Quebec: Some sites may run out of materials

MONTREAL • Key construction sites across Quebec run the risk of running out of some materials and eventually shutting down if they reopen without adequate supplies, Labour Minister Jean Boulet said Wednesday.

“For me, there are two essential goals tied to the resumption in activities. One is public health, and the other one is the supply chain,” Boulet said during a webcast organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.

“Some strategic construction sites use materials from abroad, and there could be a break in their capacity to procure enough materials to keep these work sites operating. So we have to be prudent.”

The minister didn’t define what constitutes a “strategic” work site, or identify any of the projects by name. A labour ministry spokeswoman couldn’t immediately provide comment for this story.

Boulet said some “major” project managers have told him: “Even if we could reopen tomorrow morning, we’d need to close in seven or eight days, because we’re unable to obtain certain materials or products that we import.”

Quebec is in the process of identifying which industries and regions will restart operating first, Boulet said. Consultations with industry groups have begun, he said, without being more specific.

The restart will be “gradual, respectful of Quebec’s economic interests and to give a new boost” to the economy, he said.

Boulet spoke two days after unveiling a $ 100- million program to help companies keep their workers longer, cover some training costs and optimize operations.

On Sunday, Premier François Legault extended the shutdown of non- essential businesses in the province until at least May 4. As many as 600,000 Quebecers have been laid off during the health crisis, Boulet has said.

Quebec’s unemployment rate may temporarily soar above 10 per cent in the next few months as a result of the pandemic, according to Mouvement Desjardins, the province’s biggest co- operative.

After a sharp rise in the second quarter, Desjardins expects unemployment rates to decline in the second half of the year. Even so, “we can hardly expect the unemployment rate to return to below the five per cent mark in 2020,” economists Joëlle Noreau and Hélène Bégin wrote in a report published late Tuesday.

Unemployment in Quebec hit a historic low of 4.5 per cent in February.

The initial extent of the damage will become known Thursday, when Statistics Canada releases March employment figures.

Boulet expressed confidence that any surge in joblessness will be short-lived.

“I’m one of the optimists,” he said. “I’m almost convinced the unemployment rate will gradually decline. Let’s not forget that a demographic factor will continue: the population is getting older.”