issues: prevailing wage & community benefit agreements
When the Government of Canada makes invests in infrastructure, or creates tax incentives for private companies, Canadians expect that the government will do more than simply cut a cheque.
Canada’s Building Trades Unions is advocating for the Government of Canada to attach strong labour conditions and community benefits any time the government is support major infrastructure projects, creating tax breaks, or providing subsidies to the private sector. Canada’s Building Trades Unions are thrilled with the recent labour conditions recently attached to the Investment Tax Credits passed in June 2024.
We believe these labour conditions should be more broadly applied throughout the government, ensuring that when taxpayers are spending money, they are not only receiving more value, but supporting high-quality jobs, good wages, and accessible training opportunities for workers.
Prevailing Wage Requirements
A prevailing wage is the basic hourly rate of wages and benefits paid to a number of similarly employed workers in a given geography. In the United States, since the passage of the Davis–Bacon Act of 1931, the US federal government has required contractors on federal projects to pay the prevailing wage to all their workers.
In 2024, Canada passed the strongest definition of prevailing wage in Canadian labour history – attaching a requirement to pay the prevailing wage in order to receive the maximum tax benefit.
Canada’s Building Trades Unions is advocating for policies that would see this prevailing wage definition be applied to all federally procured construction projects – a move that would ensure workers are paid fair wages whenever the federal government invests in building civil infrastructure.
Apprenticeship Requirements, Community, and Workforce Benefit Agreements
Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), also called Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs), are a way to leverage infrastructure dollars to not only build much-needed infrastructure in communities across Canada, but also achieve social benefits in the communities where a project takes place.
CBAs enable the value of a project to extend far beyond the building of infrastructure. They create pathways to apprenticeship for those in the communities where infrastructure is built, including opportunities for underrepresented groups, and building the skilled trades workforce. The federal government has the opportunity to mandate the inclusion of CBAs to ensure every public dollar spent sees the greatest return on investment for workers and communities.
CBAs often contain provisions that enable apprenticeships, establish grounds for workplace development initiatives, provide funding and economic support for impacted communities, and set forth goals for minorities, women, and local job hiring, leaving a legacy of experience, skills training and employability.
Canada’s Building Trades Unions strongly advocates for the inclusion of CBAs as a part of the Government of Canada’s infrastructure procurement process.
our reccomendations
- Expand the new prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements to all federally procured infrastructure projects, as well as any tax incentives for private sector construction.
- Implement the use of Community Benefit Agreements whenever the Federal government undertakes major civil infrastructure projects, or when they make joint investments and funding agreements with provinces, territories, and municipal governments.
