As all levels of government roll out funding for major infrastructure projects, Toronto City Council is again leading the way to ensure meaningful public benefits flow where public dollars are spent. April’s City Council meeting saw resounding support for a motion by Councillor Paula Fletcher and Deputy Mayor Ana Bailao that called on Metrolinx to build on the ground-breaking Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) achieved through the Eglinton Crosstown rail line in all planned, and future, transit infrastructure projects.
The resolution identifies three key ingredients for a successful CBA: Clear minimum targets (10% of working hours by apprentices from specific equity-deserving groups); training and support required to create career pathways into the skilled trades; as well as proactive anti-racism strategies and oversight by and accountability to key community stakeholders.
The resolution could not have come at a better time as we exit a pandemic and enter a time of unprecedented price inflation. CBAs can ensure major infrastructure projects deliver broad public goods and address deepening inequality by ensuring the Torontonians who were hit hardest by the pandemic have access to the good union jobs provided by the skilled trades. They can also ensure public spending leverages additional environmental, social and economic benefits for communities hosting major infrastructure projects.
The Conservative government has invested significantly into trades training, which if done right, could increase the participation of demographics currently underrepresented in the construction workforce.
With a Provincial election looming, New Democrats have built support for community benefits into their platform. The Liberals have focused on the need for broader representation by women. These pledges are grounded in the recognition that CBAs can also help meet a pressing need of Ontario’s $50 billion construction sector: the next generation of skilled tradespeople.
About 82% of the construction trade labour on City of Toronto projects are unionized, with members earning a reasonable rate of wage, including some of the best benefits, pension, training and working conditions on the job site. However, within the next decade, 20% of the unionized construction workforce will retire. The industry must reach into and welcome groups of workers who have historically been shut out of the skilled trades, including workers of colour and women, who only represent 11% and 12% of Ontario’s entire construction workforce right now. CBAs are designed to address this gap.
At least 27 CBA projects are underway or planned in Ontario. Following the lead of major U.S. cities, the City of Toronto formally adopted a Community Benefits Framework in 2019. Metrolinx’s early CBAs make a powerful argument for these community, labour, government and industry partnerships to expand. Under its first Community Benefits Framework signed with the Toronto Community Benefits Network in 2015, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT has included over 430 placements for targeted hires as of July 2021, half of which were in the apprenticeships and skilled trades; over $8 million in spending went to local procurement. The Finch LRT CBA includes land dedicated for a future Community Hub.
Despite these accomplishments, for the next wave of new projects in Scarborough, Thorncliffe Park, York South Weston, Mount Dennis and Etobicoke, Metrolinx appeared to walk away from its past commitment to community benefits. However following a public outcry, officials quickly re-affirmed their support for minimum equity hiring targets. Needed now is for Metrolinx to declare its support for the oversight and accountability that make these targets achievable.
Toronto City Council, which adopted a municipal Community Benefits Framework in 2019, has called on Metrolinx to ensure these transformative infrastructure developments adopt CBAs to build “a more inclusive, prosperous and just Toronto for local residents and equity deserving groups.” Metrolinx should support this vision.
