Developers wrestle with COVID-19 outbreaks on construction sites

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Amid signs that Ontario’s emergency public health measures are set to be extended into June, a number of COVID-19 outbreaks at residential construction sites has highlighted the debate over what kind of work should be considered essential.

On May 4, an outbreak of 11 cases of COVID-19 resulted in work being stopped at 219 Dundas Developments Inc. (a condo project from Menkes Developments) pursuant to an order from Toronto Public Healthy under the Section 22 powers of the Health Protection and Promotion Act. The Dundas project is reportedly about a year from completion, and is one of four construction sites or companies Toronto Public Health has ordered to close since April 23.

So far in 2021, more than 240 positive tests were connected to construction companies by Toronto Public Health, including such large-scale condominium and rental developers as Menkes Development Inc., Mizrahi Inc., Daniels, Concord Adex and Fitzrovia Real Estate. The outbreaks also show up at concrete forming companies and construction contractors who run the day-to-day operations on the sites such as The Moro Group Inc., Black and McDonald, PCL Constructors and EllisDon Corp.

There are currently 34 workplace outbreaks with 419 active cases in TPH’s warehouse, shipping, distribution and construction category: one third of those were outbreaks were linked to construction sites or companies.

“If we had the appetite for doing a more serious restriction of non-essential workplaces, we could potentially reduce cases much more effectively.” said Ashleigh Tuite, an assistant professor at Dalla Lana School of Public Health, at the University of Toronto. “I suspect the effect of doing something like that [shutting down condo construction] would be pretty dramatic in terms of reducing transmission.”

In its April 16 set of emergency orders, the province did start to limit some construction work as non-essential, shutting down work on retail malls and hotels. But there are critics who say the province could come down harder still to limit the spread of COVID-19. Outbreaks at food manufacturers and logistics centres may be difficult to avoid, but recent outbreaks at gas-can manufacturers, hosiery-makers and furniture builders raise questions about what kind of work is essential during a wave of infections. According to Ms. Tuite, there are examples such as Israel and the United Kingdom that paired their vaccination drives with strong lockdowns that targeted more employers in order to get cases low enough for businesses and the population to benefit from getting their shots and re-opening.

“When you look at what is 100 per cent essential: food, water and shelter … we provide shelter,” said Andrew Pariser, a vice-president with the Residential Construction Council of Ontario. In the Toronto area there are 294 active condominium projects under construction (that figure includes separate towers or phases on the same site) according to real estate analysts at Urbanation Inc., though Mr. Pariser acknowledges that the vast majority of those are not close to delivering housing units during this third wave of the pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Labour, there have been 36 stop-work orders related to COVID-19 issued at construction sites in 2021, though the ministry does not release names or locations. The ministry can levy fines between $700 and $100,000 for violations of COVID protocols, and can also order temporary closures. But the ministry’s current regulations say indoor workers may still go unmasked if they are able to have six feet of distance from others.

“I’m honestly shocked that hasn’t been updated,” said Ms. Tuite, given the research supported by the World health Organization and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control that shows COVID-19 is an airborne virus. “Where workplaces are following the letter of the law, that guidance doesn’t actually keep people safe.”

Steve Chaplin, vice-president of health, safety and environment for EllisDon said the company has been going above those minimum requirements, requiring full masks and even goggles or face shields for indoor workers, and it began rolling out rapid tests to some of its Toronto-area sites in November, 2020.

EllisDon has now performed 105,000 screening tests, starting with about a dozen sites with more than 100 people and expanding its twice-weekly mandatory testing to 27 sites, about three-quarters of all its Toronto locations. Mr. Chaplin said that volume of tests helps to explain why EllisDon has been connected to dozens of positive cases on sites for several clients in 2021, and why it worked with TPH to do partial shutdowns of work at Michael Garron Hospital and at a rental project under construction for Fitzrovia Real Estate at 390-440 Dufferin St.

Mr. Chaplin also argues that not every case connected to the company by TPH was a case contracted on the job.

“You should be looking at workplace transmission once you get into the gate,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of people that just don’t get it, call it COVID fatigue … we see carpooling, we see taking a break and going outside the fence to cluster together. If people are commuting to work in a car, I’m saying that’s community spread. They happen to work for construction but they didn’t get it from construction.”

One pattern that has shown up is that smaller subcontractors and specific trades have been linked to a number of the construction outbreaks. In April, the industry condemned drywall subcontractor Nelmar when graphic videos leaked showing mask-less workers at a Mattamy Homes site cavorting with a half-naked sex worker. “It certainly was a black eye for the industry,” Mr. Pariser said. “That sent all of the wrong messages: we want to get women in the industry and we want workplace safety. It completely undermined all that work.”

Some of Ontario’s current set of COVID-19 restrictions are set to expire May 20, but with cases staying above 2,500 a day the province’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table that has pushed to narrow the list of indoor workplaces to the truly essential.

“Ontario is under a stay-at-home order, schools are closed, people are stuck at home, and our ICUs are full of workers. In order to break this third wave as quickly as possible and save lives, all non-essential workplaces, including residential construction, should be closed,” said opposition NDP MPP and critic for housing Jessica Bell.

“Throughout this we’ve veered towards keeping the economy open at the expense of not being able to reduce cases … we do these half-measures and they grumble on for a while. As a consequence we’ve really extended the amount of pain we’ve been in throughout this pandemic,” Ms. Tuite said.

Editor’s note: 219 Dundas is a Menkes Developments project, not a Daniels project. Incorrect information appeared in an earlier version of this story. In addition, Daniels has confirmed that they have never been ordered by public health to close any of their sites, offices or operations due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

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