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Majority of U.S. businesses plan to increase cleaning frequency

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The vast majority of U.S. company leaders intend to increase their cleaning frequency once their businesses reopen, according to a new survey by OpenWorks. Eight-three per cent of business leaders polled indicated it will be “likely” or “very likely” that they will increase the frequency of their facility cleaning, and 94 per cent responded that they will add regular disinfection to their cleaning programs.

“No matter what industry you operate in, COVID-19 has redefined the level of clean that is acceptable for business,” said Eric Roudi, president and CEO of OpenWorks, in a May 26 press release from the company. “Workplaces are moving from basic, manual cleaning procedures, like vacuuming and wiping down surfaces, into specialized, more advanced cleaning protocols that include disinfecting. It’s a trend we don’t see waning any time soon.”

Coronavirus concerns

According to recent findings from the National Institutes of Health, the virus that causes COVID-19 can be detectable in the air for up to 3 hours, on copper for up to 4 hours, on cardboard for up to 24 hours, and on plastic and stainless steel for 2 to 3 days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also reported that it may be possible that a person to contract COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.

“Destroying and deactivating germs is of paramount importance to us,” said Liz Caracciolo, chief operating officer of OpenWorks. “An increased focus on cleanliness and disinfection is not just coming from business leaders in school classrooms, surgical sites, offices, or manufacturing and distribution centres. There is also a heightened awareness among consumers of disinfection, and the essential role it plays, in the health and safety of all environments.”

In another OpenWorks survey, nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of consumers expressed the belief that workplaces should be cleaned daily, and 56 per cent reported they want their workplace disinfected each day.

About OpenWorks

OpenWorks is a national facility services and commercial cleaning and disinfecting service provider. For more information, visit their website.

Avenue Living fined for safety violation

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Avenue Living has been fined $40,000 for violating Saskatchewan’s occupational health and safety regulations. The Calgary-based rental housing provider pleaded guilty under its legal name, Boulevard Real Estate Equities Ltd., earlier this month for an incident that caused a worker injury.

In total, a $28,571 fine and $11,429 surcharge were applied for failure to adequately safeguard employees. In this case, a worker at a Saskatoon building dropped a water heater on his leg as a result of falling on the jobsite. Three other charges related to the November 2017 mishap were stayed.

“Everyone is responsible for workplace health and safety,” affirms a government of Saskatchewan media release. “Out-of-province companies operating in Saskatchewan must comply with Saskatchewan’s legislation.”

Alberta polls commercial landlords and tenants

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The Alberta government is polling commercial landlords and tenants about their COVID-19-related financial stresses. A newly introduced online survey poses two separate series of questions for building owners/managers and business occupants, asking for details about their current operational status, relief programs they’ve used and kinds of support they may still need.

Government analysts are seeking a more complete picture of the types of businesses experiencing difficulty, the scope of landlords and tenants affected, and their ability, thus far, to tap into assistance programs. “These insights will aid in determining whether additional measures are needed to support businesses struggling to pay rent during the COVID-19 pandemic,” an Alberta government statement advises.

Landlords are asked to report: the volume of requests for rent deferrals or reductions; the degree to which they’ve granted tenants’ requests; and whether they’ve sought mortgage deferrals or other concessions from their lenders. Business tenants are queried on numbers of employees; COVID-19-related loss of revenue; use of government-sponsored relief programs; and agreements negotiated with their landlords. Both Alberta commercial landlords and tenants who have thus far not applied for assistance programs are also asked to explain why.

“We expect businesses and landlords to work together in a respectful and fair manner during this challenging time,” says Tanya Fir, Alberta’s Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism. “We strongly encourage landlords to participate in the CECRA program and to be flexible and understanding of their tenants’ financial circumstances. We are asking businesses to pay their rent as fully and consistently as possible, if they can.”

Keeping garbage areas in condos healthy and safe

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Cleaning garbage areas is a maintenance concern for all condo corporations, but the current pandemic has made this to-do item even more relevant given the fact there is now more waste to contend with and health and safety issues to worry about.

As residents stay home or self-isolate in their units, the more odour-causing waste they produce. Meanwhile, the closure of restaurants and cafes to in-house dining is creating less urban trash—driving dumpster-loving rodents to find new food sources in nearby multi-residential buildings where garbage levels are escalating. Combine this with the need to follow stricter cleaning protocols and waste management is now more challenging.

With summer fast-approaching these issues are only going to accelerate as rodents become more active during warmer seasons and garbage odours intensify with the heat. In addition, the coronavirus is taking condo sanitization to a whole new level. Here are some health and safety items to consider when maintaining waste areas and equipment.

Keeping garbage rooms clean and uncluttered

Now that rodents are cut off from the ongoing supply of food from restaurant waste, condos and apartments are the place to be. They provide shelter, food, warmth and water—four key factors that help pests thrive. They can find their way into buildings through very small entrances and once they do, health and safety issues become a big problem. Not only do rats and mice harbour pathogens known to spread more than 35 diseases, including lymphocytic chorio-meningitis (LCM), Hantavirus and salmonellosis (food poisoning), they also chew electrical wires and cause other structural damage to a building.

Rodents, including other pests like cockroaches, love clutter—it provides hiding places and tucked-away areas for breeding. Waste areas are often used to store broken stoves, refrigerators, tools and other items that can create passageways for rodents to travel through and nest.

Cleaning and organizing garbage rooms should remain a priority as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, and correct health and safety measures should be followed to also protect residents and staff from what we know is a highly transmissible disease. Use the proper disinfectants to clean thoroughly and frequently, including all the high-touch points like door knobs and railings. Anticipate that these areas could possibly contain COVID-19 due to residents’ garbage spilling out or used items entering the area through the waste chute.

As building staff use the room regularly, this may increase the potential to transmit the virus to other parts of the building. For this reason, floors—a primary area for pathogenic microorganisms in a building—should be kept cleaner than they already are. The garbage room floor serves as a highway for bacteria that gets transported on the soles of shoes or building equipment.

Clean floors daily and splatter areas with a pressure washer (or water hose), using a degreaser disinfectant. Prior to the wash, scrubbing the floors and walls with a deck scrub brush will help agitate and provide a more thorough cleaning.

Restoring a dark and cluttered garbage room into a well-lit, organized space will also help to create a safe and inviting environment that residents will want to use, deterring careless behaviour from dropping garbage off in random places to stuffing larger items down a chute.

Thoroughly clean and sanitize waste equipment

Going forward, it should be common practice to wipe the handles on all high-touch points like waste chute doors using the proper disinfectant.

Odours in waste chutes arise from the spatter of garbage. A proper method for maintaining this area is washing down the chute with disinfectant cleaner degreasers.

Thoroughly cleaning the inside of garbage compactors, waste chutes and bins can be tricky for building staff. A professional service provider would be advised about one to three times per year. In between these cleanings, regular use of disinfectants in the chute wash down is recommended.

Hiring the right service provider in the era of COVID-19

Building service providers, including those that manage waste equipment cleaning, should have incorporated mandatory health and safety measures into their day-to-day operations. These should be based on the advice and directives from Canadan health authorities, and include any evolving guidelines over the course of the pandemic.

All workers arriving to a building should not only be wearing the proper personal equipment, but reputable companies will deploy contractors in separate trucks—two at a time to adhere to social distancing rules. Make sure to ask questions regarding what training staff have and updated health and safety standards being followed before anyone enters the building to work. A reputable business will go beyond the standards and require that training is a yearly priority.

Working in a garbage room can be a very dangerous task—pandemic or no pandemic. Contractors often work in this area where residents may ignore the chute closure. The use of safety devices such as chute plugs, lockout tags and techniques should be practiced to eliminate serious injury or loss of life. Companies should have proper protocol procedures, health and safety manuals and all contractors should have certified safety training, including WHMIS, Fall Arrest, Confined Spaces and Lockout/Tag out, a program that not only helps prevent the unintended start-up or motion of machinery and equipment, but helps avoid contact with a hazard while performing tasks that require removal, by-passing or deactivation of safe-guarding devices.

Cleaning has certainly moved to the forefront in condo corporations where people live in close quarters. Best practices for waste management not only deter rodents and odours, but also uphold cleaning protocols that keep the whole condo community safe.

 

Brian De Carli is vice-president of Metro Jet Wash Corporation and Leslie De Carli is the CEO of Metro Jet Wash Corporation. The Canadian-based property maintenance company specializes in property maintenance solutions, including compactor cleaning and chute cleaning, underground and parking lot pressure washing and cleaning, drain cleaning and catch basin cleaning, parking lot striping and painting, as well as odour control systems, product sales and services. https://metrojetwash.ca/

Military exposes dire state of Ontario long-term care

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The Canadian Armed Forces has issued a scathing report on the state of Ontario’s long-term care homes, shedding light on the grim conditions service members observed in five specific GTA residences.

Calling the report “heart-wrenching and “disturbing”, Premier Doug Ford announced that an investigation has been launched and that it could lead to criminal charges. The allegations include:

  • Improper infection control, as residents were allowed to wander freely throughout the facilities despite rising COVID-19 cases;
  • The repeated use of medical equipment between infected and non-infected patients, including the reuse of PPE by staff members during resident interactions;
  • Instances in which staff members became aggressive with residents during medical procedures;
  • Instances of neglect in which residents called for help but no one responded for up to two hours;
  • Unsanitary and unhygienic conditions, including the presence of cockroaches, ants and rotting food;
  • Unsafe administration of medication to residents, including unwarranted sedation.

The Ontario Health Coalition, which has released detailed monthly reports on the “unacceptable” conditions at some senior care facilities during the COVID-19 crisis, feels the investigation is too little too late.

“We are beyond frustrated,” Natalie Mehra, a spokesperson for the coalition said. “Thousands of staff and residents alike have been infected with COVID-19, almost 1,500 residents and staff have died, yet we are still waiting for a coherent coordinated plan from Ontario’s government to intervene actively in long-term care homes with outbreaks.”

Aside from individual staff transgressions, Mehra contends there were clear systemic failures at play. “We have repeatedly raised the issue of staff being required to wear the same PPE from resident to resident or patient to patient until it is “visibly soiled,” she said. “This would have been completely unacceptable prior to COVID-19 and yet it is routinely the case in homes and hospitals that say that they are complying with Public Health Ontario’s directives and guidelines. Shortages of PPE and incompetent and negligent management are compounded by the leadership failure in our provincial government, which should have applied the precautionary principle and taken much more active measures to improve the standard of infection control, workplace safety and access to PPE.”

And the Coalition isn’t alone. Advocates from the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly and other seniors’ organizations, unions and health professionals have been calling for measures to address these conditions — yet improvements have been late, inadequate, or nonexistent, and there still is no coherent strategy.

“Long-term care homes were in a crisis of under-staffing prior to COVID-19 and the situation has been worsened as staff have left, are off work in isolation, and as many have had to choose one home out of several at which they worked part-time,” Mehra continued. “Stories of inadequate care levels are frequent, particularly in homes with outbreaks, but also in others. This was the case across the board prior to COVID-19, now the inadequacy of staffing and care is beyond description.”

Long-term care homes: industry response

As the families of residents impacted by the ongoing situation grapple with the grim details outlined in the report and look for accountability from facility operators, some companies have issued statements of their own.

“Today, we received a copy of a report by the Canadian Forces listing observations from Altamont Care Community, where it has been working alongside our team since April 27, 2020,” said the update from Sienna Senior Living. “We continue to be deeply saddened by the impact the pandemic is having on long-term care homes. Our commitment to our residents, their families and our team members is to work with government to make sure the concerns identified by the Canadian Forces are addressed.”

With the ongoing support of the Canadian Forces, the company assures the public that the Altamont Care Community will be “continuously evaluated” and that additional measures, protocols, and processes will be implemented “in line with provincial and public health directives.”

“COVID-19 has had a severe impact on staffing at Altamont,” the statement concluded. “To deliver the level of care that our seniors deserve, the staffing challenges we face in the long-term care sector must be addressed. We are committed to working with the government, and our health system partners, to solve this urgent issue.”

The five long-term care homes observed in the report are:

  • Eatonville Care Centre (Toronto)
  • Hawthorne Place Care Centre (Toronto)
  • Orchard Villa (Pickering)
  • Holland Christian Homes (Brampton)
  • Altamont (Toronto)

Green buildings can re-ignite Canada’s economy

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The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has released “Ready, set, grow: How the green building industry can re-ignite Canada’s economy” to offer recommendations for Canada’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

As Canada prepares for an economic recovery, increased spending and investment by the federal government will impact construction and infrastructure projects and CaGBC has provided its industry perspective to key federal ministers.

The document presents guidance on how strategic investment in green building could play a significant role in re-igniting Canada’s economy while also helping to meet climate goals.

To help advance both the goals of climate action and strong economic recovery, CaGBC recommends the federal government prioritize investments in buildings—both public and private.

Recommendations include:

Workforce Development

  • Invest $500 million for workforce development and training to grow Canada’s low-carbon workforce;
  • Allocate up to $1000/employee to access existing low-carbon training programs through existing providers

Retrofit Economy

  • Allocate $50 million to stimulate the development of shovel-ready projects through 0 per cent financing of energy audits (e.g., ASHRAE Level 2 and 3);
  • Allocate $10 billion through the Canada Infrastructure Bank towards a first loss loan reserve allowing qualified lenders to recover 80 per cent of the principal and accrued interest on loans supporting deep retrofit projects in the event of default;

Zero Carbon New Construction

  • Require all federally funded, owned or leased building projects to move towards zero carbon. This requirement would include all newly built, owned, or leased federal buildings as well as the existing building stock, along with municipal corporate investments (i.e. Libraries, firehalls, community centres, etc.);
  • The federal government should grant up to 10 per cent of the development costs for public and private sector buildings to build to low carbon. Funding should be scaled based on the emission reduction potential of the new construction design (at a graduated scale of 75%, 90%, or 100%) and with a portion being granted for actual performance one-year post-occupancy.

According to CaGBC, “the economic recovery this health crisis has precipitated could be the tipping point we need to transition Canada toward a sustainable and low-carbon future.”

Local approach best to reopening Canadian economy

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Allowing cities and counties to open and close independently based on standardized guidelines is the quickest and safest way of reopening the Canadian economy, a new study has found.

University of Waterloo researchers found that opening workplaces and schools on a county-by-county basis when the county falls below 4.5 active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 would result in 38 per cent fewer person-days of closure.

It also found that focusing on local openings would result in 75 per cent fewer cases than opening the entire province and that coordination of testing rates would reduce infection by 20 per cent.

The study was conducted by University of Waterloo professor Chris Bauch and his collaborators from the University of Guelph, professor Madhur Anand and their postdoctoral fellow Vadim Karatayev. The study is pending peer review.

“Monitoring cases at the province level obscures local differences: some places are COVID-19 hot spots while others have few cases,” said Bauch. “Hence, in order to achieve the same public health goals, the province-wide guidelines would need to be even stricter than county-level guidelines, on account of those hotspots that can reseed other locations with new infections. This means more days of workplace and school closures as well as more cases under the province level approach unless the province-wide guidelines are very strict”.

The researchers also examined the impact of travel between counties. They found that even for relatively higher assumptions about how much travel there is between counties, the county-by-county reopening approach still works better than the province-wide approach.

In undertaking the study, the researchers created a simulated network of the 49 census divisions in Ontario. They populated the computational model with Ontario’s COVID-19 data, population structures and travel patterns, and the province’s commuter data to capture the interconnection between counties.

“Ontario’s phased approach to reopening the economy after observing a decline in province-wide cases over a period of weeks, and their other criteria, is sensible,” said Bauch. “But some health units in Ontario are experiencing a rise in community-acquired infections and are not ready to reopen their workplaces, while other health units are seeing very few cases per capita.

“Our findings suggest that developing guidelines at the level of individual counties, districts, and municipalities might be safer and quicker, as long as testing and other physical distancing efforts continue,” said Bauch. However, if counties do not coordinate their criteria for reopening, or use different testing rates, the benefits of the county-by-county approach are weaker.”

The county-by-county approach worked better than a province-wide approach, even when the researchers changed the model’s parameters. They, therefore, believe the results might apply more broadly to other Canadian provinces and US states.

 

VIDEO: The impact of COVID-19 on real estate operations and building cleaning

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Missed our May 20 webinar on the wide-ranging impact of COVID-19 and its influence on cleaning protocols? It’s not too late to learn from our panel of industry experts.

To sit in on the conversation, click the link below and enter password TgWi49WS when prompted.

How COVID-19 has Impacted Real Estate Operations and Building Cleaning

The webinar explored a series of timely and important topics including: frontline staffing (people), changes to scopes of work and supplier agreements, communication strategies (internal and external), critical areas of building cleaning, new processes and programs, program verification, and what the “new normal” is for real estate owners and operators.

Our expert panel was moderated by Tom Fournier of Shade’s Mills Group and included:

  • Mary Lou Sinclair, AVP of health, safety, and environment for BGIS North America
  • John Castelhano, vice president, strategic sourcing for BGIS North America
  • John Appleton, vice president of national accounts and co-chair of the national pandemic management team at Bee-Clean Canada

If you have any suggestions for upcoming seminar topics or panel members, please email [email protected]

Devimco shares Longueuil mixed-use development plans

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Devimco Immobilier has joined forces with the City of Longueuil on the development of a major mixed-use project above and surrounding the Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke métro station. Valued at nearly $500 million, this transit-oriented residential development with a total area of 1.2 million square feet, will include the construction of 1,200 rental housing and condominium units. It is the largest economic project to be announced in Québec since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Devimco, the project will aim to create a real synergy between the various components, while producing a superior-quality living environment for future residents. “Our Longueuil project will be revolutionary because it will be based on concepts that will respond to the new realities generated by the pandemic,” said president of Devimco real estate, Serge Goulet. “Discussions are currently under way with Québec furniture industry players to adapt the apartments and condos for teleworking.”

Featuring two 22-storey buildings for rental units and two 22-storey condominium towers, the rental buildings will overlook a vast lower extension (basilaire) above the existing métro station. Already served by local businesses, the Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke métro station site and its surroundings offer opportunities for quality commercial development. The site is already considered a knowledge hub with the presence of three universities: the campuses of Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

“Our project is aligned in every way with Devimco’s philosophy,” said Goulet. “The recipe is simple, but ambitious. We are responding to Longueuil’s vision by designing a multifunctional urban hub where a combination of experiences is an essential condition for creating a true living environment. What we are developing is an integrated blend of amenities, in spaces where homes, work environments and local services are located side by side. It will also be possible to enjoy cultural and food experiences, and even—as is already the case—to study there.”

 

COVID-19 incubates global adjustment 2021-22

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The late May heat wave signals the launch of the annual chasing-the-peaks challenge for many of Ontario’s large commercial building operators. Electricity customers with average monthly demand of at least one megawatt (MW) have the opportunity to lock in a favourable factor for calculating their share of global adjustment (GA) costs for an entire year, but it depends on how adroitly they can reduce energy loads during the five hours of the year when the highest system-wide peak demand is recorded.

This year, efforts to predict and shed load during those five hours could be even more taxing than usual as landlords weigh demands for enhanced ventilation — an expected outcome of COVID-19 — against the need to quickly curb energy-intensive building systems.

“The two strategies are really not going to blend well together,” Jon Douglas, director of sustainability with Menkes Developments, observed during a recent online seminar sponsored by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Greater Toronto. “Going into the summer, the complexity of (mitigating) the GA is just getting a lot trickier and it’s a lot harder to predict.”

“With the impact of COVID, mechanical demand is going to be much higher,” concurred Michael Hasko, senior property manager with Dream Office Management. “It changes things in terms of what buildings can do to respond.”

Meanwhile, owners/managers of small and mid-sized commercial buildings have received assurance that the global adjustment will be capped at 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for April, May and June 2020, but that comes with the knowledge that they’ll have to repay the accumulated amount above that threshold beginning in 2021. The Ontario government announced the temporary deferral earlier this month because pass-through billing for the opaque envelope of fixed costs was rising while energy demand plummeted due to COVID-19-triggered business shutdowns. Customers who pay the GA on a volumetric per-kWh basis would have otherwise faced cost increases upwards of 15 per cent on their April bills.

“This goes kind of at the heart of the problem we have,” acknowledged Tim Christie, director, energy system planning, with the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines. “These fixed costs accrue regardless of consumption, and currently these fixed costs are spread among lower consumption.”

Challenges abound for Class A and Class B consumers

With energy demand unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels any time soon, both groups of commercial account holders — labelled Class A or Class B according to how the GA is apportioned — are bracing for higher costs in the future. For Class A consumers, cost-saving potential will be diminished even if they successfully curtail demand during the five peak hours since those peaks are expected to be lower than usual.

Conventionally, the peaks have occurred in the summer and in the late afternoon or early evening. A large portion of the workforce ensconced in home offices, and ramping up air conditioning earlier in the day, could influence that timing.

“If the peak has shifted earlier, it will be a lot harder (for commercial buildings) to get aggressive,” Hasko predicted

“The flipside of that is: maybe the peaks are not going to happen this summer. Maybe the peaks are going to be in the winter,” speculated Neal Bach, president of the energy analytics firm, Energy Profiles Limited.

Regardless, energy management specialists hypothesize Class B consumers will be even harder hit since they have no option except to shoulder the share of the GA they’re allocated.

“Class B is very limited in what it can do other than reduce kWh,” advised Scott Rouse, managing partner of the consulting firm, Energy@Work. “In terms of Class A, it’s so building-specific. Year-over-year, the (GA) rate change will very much depend on how aggressive the building is in managing the peak demand factor.”

Overseeing a portfolio with a mix of three Class A and seven Class B buildings, Hasko likened the approach to “a 100-metre dash” in Class A buildings, where energy management efforts are tied to very scoped but moving targets, while a continuous emphasis on energy efficiency is paramount in Class B buildings. “Class B, it’s much more like a marathon,” he said.

Calls for further provincial intervention

On that front, Rouse urged the Ontario government to leverage the conservation and demand management (CDM) incentive programs that, last year, it instructed the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to oversee until the end of 2020.

“This is a great opportunity to explore every opportunity for electricity conservation. Hopefully, we will come out of this learning something,” he asserted. “Can the Ontario government help? I think there is a tremendous opportunity for that. Max out the CDM program.”

In addition, some commercial electricity consumers are seeking clarification and/or further COVID-19-related concessions. Notably, business shutdowns and the resulting declining energy demand since mid-March bumped some customers below the required average 1 MW monthly threshold to qualify for Class A.

Although the new cycle of the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) began on May 1, prospective Class A participants have until June 15 to formally opt in. Some electricity customers are now asking for a re-evaluation of Class B status attributable to pandemic circumstances so that they can be readmitted for another year of the program. As of mid-May, Christie reported the issue was still on the Ministry of Energy’s “to do” list, where it was relegated behind other troubleshooting priorities such as flattening time-of-use rates for residential, farm and small business customers and introducing the three-month cap on the GA.

“I realize we don’t have a tonne of time,” he conceded. “This issue of eligibility is something we will look at. We’ve got to get this resolved one way or the other.”

COVID-19’s disruption of the government’s legislative agenda also appears to have delayed moves hinted in last fall’s economic outlook and fiscal review to revise the GA settlement process, at least for large industrial customers.

“As we come out of COVID, maybe we’ll put some of these changes in place,” Christie said. “We are under no illusion that the program is perfect. When it was started, I don’t think any of us thought it would get to the point where it is now, where it is 80 per cent of the market.”

Barbara Carss is editor-in-chief of Canadian Property Management.

Ontario businesses can operate virtually, electronically

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Ontario businesses are permitted to conduct virtual meetings and to defer certain annual meetings in specified circumstances, as part of COVID-19 Response and Reforms to Modernize Ontario Act, 2020.

E-filings are also a welcome change. The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services will now be able to permanently accept copies of documents signed by electronic signature, providing greater flexibility to businesses moving forward.

“The reality is, we must balance the need to practice physical distancing with the need to conduct business each and every day,” said Lisa Thompson, minister of government and consumer services. “ These legislative changes will provide corporations with an opportunity to rethink how they operate in the new normal and be more efficient in the future.”

The government has consulted with the Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council on these legislative amendments to address corporate and business law issues during the pandemic. The Council is a group of legal experts appointed by the Minister of Government and Consumer Services to advise on modernizing laws that govern Ontario businesses, some of which have not changed in over ten years.

The government also consulted with key businesses, condominium corporation sector stakeholders, and co-operative corporation sector stakeholders.

Legislative amendments to the Corporations Act, the Business Corporations Act, the Co-operative Corporations Act and the Condominium Act, 1998 related to virtual meetings and the deferral of annual meetings in some circumstances, are in force and retroactive to March 17, 2020, the day the Declaration of Emergency came into effect.

Ottawa an outlier in housing market slowdown

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Ottawa’s housing market is enduring through the nation’s current slump, while other cities in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario are on a steady decline.

New research from the Real Estate Investment Network’s (REIN) COVID-19 Special Edition: Real Estate Cycle Update report found that major markets like Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton are all beginning to slowdown, but that Ottawa is in the beginning to middle stages of a boom.

“Ottawa emerges as an outlier in the current pandemic landscape partly because as the seat of Canada’s federal government it’s insulated to some extent from the massive pandemic-related joblessness impacting the country,” says Jennifer Hunt, vice-president of research for REIN.

Report findings are based on REIN research methodologies including REIN’s Long-Term Real Estate Success Formula and REIN’s Real Estate Cycle Scorecard, both of which look at rapidly-evolving changes of economic fundamentals affecting the housing market, such as GDP, jobs, and population. The report suggests the impacts of COVID-19 on these driving indicators will move most markets further into the slump phase in the coming months despite provinces gradually re-opening their economies.

The real estate cycle functions as a predictive tool to determine which phase a specific market is currently in based on driving indicators and market influencers. The report shows where specific markets are in the real estate cycle including what to do and what to avoid doing.

“We may not be able to direct these market forces, but we can control how we respond – employing exactly the kind of ‘pandemic pivot’ we need to protect our property during these turbulent times,” she adds. “The key will be in watching for indications of recovery, such as economic activity, employment, immigration, and new rental demand.”

 

Q4 overflow spurs Montreal investment deal volume

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Montreal recorded soaring investment deal volume in the first quarter of 2020, with the number of trades up 33 per cent from last year’s fourth quarter and 59 per cent from the first quarter of 2019. Sales value topped $2 billion for the fourth consecutive quarter, albeit at a lower total than was achieved in the second to fourth quarters of 2019.

“Most of these transactions were reflective of the deal overflow from Q4 2019,” Altus Group’s recently released overview of Q1 activity concludes. Altus analysts also note “significant momentum has since been lost” and project COVID-19 fallout will be more apparent in second quarter and second half results.

Investors were particularly active in the office sector during the early months of 2020. Allied Properties REIT’s $276-million acquisition of the World Trade Centre at 747 & 751 Square-Victoria Street from Ivanhoé Cambridge was the single biggest trade in a quarter when office sales volume climbed 533 per cent from the comparable period in 2019. Group Mach and Group Petra’s joint $225-million purchase of 1100-1500 René-Lévesque Boulevard West from Oxford Properties followed closely in step.

Both these top-value transactions involved Class A downtown space that was more than 90 per cent occupied at the time of sale, and with weighted average lease terms of more than six years at the World Trade Centre and 5.5 years for the René-Lévesque Boulevard tower — giving the new owners some room to manoeuvre in current uncertain times.

“Slower economic growth has also led to higher unemployment rates and has investors reviewing their mitigation strategies to prepare for changes in tenant demand as they face challenges and medium to long-term pressures” Altus analysts observe.

The industrial and multifamily sectors also saw a jump in deal volume during the first quarter. Notably, Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (PIRET) acquired seven industrial assets from Manulife in two separate transactions occurring in January and February. Together, the deals represent an $86.8-million expenditure for approximately 777,300 square feet of leasable space, and augment PIRET’s nearly $336-million investment in the Montreal market in 2019-2020.

In turn, Manulife was the purchaser in the quarter’s top multifamily deal, with the $108-million purchase of EQ8, a recently completed two-tower purpose-built rental housing complex. In total, multifamily sales valued topped $600 million for the quarter, falling short of the nearly $800 million in office trades, but surpassing all other sectors.

First quarter retail sales volumes dipped slightly from the comparable quarter last year, tallying just above $200 million. Residential and ICI land sales also dropped below Q1 2019 levels. Meanwhile, modest hotel transactions still exceeded Q1 2019 when no deals occurred.

Building trades call for COVID health public inquiry

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The BC Building Trades Council (BCBT) is calling for a public inquiry into health and safety in the construction sector.

The inquiry is one of the council’s recommendations to the Premier’s Economic Recovery Task Force, which brings together leaders from labour, business, First Nations and the non-profit sector to inform the province’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic has exposed a culture of non-compliance in certain segments of our industry,” said Andrew Mercier, BCBT executive director. “Construction site sanitation only improved after WorkSafeBC launched an aggressive inspection initiative in response to the concerns we raised.”

Mercier warns that without continued enforcement, sanitation practices will return to their poor pre-pandemic state.

“The legacy of COVID-19 should be safe and healthy construction sites where sanitation and hygiene practices abide WorkSafeBC’s occupational health and safety regulations, and the orders of the public health officer,” said Mercier. “Construction sites that fail to do so should not be tolerated.”

BCBT, which represents 35,000 unionized construction workers, has been advocating on behalf of construction workers from across the sector (members and non-members) on site sanitation since the start of the pandemic. Workers called and emailed the Building Trades to report inadequate washroom facilities, a lack of running water, no soap or hand sanitizer, workers sharing tools and working too close to each other, and workers coming to their sites visibly sick.

“We have had no hand sanitizer, no provisions for hand-washing, and no safety talks about hygiene and the pandemic,” wrote one worker. “People are sneezing and coughing and obviously sick and are not being asked to go home.”

Another worker reported the only hand-washing station on a site with over 50 people being a hand-crank garden hose attached to a piece of wood offering only cold water.
WorkSafeBC introduced a new “inspectional initiative” to address sanitation on construction sites, which was a positive first step, said Mercier. While acknowledging those contractors who prioritize worker health and safety and ensured their sites were compliant with regulations and public health orders, Mercier says industry regulators must remain vigilant to prevent a backslide.

“We must do everything we can to ensure people are working safely,” said Mercier. “The construction sector is essential to our economic recovery – ensuring construction workers are safe and healthy isn’t optional.”

Dawson Creek bridge construction set for June

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Construction of a new bridge in downtown Dawson Creek to replace the existing three culverts under 8th Street will start in early June. The project, budgeted for $28 million, is expected to be complete in 2023.

“The 2016 floods caused a lot of hardship for people in the Peace District, and we want to make sure our infrastructure can withstand future flooding,” said Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “I am proud of the work we have done throughout the province to safeguard our communities.”

The contractor, Brocor Construction Ltd., will begin by relocating municipal water and sewer lines to a location below the creek. Bridge construction will begin after the utilities are complete and functioning.

Once built, the new 45-metre-long bridge will maintain the existing road configuration, with five lanes for traffic and sidewalks on both sides of the road for pedestrians. The bridge is designed to make travel safer and more efficient for people who live and work in the region, especially during freshet season.

“We are extremely excited to see the construction of the 8th Street bridge begin this year,” said Dale Bumstead, mayor of Dawson Creek. “The project has been an important piece of the infrastructure improvement for our community and region to assist in the overall flood mitigation work the City of Dawson Creek has been focused on for our city. The importance of the 8th Street bridge project cannot be overstated, and we appreciate the support of the Province of B.C. in completing this important project.”

During construction, two lanes will remain open on the existing structure to allow traffic to flow along Highway 2. Drivers are advised to follow instructions of traffic control personnel and obey the construction zone speed limit.

The ministry is working closely with the contractor and WorkSafeBC to ensure health and safety are maintained for all workers on site.

Rodent activity on the rise

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Urban centres across Canada and the U.S. are experiencing a rise in “aggressive” rodent activity due to COVID-19 restrictions shuttering restaurants and cafes. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rats are becoming more aggressive in some cities south of the border as they frantically search out new food supplies. To contend with these outbreaks, pest control workers in many jurisdictions are classified as essential.

“Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to rodents and reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behaviour,” said the CDC, advising home and business owners to cover garbage cans, put bird and pet food out of reach and seal small holes where rodents could gain entry into buildings.

According to Toronto-based Abell Pest Control, calls across Canada for rat extermination increased by 52 per cent last month compared to March 2019, with calls across the GTA up by 36 per cent.

Signs of rodent activity

Known to transmit disease and cause expensive structural damage to buildings, Orkin Canada advises multi-res property managers to consult with an expert if they suspect a rat infestation.

Signs can include: unsightly holes in lawns and in building foundations; torn up insulation, paper, and cloth found around the property; and complaints of gnawing sounds coming from behind the walls.

“Check wiring for chew marks and look out for small, pellet-like droppings,” the Orkin website suggests.

To prevent an infestation, apartment tenants should be reminded to keep food preparation areas clean, and to properly dispose of garbage in exterior bins and trash cans. Dumpsters should be well secured and maintained with more frequency as the pandemic continues.

In addition, Orkin reminds facility managers to trim back vegetation from building exteriors; seal any cracks or holes with caulk or foam; remove any standing water throughout the property, and keep doors and windows closed.