Monday, September 6, 2021

The Boom for Local 63 Continues

Well, here we are into October already, at the end of yet another summer. Despite all of the challenges faced this past year—COVID, forest fires and smoke, etc.—it has been a booming year for Local 63 members

By Brendan Kooy, Representative

CLAC-signatory companies are busy and are expected to continue this way into and throughout 2022. Here’s a rundown on what’s happening across the province:

Greater Calgary area – Companies like PCL Builders Inc., Ledcor Group, Technical Workforce Inc. (a division of Graham Construction), Flatiron Constructors Canada Limited, and others are all 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, new Calgary Event Centre, and work on Stoney Trail. CLAC-signatory companies are in line to get a good share of this and other work.

Southern Alberta – The renewable energy market is hotter than it has ever been in Alberta! The main CLAC-signatory companies leading the way in this market are Borea Construction ULC, building a mix of wind and solar projects, and PCL through both the PCL Builders and PCL Energy Inc. divisions, constructing a number of solar farm projects, including the Travers Solar Farm, which once completed will be the largest in North America. CLAC projects to have over 500 Local 63 members working on renewable energy projects in the southern part of the province by the fall.

Greater Edmonton area – Kiewit Energy has completely finished the construction of the propane dehydrogenation plant side of the IPL facility in Fort Saskatchewan, while PCL Builders completed the central utility block side of the facility in the early summer. There are also a couple hundred more members continually working on the polypropylene plant side of the facility. The Heartland Petrochemical Complex is designed to convert locally sourced, low-cost propane into 525,000 tonnes per year of polypropylene, an easily transported plastic used in the manufacturing of a wide range of finished products.

There are some conversions of coal-generated electricity to natural gas electricity happening in the Edmonton area: Capital Power near Genesee and Milner near Grande Cache are converting their coal power plants over in the next couple years, and PCL Energy and Brock Canada Field Services Ltd. will be heavily involved. The structures of the Cascade power plant near Edson are moving out of the ground as most of the concrete and underground work has been completed. This project is being done by PCL Energy and will produce roughly 10 percent of Alberta’s power once completed in the next couple of years.

As for industrial shutdowns and long term maintenance, a number of CLAC-signatory contractors are involved at DOW, Shell, Agrium, Suncor, IOL, IPL, and MEGlobal, as Local 63 members and companies are continuing to grow in this work scope in the Edmonton area. The EL Smith Solar farm in Edmonton is also being constructed to help power the new waste water treatment centre on the southwest side of Edmonton, being done by PCL Energy. The new LRT line in Edmonton remains under construction, employing many commercial and civil construction members employed by Golderado Contracting Corp.

Wood Buffalo area – Work in general has gained some positive momentum for members in the Wood Buffalo region. Stable oil prices and reduced COVID-19 restrictions have allowed many paused or delayed projects to restart or commence. Several CLAC companies also contributed to shutdown maintenance at a number of large oilsands plants over the summer. Of particular note, AECOM Maintenance Contractors Ltd. is involved in maintenance and shutdown work at five different sites in the region, and Ledcor is embarking on the coke boiler replacement work at the Suncor Base Plant. High labour demand in BC has put significant pressure on labour supply in Alberta, which has had some positive effects on wages. Things are looking more positive for the next couple of years with stability in Alberta and significant growth in BC and Saskatchewan.

Pipeline construction – Local 63 has several hundred pipeliners working on the Trans Mountain pipeline in Alberta on spreads 1 and 2. They will remain busy for at least a couple years with Midwest Pipelines Inc. The TransCanada Pipelines Limited pipeline is being constructed by several thousand pipeliners employed by Macro North American Pipeline Inc., Midwest, and Ledcor for the remainder of the winter. WorleyCord Industrial Services Ltd. also continues to work on the pump stations in Alberta and BC for the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The Boom for Local 63 Continues

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