groups of no more than five. Those in violation of the social-distancing and self-isolation orders will be issued fines.

“Fines for individuals found in breach of the orders are $1,000 for each offence each day, while business and corporations face $7,500 for every breach,” said Justice Minister Mark Furey.

“People can be fined on multiple days if they fail to comply with the law,” Furey said.

It should be noted that the government has identified several groups who are essential and exempt from gathering limits. They include but are not limited to grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies. If possible, one person per family should be designated to do these tasks. Other groups include construction sites, health-care services, community services (e.g. child protection) and criminal justice services, and law enforcement.

CANS is working closely with government to proactively provide leadership in a responsible, responsive and cooperative manner. Nova Scotia’s industries are looking not only for short term relief but also with an eye to the future to ensure that when this eventually passes, we will be in a position to ensure that the recovery period is as short as is possible.

Social distancing and self-isolation are no longer suggestions. Historically, the construction industry is well-versed in public safety, let us be leaders in our response to maintaining public safety and economic stability.

We further recommend that members clearly and deliberately demonstrate compliance and the strictest enforcement. Only if this occurs, will firms be able to operate. We also recommend that members take measures to ensure the security of their sites in the event that policy further restrict business operations in the coming days.

We will continue to seek clarification on interprovincial movement of goods and workers.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Premier: “We need the construction industry to still function”

The below comments were taken from an interview on Friday, March 20, 2020, with Premier Stephen McNeil on The Rick Howe Show.

“We need the construction industry to still function. We need that part of our economy to continue to work, to drive economic development and create employment opportunities for some of our citizens in an industry where you can actually be separate and practice social distancing on the job site. We need that part of our economy to continue to move forward while we work on ensuring that we flatten the curve on this virus here in our province.”

Listen to the full interview with the Premier here (select “The Rick Howe Show – 10 a.m.”)