A mixed bag: Canadian firms split on job site productivity gains, losses during COVID
By On-Site Staff
Construction
Even after the pandemic ends, the industry expects heightened safety measures to remain in place
Though it has upset industry norms, prompted a rethink of safety protocols and jostled what was expected to be a strong 2020 for the Canadian building market, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on job site productivity has been anything but uniform. In a recent survey, just under half of construction stakeholders (44 per cent) report no change in productivity despite the health crisis, while the other half are split nearly evenly between getting more, or less, work done.
The data, which comes from the results of Procore Technologies Inc.’s inaugural How We Build Canada Now survey, illustrates the industry’s varied response to the pandemic and provides “a snapshot of an industry in transition,” Jas Saraw, vice-president, Canada at Procore, said.
“The high productivity reported is good news for construction, but belied by the continuing challenges of enhanced on-site safety protocols and external factors impacting the industry,” Saraw said in a release. “Construction is very resilient, and Canadian builders will continue to look for, and implement, new solutions that will propel them through the pandemic.”
Of those seeing higher productivity, 10 per cent point to being much more productive than before the pandemic, while 17 per cent note a smaller increase. On the other hand, 24 per cent said they were less productive, and two per cent much less so.
The mixed results, with some firms adapting well and others facing steep challenges, imply the industry’s approach to tackling the pandemic has not been consistent across all job sites.
The survey results draw from 340 responses from contractors, government officials, owners and other stakeholders in construction.
Moving forward, more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of the industry anticipates maintaining some or all of those new safety measures put in place, even after the pandemic ends. At the same time, 88 per cent expect technology to play a major or leading role in the future of the industry.
