Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Local 63 Project and Work Update

After wrapping up a busy winter work season, Local 63 members can expect to stay busy this spring and summer with a slate of ongoing projects, as well as look forward to new opportunities with CLAC-signatory employers throughout the province

Here’s a brief rundown on what’s happening across the province.

Calgary and Southern Alberta

Now that spring is here, many new projects are getting under way or will be soon. Borea Construction ULC is kicking off the spring with several wind projects starting across southern Alberta and will be hiring several hundred members. Borea and PCL Builders Inc. are similarly busy with solar projects scheduled to be completed this year.

In and around Calgary, Flatiron Constructors Canada Limited, Ledcor Group, PCL Builders Inc., Technical Workforce Inc., and other companies continue to be busy with projects in the commercial, institutional, and heavy civil sectors.

The Calgary market figures to continue to be busy for the next several years, with large projects like the Green Line LRT, Springbank Dam, completion of the Ring Road, and renewable energy projects across southern Alberta. CLAC-signatory companies are in line to get a good share of this and other work.

Greater Edmonton Area

PCL Energy Inc. is ramping up at several power plant projects, such as the Capital Power project in Genesee, the Maxim Power project just outside Grande Cache, and the Cascade Power project in Edson. They are also on site at the E.L. Smith Solar Farm project, which will generate renewable energy to power the waste-water treatment facility, as well as continuing maintenance work at the Suncor South Refinery.

WorleyCord Energy Solutions Ltd. continues its commissioning work on the dehydrogenation plant at IPL in Fort Saskatchewan as well as work at the Trans Mountain Edmonton Terminal where they are adding four new storage tanks, four new pumps, connecting infrastructure, and a new substation.

There is upcoming shutdown/turnaround work at Shell Scotford, and we also continue to have a number of CLAC-signatory contractors such as Worley, Skyway Canada Limited, PTW Industrial Services Ltd., and Kiewit Energy Construction Co. ULC involved in long term maintenance work at IPL.

Wood Buffalo Area

Projections for the oil market in 2022 received a boost in February as the Alberta government announced the planned phasing out of COVID-19 restrictions. Several CLAC-signatory employers are preparing for a busy spring shutdown season by working closely with the CLAC Jobs Team on developing strategies to attract labour to the Wood Buffalo region as the demand for skilled tradespersons increases.

Wage review and collective agreement renewals have been the story for many Local 63 employers. Willbros Facilities & Tanks (Canada) LP, AECOM Maintenance Contractors Ltd., and Ledcor—three companies that perform most of the in-the-fence pipeline work in the Fort McMurray area—concluded wage reviews in January that saw increases to the base wage rates for the first time in the last five years. This, along with collective agreement renewals from several CLAC-signatory employers and steady oil prices, all points to a hectic year ahead.

Pipeline

Local 63’s pipeline work is going strong, with lots of work that was executed during the winter months, and a standard slowdown slated for the spring thaw. Multiple projects will continue through the summer, with Midwest Pipelines Inc., Macro North American Pipeline Inc., and Ledcor Pipelines all having significant work across the prairies. The next couple years will be full of pipeline work, with the TransMountain Expansion Project and the CoastalGasLink LNG lines bringing lots of opportunities for members.

Local 63 Project and Work Update

Calgary and Southern Alberta

Greater Edmonton Area

Wood Buffalo Area

Pipeline

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