Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of committee, for the opportunity to address you here this afternoon and speak about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
My name is Sean Strickland. I'm the executive director of Canada's Building Trades Unions, an affiliation of 14 international unions that represent 60 different trades and 600,000 members from coast to coast. Of our affiliates, four are concerned with pipeline construction: LiUNA, representing labourers and construction craft workers; the United Association, representing welders and pipe trades; Teamsters, who move pipeline equipment and materials; and the International Union of Operating Engineers, who operate and maintain the heavy equipment. Together, our four pipeline unions and signatory contractors constructed nearly 90% of all major federally regulated pipelines in Canada.
Patrick Campbell, who sits on our Canadian executive board for the operating engineers, gave evidence earlier this week. I thank him for sharing his depth of expertise with you.
As you heard from previous witnesses—and which I will reiterate—the construction of the 980-kilometre Trans Mountain pipeline is a major nation-building project, which brings Canadian energy to Pacific markets. The successful completion of this project is an ongoing, fantastic testament to the engineering and construction capability of Canada's pipeline industry. This is a major accomplishment for the benefit of all Canadians. However, as you heard from others, there have been real challenges—foreseen and unforeseen—during this project.
In the clearly predictable category, one foreseen challenge was labour supply. As you heard earlier, the involvement of unionized contractors and workers was not by choice but by necessity, with approximately one-fifth of the project delivered through signatory contractors. This was only once it became apparent, in 2020, that, due to regulatory delays, alternative and non-union contractors simply could not supply sufficient workers in competition with other projects that paid higher wages. This is a common challenge—a tight supply of skilled labour and what's called “project stacking”—and these factors frequently contribute to major project delays. In the future, as we recommended in other venues, strong workforce development planning is critical to ensuring there are enough skilled trades workers available to take on such nation-building and economy-driving projects.
I also reiterate comments that I made previously at other committees. Canada's Building Trades Unions believe that, any time the Government of Canada makes an investment or puts skin in the game, it should come with strong labour conditions—good wages and benefits, prevailing wages, as well as apprenticeship requirements and local and indigenous hiring obligations. These measures aren't “nice to haves”. They are essential to major project delivery. Strong apprenticeship requirements ensure we build the future skilled trades labour supply, and strong wages and benefits ensure that workers are attracted to major projects when and where they are needed. They also ensure that Canadian construction workers see real benefits and are adequately compensated for the work.
You also already heard about the other challenges—the lack of regulatory efficiency that drove up costs and unforeseen events such as the atmospheric rivers, floods, wildfires and a global pandemic, to name a few—all of which disrupted construction operations. Imagine going to work on a construction site, wearing a mask and adhering to the protocol that was in place during COVID. It's very difficult for workers to work in those kinds of environments.
Despite all of these unforeseen and uncontrollable challenges, the men and women of the building trades delivered. They built one of the most complex environmentally protected and safest pipelines ever completed—not just in Canada but in the world. It is a project with an immense legacy beyond what high-level balance sheets show: hundreds of new skilled trades apprenticeship opportunities for Canadians and indigenous peoples, more than 35,000 jobs during the construction, hundreds more for maintenance and environmental monitoring, and downstream multiplier jobs and economic benefits throughout Canada for the input materials in fabrication and welding shops right across our country.
Canadians should be proud of what our skilled trades workers, engineers and contractors managed to accomplish. We should learn important lessons for the future about workforce planning, regulatory efficiency and labour procurement, so that major project delivery can be improved in the future.
I thank you, and I look forward to today's discussion.