The members of Local joined to Local 568

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1 PUBLISHED FOR THE EMPLOYERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY February 2008 Vol. 38, n o 1 The members of Local joined to Local 568 As of January 10, 2008, the members of Local are joined to the members of Local 568. For further information on the union dues that apply, please read our article on page 4. Registration to pass the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction The window for registration to pass the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction (CCGIC) will be open this year from the 4 th to the 15 th of February. The construction industry has estimated that for 2008, it would need a total of 229 graduates, distributed in one or the other of the following occupations: shotfirer/driller, diver, welder and surveyor. For further details, please read the article on page 2. Point of information regarding the Québec Building Code, Chapter III Plumbing We must add a point of information to the article on the update of the Québec Building Code published on page 2 of the last edition of Bâtir. Despite the fact that a new version of Chapter V Electricity came into force last November 5, the same can not be said of Chapter III Plumbing. The fact is that a draft version of the update of Chapter III Plumbing was prepared by the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, but has not yet been adopted. Once the draft version is adopted, we will notify you of the date of its coming into force, and the course Code de construction du Québec, chapitre III Plomberie will then be offered to the pipefitters.

2 Registration to pass the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction (CCGIC) All persons who wish to practice an occupation in the construction industry must obtain a competency certificate-occupation. To do so, they must successfully pass the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction (CCGIC). The registration period for the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction begins on the 4 th and ends on the 15 th of February. The industry has estimated that in 2008, it will need a total of 229 graduates in one or the other of the following occupations: shotfirer/driller, diver, welder, and surveyor. Note that the number of places was determined on the basis of the regions and occupations (see table of regional needs estimated for 2008). Should the number of registrations be greater than the number of estimated places for a given region, a random draw will determine those who will be permitted to pass the course. Registration category: candidates holding a diploma This year, there is only one registration category, that is the candidates holding a recognized diploma. In order to be included in this category, the candidates must hold one of the following diplomas: Certificate of collegial studies in professional diving Vocational studies diploma in surveying and topography Vocational studies diploma in drilling and blasting Vocational studies diploma in welding-assembly How to register to pass the course Those who wish to register to pass the course must complete the registration form Demande d inscription personne diplômée CCGIC 2008, and join to their application their grades transcript or the original of their diploma attesting that they have successfully passed the study program. They must also join a registration fee of $10. In addition, the selected candidates must pay a 100-dollar training fee upon reception of the selection notice issued by the CCQ. The candidates who successfully pass the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction will automatically obtain a competency certificate-occupation if they can prove that they have also successfully passed the course Santé et sécurité générale sur les chantiers de construction. The registration forms required for the CCGIC are available at the CCQ s regional offices and on the CCQ s website at It is also possible to obtain the form by contacting the CCQ s Customer Service counter at ESTIMATE OF NEEDS BY REGION FOR THE 2008 CCGIC COURSE Region Shotfirer Diver Welder Surveyor Whole and driller of occupations Abitibi-Témiscamingue Bas-Saint-Laurent Gaspésie North Shore Eastern Townships Greater Montréal Mauricie Bois-Francs Outaouais Québec City Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean TOTAL * Source: CCQ. The new occupation codes Don t forget to include them in your monthly report! Over the last months, the CCQ created new codes for a number of occupations in the industry. These codes were created to better reflect the tasks carried out by the employees and to provide a more precise picture of the labour pools. It is therefore important that you indicate on your monthly report the code that matches the activity of the holder of a competency certificate occupation. 2 Here is a reminder of these codes: 609 Labourer (masonry) 610 Labourer (underground conduits) 611 Labourer (concrete and asphalt sawing) 612 Labourer (air duct clean-up) 614 Labourer (scaffolding) 621 Labourer (initial maintenance and clean-up)

3 Economic forecast for the construction industry Growth expected in 2008 The prospects for the construction industry remain favourable. The slump in activity at the beginning of 2007 is a thing of the past. Activity promises to be more vigorous in Indeed, we estimate that activity on construction sites should increase further over the course of the coming years to reach a peak of 140 million hours in 2011, said Mr. Ménard, President and CEO of the CCQ, during the sixth annual conference on the economic prospects for the construction industry, held last December. Mr. David Whissel, Minister of Labour, seized the opportunity to point out that the government will invest $31 billion over the next five years in the areas of education, healthcare, roads and municipal infrastructures. In addition, $31 billion will be invested in the energy sector over the next ten years. These investments will greatly benefit the construction industry, he emphasized. For their part, the CCQ s economists foresee that a volume of work of 128 million hours could be anticipated for 2008, which would translate into a 3% increase in the volume of hours worked compared to These forecasts are in keeping with a generally positive economic context, despite the risks of a recession in the United States and the disadvantages of a high Canadian dollar. Sector-based prospects With regard to the forecasts for each sector, the CCQ s economists believe that the civil engineering and roads sector will rank first in terms of growth, due namely to road works and the Eastman-1-A Rupert construction site. Let us remember that the budget allocated to road works will benefit from a considerable increase, while the new Plan québécois des infrastructures will generate several projects. As to the institutional and commercial sector, it should continue to grow in 2008, since it will benefit from major investments in the fields of healthcare and education. After having suffered a strong decline in its volume of activity in 2007, the industrial sector should enjoy a boost in 2008, thanks to the boom in the mining industry and the strong demand for aluminum and oil. Lastly, the residential sector, which delivered a great performance in 2007, should experience a drop in its volume of activity in However, this drop is expected to be countered by non-residential construction. Regional prospects: the Bay James area will stand out As for the regions, the James Bay area should once again rank first in terms of growth in 2008, given that the volume of work is expected to double on the construction site of the Eastmain-1-A Rupert hydroelectric complex. The Outaouais region will come in second, since it will see its volume of activity increase by 10%, thanks to the power line interconnection work with Ontario. The volume of work in the regions of Québec City, Greater Montréal and Côte-Nord should increase by 5% in The region of Québec City will benefit from plenty of work on roads and infrastructures, just like the region of Greater Montréal, which could depend, moreover, on petrochemical projects. As to the Côte-Nord region, activity should be driven by the industrial sector, thanks to the Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines project at Lake Bloom. The volume of work in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region should remain stable, sustained by favourable activity in the mining sector. The same applies to the Bas-Saint-Laurent Gaspésie region, where the construction of wind turbines will continue. In addition, the methane terminal project at Gros-Cacouna may be added at the end of the year On the downside, the Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean region should report a 5% drop in its volume of activity as the Péribonka-IV construction site comes to an end, despite the launch of the site of Alcan s AP50 plant. Hours worked will also decrease by 5% in the Eastern Townships, following the drop in the residential and industrial sectors. Lastly, a decrease of 10% is expected in the Mauricie Bois-Francs region, where the civil engineering and roads sector will feel the impact of the completion of the Chute-Allard and Rapides-des-Cœurs sites. Labour needs: 14,000 new workers per year The construction industry will need approximately 14,000 new workers per year over the next four years, in order to cope with the increase in work volumes on construction sites as well as with departures. Although the industry currently counts 134,000 active workers, the CCQ deems that the construction industry will have to reach close to 150,000 at the end of 2011 in order to complete all the work expected on the construction sites. To that end, the Minister of Labour has declared that he was counting on the cooperation of the CCQ, the employer and employee organization partners in the industry, and on partners in the education and employment sectors. Together, they will have to redouble their efforts to draw new workers into the industry, says M. Ménard. The government, for its part, will support them with initial training and retraining for workers from other sectors. For 2008 alone, about 10,000 workers will need to be replaced due to departures, and about 4,000 new jobs will have to be filled to cope with anticipated growth. The industry has all the tools it needs to reach this target, concluded Mr. André Ménard, President and CEO of the CCQ. We are committed to doing everything in our power to ensure that the industry has all the high-quality workers that it needs. Compensation for safety equipment, schedules R and R2 An error on our Web site Do you use the CCQ s website to check the salary rates and social benefit dues and contributions? If such is the case, please note that an error was made concerning the compensation for safety equipment in schedules R (light residential work) and R2 (James Bay). Indeed, the compensation that came into force on December 2007 was set at $0.50. Please note that this error was corrected last January 14. In other words, you may simply ignore this notice if you checked the rates following this date. 3

4 MOBILE POINTS OF SERVICE The towns to be visited in February The CCQ has set up mobile points of service in order to accomodate the workers and employers who live several hundred kilometres away from its regional offices and who wish to meet with a member of the CCQ team. In February, the CCQ s mobile points of service will be set up in the towns and on the construction sites listed below, on the dates indicated in the following table (since the schedule may change, we suggest that you refer to the CCQ s website for confirmation before visiting a point of service). For information on the towns or sites to be visited during the next few months, we suggest that you also refer to the CCQ s website. Town/site Location of point of service Date and time Cap-aux-Meules Local employment centre February 19, from 8:30 a.m. to noon 120, chemin de Gros-Cap and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. February 20, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Chutes-Allard and Camp Flamand Community Centre February 6, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Rapides-des-Cœurs sites Drummondville Local employment centre 270, rue Lindsay February 20, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Havre-Saint-Pierre Local employment centre February 14, from 8:30 a.m. to noon 1280, rue de la Digue, bur. 200 La Malbaie Local employment centre of La Malbaie February 14, from 8:30 a.m. to noon 21, rue Patrick-Morgan and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Les Escoumins Local employment centre February 21, from 10 a.m. to noon 459, route 138 and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saint-Georges (Beauce) Local employment centre of Saint-Georges (Beauce) February 12, from 8:30 a.m. to noon 11500, 1 re Avenue and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Victoriaville Local employment centre February 14, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 62, rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste The members of Local joined to Local 568 The locals 568 (Montréal) and (Hull) of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have agreed to join the members of Local to those of Local 568. Thus, as of December 20, 2007, and for purposes of the monthly report, the employers must deduct from these workers wages the unions dues that apply to Local 568. Therefore, these new union dues must be indicated on the monthly report for January 2008, to be forwarded to the CCQ before February 15. The union dues for Local 568 are calculated as follows: For the electricians and linemen: 75% of one hour worked, per week or part of week, calculated on the hourly rate of the journeyman electrician as defined in Schedule B of the labour agreement for the industrial sector, as well as $0.05 per hour worked; For the apprentice electricians: 60% of one hour worked, per week or part of week, calculated on the hourly rate of the journeyman electrician as defined in Schedule B of the labour agreement for the industrial sector, as well as $0.05 per hour worked. 4

5 Bringing in on your cheques! The passage from one year to the next requires certain adjustments during the first days of the new year. For example, we sometimes make a mistake when entering the year on a cheque. As you may well expect, this type of error causes delays in the payment of amounts due to the CCQ, since we must then return the cheque to you.therefore, don t forget to enter 2008 if you must send us a cheque! The regional codes: Are you using the right ones? In force since January 2006, the regional codes were assigned by the CCQ to each of its regions in order to facilitate their identification. You must use these regional codes when you complete your monthly report, call the Info-pénurie service or report changes in your workforce. These codes are as follows: 00 Outside 01 Îles-de-la-Madeleine 02 Bas-Saint-Laurent Gaspésie 03 Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean 04 Québec City 06 Mauricie Bois-Francs 07 Eastern Townships 08 Greater Montréal 09 Outaouais 10 Abitibi-Témiscamingue 11 North Shore 13 Bay James Cement pump operator How to include the trial period in the monthly report? In our last edition of Bâtir, we informed you of the existence of codes 255 and 257 identifying the specialty of the cement pump operator with mast. Since the trial period for this occupation has been integrated into these two codes, it is no longer necessary to use code 263. Furthermore, in order to indicate the trial period of the cement pump operator in the monthly report, you must now enter the number 9 in the field Apprenticeship Period. What is a trial period? It is the period during which an employee benefits from a job guarantee of 150 hours and an hourly wage of $ This trial period is current in the residential, industrial, institutional, and commercial sectors. 5

6 Income tax slips: Follow the guide Before the 29 th of February, the CCQ will forward the statement of contributions to the training funds to the employers in the industry. All employers who have not received these documents by March 6 must contact the CCQ s customer service counter to obtain duplicates. The summary of contributions to the training funds will be useful to employers subject to the provincial legislation fostering the development of manpower, that is those employers with a wage bill of more than 1 million dollars who must invest 1% of their wage bill in training activities. This document presents the sum of the contributions paid out to the Fonds de formation de l industrie de la construction (civil engineering and roads, industrial, institutional and commercial sectors) or to the Plan de formation des travailleurs du secteur résidentiel, by way of the monthly report transmitted to the CCQ. These contributions constitute qualified training expenditures in application of the Act to foster the development of manpower training (Note that the name of this act was changed in June It is now referred to as the Act to promote workforce skills development and recognition). The employer can transmit this statement along with the Summary of Source Deductions and Employer Contributions. Statements forwarded to employees Workers in the industry will also receive their tax slips from the CCQ before February 29. As is the case for the employers, they will be advised to wait until the 6 th of March before contacting the CCQ s customer service counter to request duplicates. Note that the employees must transmit their personal tax reports to the Canada Revenue Agency and the Ministère du Revenu du Québec before midnight, April 30. Depending on their situation, the workers will receive the following documents: The T4a slip (federal) is transmitted to the employee who was insured under the Médic Construction plan or who has worked during the year. The same applies to the RL-22 slip (provincial), except that in this case, the premium indicated is considered as a qualified expenditure, a medical fee entitling to a tax credit for fees exceeding 3% of the net income. TheT4 slip (federal) and RL-1 slip (provincial) are sent to the employee who received taxable sums following a claim or from the special compensation fund during the tax year. The T4a slip (federal) and RL-2 slip (provincial) are forwarded to the employees and surviving spouses who received a monthly benefit during the tax year. They are also sent to all those who received a lump sum for retirement during the year, in the form of a reimbursement by cheque. The persons who have transferred the lump sum directly into an RRSP will not receive these statements. The T4a slip (federal) and RL-1 slip (provincial) are sent to the employees who received disability insurance benefits during the tax year. The T5 slip (federal) and RL-3 slip (provincial) are transmitted to the employees who received over $50.00 in interest on holiday and statutory holiday pay. Lastly, an attestation of dues paid out to a parity committee, which is identical for both levels of government, is transmitted to the employee who paid out an amount for one or several of the following elements: qualification examination, competency certificate, security clearance, registration and confirmation for the course Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction (CCGIC). Reduction in GST: its impact on contributions to the AECQ On January 1, 2008, the applicable rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was reduced to 5%. Since the hourly contribution to the Association des entrepreneurs en construction du Québec (AECQ) is taxable, this measure will affect the monthly report for January, which covers the period from December 30, 2007, to January 26, Do not forget that the monthly report for January 2008 must be forwarded to the CCQ by February 15, Obviously, this reduction will also apply to the annual contribution you must pay to the AECQ. The Bâtir is a monthly publication intended for the employers of the construction industry. Published by the Direction des communications of the Commission de la construction du Québec, 3530 Jean-Talon Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3R 2G3 Legal Deposit, National Library of Canada ISSN PU (0802)