Construction is one of the largest single sectors of the B.C. economy, accounting for nearly 10% of the province’s GDP. The housing, institutional and infrastructure projects the sector’s 225,000 workers deliver each year made the sector an essential service when COVID-19 hit.

Now, as the economy returns to normal, it’s almost as if nothing has changed for construction.

According to the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, construction activity fell by just under 10% in 2020. It forecast a further decline of 5% this year, but at the end of the second quarter, construction activity had snapped back to pre-pandemic levels.

The value of major projects proposed and on the go in the province increased 5% to $349 billion in March versus a year ago. Statistics Canada is forecasting nearly $33.4 billion worth of new construction investment in B.C. this year, driven by the public and institutional sectors as well as transportation and logistics.

“Absolutely nothing has changed with us,” said Kevin Mierau, president of Mierau Contractors Ltd. in Abbotsford, which handles commercial projects as well as some multi-family construction.

A director of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) and the BC Construction Safety Alliance, Mierau said the industry was able to quickly implement safety protocols that complied with public health requirements. Those remain in place and have kept the industry working through the pandemic and into reopening.

“We really nailed down our process and protocol on site,” he said. “From an aspect of performance, productivity, workers on site, safety, we’re still the same, maintaining a safe site to the best of our ability.”

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