BUILDING DURHAM

This afternoon, Premier Doug Ford and Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced new technical sector guidance documents to further support employers and employees in remaining safe in the workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak.  The documents for the construction sector have been prepared with the support of the IHSA and are organized below:

• Guidance on Worker Procedures Handling Paperwork
• Guidance on Worker Responsibilities with COVID-19
• Guidance on Construction Facility Hygiene During COVID-19
• Guidance on Construction Supervisor Responsibilities (COVID-19 Symptoms or Exposure)
• Best Practices for the Employer - Responding to a Suspected COVID-19 Exposure
• Guidance on Tool Sharing (Hand Tools) Constructor/Employer Procedure During COVID-19
• Guidance on PPE (Cleaning Respirators) During COVID-19
• Guidance on Handling and Receiving Packages (All Persons at Work or at Home) During COVID-19

The Town of Whitby hosted a stakeholder session yesterday on their proposed Whitby Green Standards.  You can view/download the presentation here. 

Here's what DRHBA members need to know:

• Included in the proposed standards are four tiers - Tier One is mandatory and the other three are voluntary - for now.
• There are several criteria in Tier One that were not previously mandatory within the current Town of Whitby design criteria.
• Tier One mandates that low rise construction must be built to Energy Star® or R-2000, and high rise construction must be built to 15% better than code.
• The Town of Whitby has not done costing to see how this will affect affordability
• The Town believes that these standards will not delay approval timelines, even though the checklist will need to go through several different municipal departments
• The first year will be a pilot, with Tier One being mandatory
• The Town is looking at making the other tiers mandatory in the future
• Other municipalities may follow Whitby's lead if their standards are successful

Important Dates

• May 11 - Council Information Session
• May 21 - Public Open House

The Town is currently seeking more feedback from builders and developers, and others potentially affected by the implementation of the Whitby Green Standards.  DRHBA strongly encourages members to complete the online survey and provide your comments and feedback.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

Enbridge is now accepting requests from residential new construction builders for gas services on homes with occupancy dates up to May 8th.

Enbridge has also updated the Q & As to reflect more current info on site safety precautions.

View/download site safety precautions

View/download contact information

Premier and Ministers Commit to New Phased Approach for a Safe Restart and Recovery

TORONTO — Today, the Ontario government released A Framework for Reopening our Province, which outlines the criteria Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health and health experts will use to advise the government on the loosening of emergency measures, as well as guiding principles for the safe, gradual reopening of businesses, services and public spaces. The framework also provides details of an outreach strategy, led by the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee, to help inform the restart of the provincial economy.

Details were provided by Premier Doug Ford, Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance, Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

"Our top priority remains protecting the health and safety of the people of Ontario and supporting our frontline heroes as we do everything in our power to contain and defeat this deadly virus," said Premier Ford. "At the same time, we are preparing for the responsible restart of our economy. This next phase of our response to COVID-19 is designed to help us map out what needs to be done, and when, to get us back on the road to recovery."

The government is planning a stage-by-stage approach to reopening the economy to ensure there are appropriate measures in place so workplaces can open safely. Public health officials will carefully monitor each stage for two to four weeks, as they assess the evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak to determine if it is necessary to change course to maintain public health.

• Stage 1: For businesses that were ordered to close or restrict operations, opening select workplaces that can immediately modify operations to meet public health guidance. Opening some outdoor spaces like parks and allowing for a greater number of individuals to attend some events. Hospitals would also begin to offer some non-urgent and scheduled surgeries, and other health care services.
• Stage 2: Opening more workplaces, based on risk assessments, which may include some service industries and additional office and retail workplaces. Some larger public gatherings would be allowed, and more outdoor spaces would open.
• Stage 3: Opening of all workplaces responsibly and further relaxing of restrictions on public gatherings.

Throughout each stage, continued protections for vulnerable populations must be in place, along with the continued practice of physical distancing, hand washing and r espiratory hygiene, and significant mitigation plans to limit health risks.

"Recent public health indicators show us that we're beginning to turn a corner in the COVID-19 outbreak, while economic data, feedback from businesses and insights from our communities are outlining how we need to plan for economic recovery," said Minister Phillips. "Turning on an economy after an unprecedented shut-down is not as simple as flipping a switch. We need to plan this out carefully to ensure we do not spark a sudden outbreak, undo the progress we have made and put the safety of the public at risk."  

To reopen the economy, the government will consider factors such as the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and the ability to implement protective measures to keep workplaces safe. The Chief Medical Officer of Health and health experts will provide advice to the government about easing public health measures using a range of set criteria, including:

• A consistent two-to-four week decrease in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases;
• Sufficient acute and critical care capacity, including access to ventilators and ongoing availability of personal protective equipment;
• Approximately 90 per cent of new COVID-19 contacts are being reached by local public health officials within one day, with guidance and direction to contain community spread; and
• Ongoing testing of suspected COVID-19 cases, especially of vulnerable populations, to detect new outbreaks quickly.

"It is because of the collective efforts of all Ontarians to stay at home and stop the spread of COVID-19 that we are able to consider plans to move into the next phase of our battle against this virus," said Minister Elliott. "The Chief Medical Officer of Health has outlined some criteria he will use to advise government on when we may begin to slowly and safely ease public health measures and restart our economy. To be able to do so, w e need everyone to continue their extraordinary efforts so that we can meet these thresholds and begin to move forward."

Supporting the next phases of Ontario's Action Plan, the new Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee, chaired by Minister Phillips, will be consulting with key sectors in all regions to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the provincial economy and develop a plan to move forward. The government and Members of Provincial Parliament will lead discussions with business associations, chambers of commerce, municipal leaders, the postsecondary sector, corporate leaders, small business owners, community and social service providers, Indigenous partners, Franco-Ontarians, entrepreneurs and others.

The work of the committee will build on Ontario's Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, the first phase of the government's $17 billion response, that is delivering targeted relief for businesses and families across Ontario.

"The COVID-19 outbreak has had far-reaching economic impacts for businesses and communities across Ontario," said Minister Fedeli. "In the face of these challenges, businesses and individuals have stepped up to support our frontline workers, produce essential equipment and keep our supply chains moving. Our plan to carefully and methodically reopen Ontario's economy will ensure that businesses are supported on our path to renewed economic prosperity."

On April 24, 2020, the Government of Ontario took further action to support corporations, including condo corporations, co-operative corporations, businesses, and not-for-profits during the COVID-19 outbreak with amendments to Emergency Order O. Reg. 107/20.

The Emergency Order is in effect province-wide and retroactive to March 17, 2020, the day the Declaration of Emergency came into effect. The Emergency Order can be accessed here: https://files.ontario.ca/solgen-oic-meetings-for-corporations.pdf and will be available on e-laws shortly.

The Emergency Order was amended to:

1)      Permit corporations governed under the Co-operative Corporations Act (CCA) and Condominium Act, 1998 (Condo Act) to hold meetings virtually, notwithstanding current requirements or restrictions;

2)      Extend the time period in which corporations governed under the CCA and Condo Act must hold annual meetings; and

3)      Address additional matters related to meetings for corporations under the Corporations Act (CA), Business Corporations Act (OBCA), Condo Act and CCA, such as the re-issuing of notices to hold a meeting virtually after a notice of meeting has already been sent, in certain circumstances, and, as applicable, the requirement to present financial statements at annual meetings within a specified period.

The order applies to requirements under the CA, OBCA, CCA, and Condo Act.

Questions related to Emergency Order O. Reg. 107/20 can be directed to Victoria Walker, Manager, Policy and Business Law Unit at Victoria.Walker@ontario.ca.

The Durham Region Home Builders' Association has been asked to join Oshawa's Economic Recovery Task Force, initiated by Mayor Dan Carter and chaired by Ward 2 City and Regional Councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri.

The Association is being represented by executive officer Stacey Hawkins, who will attend (virtually for now) the bi-monthly meetings.

The purpose of the task force is to identify actions to support the needs of Oshawa businesses impacted by COVID-19 and how the City and businesses can work together to help the economy recover.

The task force is made up of members of the business community in Oshawa, and includes representatives from post-secondary institutions, public institutions, the business community and the development community.

If members have any comments, concerns or ideas they would like brought to the task force, please email them to Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

Stacey may also be reaching out to members for feedback and information to bring back to the task force.

Today Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced further details about the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program.

The program has been designed to lower the rent of commercial properties by 75 per cent for affected small businesses, and it will be provided in partnership with the provinces and territories.

The basics of the program are that the rent will be covered by three entities:

• 50% covered by the government via a forgivable loan to property owners
• 25% covered by the property owner
• 25% paid by the tenant

The program will provide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50 per cent of three monthly rent payments payable by eligible small business tenants experiencing financial hardship during April, May and June.  In order for the loans to be forgiven, the mortgaged property owner will have to agree to reduce the eligible small business tenants' rent by at at least 75 per cent for three months under a rent forgiveness agreement.  The agreement will also include a pledge not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place.  

Businesses that are expected to be eligible for the program include:

• Those that are paying less than $50,000 per month in rent and who have temporarily ceased operations; OR
• Have experienced at least a 70 per cent drop in pre-COVID-19 revenues.

The program is expected to be operational mid-May and will be administered and delivered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

The annual Durham Region Home Builders' Association hard copy directory is now available for free for members.

The handy 2020 DRHBA Membership Directory lists all of DRHBA's members with contact information, as well as information about the Association.

Copies are available for free to current members.

For your copy, please email Katelyn at k.widdop@drhba.com with the number of copies you would like and the shipping address.

The Region of Durham is planning to introduce an amendment to their current development charge by-laws (Region-wide DC by-law #28-2018 and Transit DC by-law #81-2017) to waive the DC indexing for 2020.

In order to pass the amendment, the Region of Durham needed to complete two background studies, which can be viewed/downloaded here:

Region-wide DC Background Study

Regional Transit DC Background Study

Highlights:

• The purpose of the background studies are to provide for the waiving of the scheduled July 1, 2020 indexing (if there is a positive increase) of the development charges.
• Given the current economic conditions and future uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is anticipated that there will be an impact on demand for new housing and non-residential development which may negatively impact the residential and non-residential construction industry and related employment (skilled tradespersons, local restaurants, material suppliers, etc.)
• Given the current provisions for indexing of development charges, the cost of residential and non-residential development is anticipated to increase July 1, 2020, potentially reducing the level of development within these sectors.  This is an opportunity for Regional Council to consider waiving development charge indexing, in order to provide some relief for local development and building industry during these uncertain times.
• Because the indexing rate will not be known until mid-May, the impact on revenue is not known at this time.

Important Dates

Public Meeting of Council - May 27, 2020

Final Date for Public Comment - June 1, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.

Consideration of Final Amending By-law - June 24, 2020

Comments

Please send any comments to DRHBA by emailing Stacey at s.hawkins@drhba.com.

On April 15, the government passed O Reg 149/20 made under the Planning Act for the "Special Rules Relating to Declared Emergency."

Earlier this week a "plain language" explanation of the regulation was published on the ERO by the provincial government.

Members are encourage to review the Amendments to the Planning Act and O.Reg 149/20 Special Rules Relating to Declared Emergency for clarity.

In the posting, MMAH explains that O.Reg 149/20 clarifies that O.Reg 73/20 under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act  does not apply to land use planning timelines.  The posting also makes it clear that municipalities may hold virtual public meetings and should they wish to make decisions on applications during this time, they are free to do so.

Members are also encouraged to consult with legal counsel as well as their respective municipality to determine how the new planning regulation may or may not affect their specific applications or appeals.