Published for the employers in the construction industry February March 2014 Vol. 44, n o 1 Improvements to the Carnet référence construction Since January 23, new information and functionalities designed to facilitate the use of the Carnet référence construction have been made available. As an employer, you can now: contact by email or text message the workers who appear in the CCQ s list*; find out what additional certifications the workers have acquired*; find out if the workers have already acted as crew leader and/or foreman, or carry out a search based on this criteria*; obtain details regarding other experiences and skills the workers may have acquired*; have access to optimized search results to find workers practicing only one of the industry s occupations, such as those of land surveyor and labourer in masonry; consult the source of your hiring, based on the list of your hiring and termination of employment notices, which displays data for the past 12 months; obtain, upon entering a hiring notice for a later date, the prevalidation of a worker s compliance (the hiring confirmation number will be sent to you only on the business day before the date specified in the notice). This first wave of enhancements is the result namely of the comments gathered in the industry since the launching of the Carnet last September. With a view to pursuing the evolution of the Carnet, and in order to ensure that it meets the needs of the industry, we invite you to continue to share your comments with us by contacting the CCQ s customer service counter at 1 877 973-5383. * Information or functionality available solely if the worker has filled in the fields required in his or her online profile. Envoi poste publcation enr. n 40063591 Registration to Pass the Course on General Knowledge of the Construction Industry (CCGIC) The registration period for the Course on General Knowledge of the Construction Industry (Cours de connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction) is scheduled from February 10 to 21. l s For further information, turn to page 6.
Participation by members of the company in the insurance plan Certain members of the company may be insured under the industry s MÉDIC Construction insurance plan. Who is considered as a member of the company? A member of the company is: a person who is an employer; or a person who is a partner in a corporation which is an employer; or a person who is a director of a legal entity which is an employer; or a person who is the designated representative of a corporation or a legal entity which is an employer. The independent contractor is not considered as a member of the company and is therefore not entitled to participate in the insurance plan. Remember that the member of the company who has lost his or her right to participate voluntarily in the insurance plan is no longer eligible to participate. Certain exclusions may apply: for example, a person over 65 years of age can not participate in the MÉDIC Construction insurance plan on a voluntary basis. At the beginning of May 2014, the CCQ will send an insurability notice to the members of the company eligible to be insured and listed in its register of recognized companies. This notice will indicate the amount to be paid to benefit from the insurance coverages under general plan A during the period from July to December 2014. Therefore, it is important that the names of your company s directors be duly registered with the CCQ. If you haven t done so already, don t forget to notify the CCQ if your company has changed directors during the past few months. How can an enterprise obtain employer status for purposes of social benefits? In order to be considered as an employer for a given insurance period, the enterprise must: have paid the fee of $350 for its registration with the CCQ, if applicable; hold a licence issued by the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, if applicable; have produced a minimum of five monthly reports that meet the following criteria: - hours were reported for at least one employee; - these work hours were carried out during the period from January to December 2013. 2
However, if your enterprise began its operations during this period of 12 months, it must have produced at least one monthly report for each 2-month period presenting hours worked by at least one employee. For example, if your company began its operations in July 2013, it must have produced a minimum of three monthly reports out of six, presenting hours worked by at least one employee, in order to be recognized as an employer. For further information, refer to the leaflet Participation by Employers in the Social Benefit Plans, available on our website at ccq.org. l Forecast 2014 In 2013, construction activity subject to the Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and manpower management in the construction industry (Act R-20) will have seen the first real slowdown in 17 years. However, we have noted signs of recovery in recent months, so 2014 is forecast to be a fairly good year, with a volume of work comparable to that in 2013. The forecasts are particularly positive in the sector of residential construction. Works in the civil engineering and roads sector seem to have stopped their decline, while the institutional and commercial sector continues to be briming with projects and the industrial sector is preparing to bounce back. Visit the Publications section of our website to consult the documents Revue de l activité dans l industrie de la construction and Perspectives 2014. l Sector Hours worked (in millions) 2012 2013 2014 Estimation Forecast Civil engineering and roads 36.3 33.0 33.0 Variation 3% -9% 0% Industrial 18.1 15.0 16.0 Variation 32% -17% 7% Institutional and commercial 78.2 79.0 80.0 Variation 5% 1 % 1% Residential 32.4 29.0 26.0 Variation -2% -10% -10% Total 165.0 156.0 155.0 Variation 5 % -5% -1% 3
It s income tax season! The month of February marks the arrival of the income tax season. The CCQ will forward to you, by February 28, a statement of contributions to the training funds. What must you do if you don t receive this document? What exactly is its purpose? What documents will be forwarded to your employees? Read on to find out more. How to obtain a duplicate? If you have not received this statement by the beginning of March, you can obtain a duplicate through the CCQ s online services. What is the purpose of the statement? The summary of contributions to the training funds will be useful to employers held to paying the contribution to the manpower skills development and recognition fund, 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 des salariés de l industrie de la construction, by way of the monthly report transmitted to the CCQ. These contributions constitute qualified training expenditures in application of the Act to promote workforce skills development and recognition. What statements will be forwarded to the employees? Workers in the industry will also receive their tax slips from the CCQ before February 28. As is the case for the employers, they will be able to obtain a duplicate through the CCQ s online services as early as March. Depending on their situation, the workers will receive the following documents: The T4a slip (federal) is transmitted to the employee who was insured 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. The T4 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. These statements are not forwarded to those who have transferred the lump sum directly into an RRSP. 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 4
an amount for one or several of the following elements: qualification examination, competency certificate, security clearance, registration and confirmation for the course Connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction (CCGIC). If this amount was not reimbursed by the employer, it can be deducted from the income or entitle to a tax credit for union, professional or other types of dues. Deadline for production Note that the deadline for transmitting tax reports to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Ministère du Revenu du Québec is midnight, on April 30. l Note The employees are not required to join their tax statements to their provincial tax report for 2013. Following Revenu Québec s request, the CCQ will transmit to all employees only one copy of the provincial tax statements rather than two, as was the case in previous years. However, the employees must retain their documents to be able to provide them to Revenu Québec upon request. Online Services Accessing services Did you know that you can obtain rapidly the user and personal identification numbers required to use the online services? To do so, simply call or drop in at your regional office. Once this is done, you will have immediate access to your account. You don t have access to a computer? All the CCQ s regional offices have a computer at your disposal. You will be able to access the online services or visit the CCQ s website at your regional office. l 5
Course on General Knowledge of the Construction Industry (CCGIC) The time has come to register! The registration period for the course Connaissance générale de l industrie de la construction will be held from the 10 th to the 21 st of February. This year, 334 places are available in the graduates category. Note that the number of places was determined on the basis of the labour needs of different regions of Québec (see table). Should the number of registrations for one occupation be greater than the needs estimated for a given region, a random draw will determine those who will be selected to pass the CCGIC. The forms Demande d inscription personne diplômée exercice 2014 and Demande d enregistrement ou modification au dossier identification et/ou au choix d association syndicale must be duly completed and joined to the application along with your payment and the original of the attestation that you have successfully passed your study program (it will be returned to you). The forms are available on the CCQ s website at ccq.org under the Forms tab, at the CCQ s regional offices, or by contacting the CCQ s customer service counter at 1 888 842-8282. Table 1 Estimate of needs for graduate workers for occupations, 2014 Estimates by regional subcommittees Surveyor DEP DEC Blasterdriller Lineman Diver Welder Pipe Welder All specialized occupations Abitibi-Témiscamingue 5 1 5 4 1 2 0 18 Bas-Saint-Laurent Gaspésie 5 1 0 4 0 2 0 12 Côte-Nord 6 1 4 50 1 5 0 67 Estrie 3 1 2 3 1 2 2 14 Greater Montréal 38 2 5 20 5 15 0 85 Mauricie Bois-Francs 6 1 0 4 2 0 3 16 Outaouais 5 1 4 8 2 2 4 26 Québec City 26 4 5 4 5 10 5 59 Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean 22 1 4 4 2 4 10 47 Total 116 13 29 101 19 42 24 344 Source : CCQ, January 2014. See on page 7 6
Diplomas recognized for purposes of registration to pass the CCGIC in 2014: Vocational studies diploma in drilling and blasting Vocational studies diploma in power line work Attestation of collegial studies in professional diving Attestation of vocational specialization in high-pressure welding Vocational studies diploma in welding-assembly Vocational studies diploma in surveying and topography Collegial studies diploma in civil engineering technology (221.BO) for land surveyors. For a complete list of recognized study programs, refer to the CCQ s website at ccq.org. Fees payable The sum of $110 must be paid to register for the course. The amount will be divided as follows: a registration fee of $10 and a 100-dollar training fee. If you are not selected for the course, you will receive a refund of $100. Note that the 10-dollar registration fee is not refundable.. l Mobile points of service The towns to be visited in February and March The CCQ has set up mobile points of service in order to accommodate 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. Following is a list of the towns our personnel will visit in the months of February and March. Ville Date Heure Chantier La Romaine February 5 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Chibougamau February 3 and 4 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Monday) March 31 and April 1 8:30 a.m. to noon (Tuesday) Drummondville February 19 10:30 a.m. to noon March 19 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Havre-St-Pierre February 6 8:30 a.m. to noon Saint-Georges-de-Beauce February 4 8:30 a.m. to noon March 11 1 p.m. to 4 p.m Victoriaville February 13 10 a.m. to noon March 13 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. To obtain the exact details of the points of service, or should you wish to see the complete schedule of visits for 2014, simply refer to our website at ccq.org. l 7
The present document is produced solely for information purposes. Only the Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and manpower management in the construction industry, its regulations and the collective agreements in force in the construction industry, have legal value. The male gender is occasionally used for ease of reading only. In all cases, the text refers equally to men and women. Bâtir is a bimonthly publication intended for the employers of the construction industry. Published by: Direction des communications Commission de la construction du Québec C. P. 2030, succ. Youville Montréal (Québec) H2P 0B1 Graphic design: oblik.ca Page layout: Danièle Bordeleau Translation: Le Marché de l écriture inc. Legal Deposit: Library and Archives Canada ISSN: 0708-3912 Employers line: 1 877 973-5383 French copy available on request. PU 95-02 (1402)