Stimulus spending = $200 million Federal government's Economic Action Plan provided a safety net, construction industry says

Government stimulus spending programs pumped more than $200 million into Vancouver Island's economy over the past two years, helping to blunt the worst global recession since the Great Depression.

Cranes have been hoisting girders, trucks hauling excavated rock and rebar, and new buildings and structures are coming out of the ground as the federal government dished out $62 billion for its Economic Action Plan across Canada.

Included in the plan were tax breaks, benefit extensions and programs to free up credit.

But the biggest impact and the most visible was the money laid out for more than 23,000 projects across the country -- hundreds of them on Vancouver Island worth in excess of $200 million, according to government agencies. Island projects covered everything from new sidewalks and sewage pipes to water treatment plants and highway overpasses.

"It really has reduced the impact or the potential impact of the 2008 recession," said Greg Baynton, president of the Vancouver Island Construction Association, whose members have reaped the benefits of much of that stimulus spending. "It has certainly sustained us and been a very effective safety net, and it's minimized the impact of what could have been a very detrimental effect on the entire marketplace, not just the construction industry."

Baynton said the program did a lot to calm the industry and stabilize the economy.

"It's fair to say there was panic throughout the marketplace both locally and around the world," he said. "Fear creates an inherent paralysis in terms of growth and investment, so [the plan] worked in that regard very effectively."

According to Ottawa, 98 per cent of all the Economic Action Plan spending for 2010-11 is committed and close to 22,500 projects have been completed or are underway. They have until the end of March 2011 before the funding is cut off.

While Baynton said the stimulus spending has been a boon to the Island, he did note it could have gone much further.

"I would have liked Vancouver Island to have seen more infrastructure stimulus, and as a province as a whole we feel a bit short-changed," he said.

Baynton pointed out there may also have been opportunities wasted as funding had been committed under the program for projects like the replacement of the Johnson Street bridge in Victoria and Capital Regional District's wastewater treatment plans.

"Right now, that's not doing anything for us, and there's some concern about what may happen with that funding," Baynton said with a nod to the March 2011 deadline for spending. "Because that funding had been approved, there may have been some other projects [that didn't get funding] but could have been shovel-ready."

Still, the money that did flow and projects that did get started and are now either done or on their way to completion bridged a gap and set the table for recovery, said Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Ida Chong, whose Liberal provincial government provided joint funding on a number of the Island and B.C. stimulus projects.

"When the recession hit, there were a number of concerns on a number of projects in the private sector. They were being delayed because they just didn't know how quickly business would be back in place," Chong said. "The stimulus spending came in at the right time as it allowed people in construction to keep working until those private sector projects came back on track.

"It ensured not everything came to a complete standstill."

As for setting up a recovery in 2011 and beyond, Baynton said it looks like it will happen, but slowly.

"Looks like 2011 will be slower than we hoped for. ... It may not be quite what we hoped," he said. "We had hoped the stimulus projects would create an environment where private investment would take over where the public left off."

Baynton said there's just too much uncertainty remaining in the marketplace right now to see a strong bounce-back, but overall things remain steady.

"A lot of our members are doing just fine. They may not be hiring any more people, but they are certainly working with their best people and managing to keep them working," he said.

6 ISLAND STIMULUS PROJECTS

Most expensive projects range from education infrastructure to water treatment

1. UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA RENEWAL OF SIX KEY BUILDINGS

Project cost: $42.5 million

The Job: Renewing the Cornett, Clearihue, Elliot, MacLaurin and Cunningham buildings and the University Centre to conform to contemporary program needs, enhance health and safety and improve energy efficiency.

Status: Underway with 90 per cent of contracts tendered.

Target: Tom Smith, UVic director of facilities, says the project is on budget and on time.

What provincial grants could never do alone, the federal stimulus plan has been able to make a reality for the University of Victoria, which will have six of its oldest buildings brought back to life.

"The province has not been able to provide universities with the amount of renewal money that's required for aging facilities. We were getting different amounts per year we would all fight over," Smith said.

UVic used to receive about $5 million a year with a third of that going to renewal, but Smith says a new study suggests the schools needs to be spending between $6 million and $10 million annually on the process. "You have to invest in your buildings to keep them functioning properly," he said.

The project includes new windows, seismic upgrades and safety features with updated alarm and sprinkler systems.

The province is funding a conditions assessment index to gauge the life expectancy and needs of all of UVic's buildings.

2. SOUTH FORK WATER TREATMENT PLANT FOR NANAIMO

Project cost: $26.7 million in infrastructure money, though total cost is around $70 million funded by three levels of government.

The Job: Construction of a treatment plant to serve the City of Nanaimo and the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Status: Pilot testing, preliminary design

Target: Technically not a total stimulus project. As it is expected to be complete in 2015, it is being partly funded under the Economic Action Plan. Bill Sims, manager of water resources for the City of Nanaimo, says design and testing are on track to be complete in the spring.

The City of Nanaimo has been working on a new water treatment strategy since 2005, but the kickstart of federal stimulus money has allowed the city to get to work. The 2005 plan laid the groundwork for Nanaimo to move from surface water supply treated by chlorinating to a full treatment plant. "We were moving in that direction around the same time the Vancouver Island Health Authority was pushing policy that any surface water needs to be treated to meet stricter guidelines," Sims said. "That was the genesis. We were moving that way anyway and wanted to be in control on our timeline at the same time VIHA was saying it's time for you guys to put in a multi-barrier system."

For the last year and a half, the city has used federal money on pilot testing and preliminary design of the water treatment system. A site for the plant, which will include ultraviolet disinfection and filtration processes, has been chosen, and the city is in the midst of securing land on Nanaimo Lakes Road. When construction of the plant begins, there will be 200 jobs created over five years.

3. VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY'S COWICHAN CAMPUS

Project cost: $26.7 million

The Job: New campus to replace existing leased facilities in Duncan.

Status: Under construction.

On Target: To be complete in March

Funny what happens when you cut the cost of a project in half -- it ends up getting built. That was the case with VIU's Cowichan campus, which was not exactly on the top of the provincial government's to-do list. "Whenever the [federal government] provides infrastructure money, you never want to lose those 50-cent dollars," said Ida Chong, minister of science and universities. "So it may not have been something that we envisioned five years ago, but it probably would have been in the college's five-year plan."

The university's new campus will replace existing leased space in Duncan.

"The university has been looking at the needs of the community and what could be provided for, and they do believe there is a need to create these spaces," Chong said. "This will increase accessibility, and it's an opportunity for students to get an education closer to home -- accessibility and affordability are important."

The project broke ground in September 2009 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2011.

4. WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEM FOR THE TLA-O-QUI-AHT FIRST NATION NEAR TOFINO

Project cost: $24.4 million

The Job: Providing infrastructure services, including water, sewer and roadway access for new homes.

Status: Under construction, 90 per cent complete.

On target: Expected to be completed within the 2010-2011 fiscal year with the stimulus funding to be spent by March 31.

One of the top priorities of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation is providing homes for people in the community, and the wastewater treatment system is one of the key building blocks to making that a reality.

The project provides infrastructure services -- including water, sewer and roadway access -- for 60 new homes in the Tla-o-qui-aht community and the base infrastructure for an additional 100 homes in the future.

The impact of the project, which is expected to be competed on time, is already being felt with homes already under construction on the site, including a seniors housing unit that will be close to a health centre that is coming in the future.

The project has already created 70,000 man-hours over a 13-month period, the equivalent of 30 direct full-time jobs.

5. HIGHWAY 17 MCTAVISH INTERCHANGE

Project cost: $23.3 million

The Job: Construction of a new interchange and replacing a signalized intersection to improve access to the Victoria International Airport.

Status: Under construction, 80 per cent complete.

On target: Could be usable by the end of November and final completion for March 31.

It will be tight, but the McTavish Road Interchange near the Victoria International Airport is on time and on budget, according to Levi Timmermans, representative of the federal and provincial governments on the project.

"Obviously we're getting close to the end of the project, so you start looking at the bottom line, but we are on budget, though it is tight," he said.

Timmermans said the interchange may be ready to use within days, but landscaping won't be done and final paving has yet to be started. The physical structures providing a new means for vehicles to get off the Pat Bay Highway are in place.

The project is designed to improve safety and travel time for various modes of transportation including transit, cycling and walking to Victoria International Airport and the ferry terminals as well as easing travel for the surrounding community.

There are also improvements designed to meet future transit needs, including access for rapid bus traffic and an expansion of the existing park-and-ride service.

Timmermans said the only possible hurdle they have yet to cross is the weather. "If we have a brutal winter and we can't get the final pavement down, we may have to extend the March 31 deadline," he said.

6. ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY LEARNING AND INNOVATION CENTRE

Project cost: $20 million

The Job: Construction of the Innovative Learning Commons to support research in human-computer interaction, computer mediated communication and media production.

Status: Under construction.

On target: Expected to meet end-of-March deadline.

Royal Roads University is about to strike one of the most significant priorities off its must-do list as the university's new Learning and Innovation Centre is undergoing its final touches before completion.

"This is significant. It's the first new building we have added to the academic core of the campus since 1995," said Royal Roads associate vice-president of community relations Paul Corns.

"We have experienced growth over that period and have forecast more growth over the next several years, and in order to keep pace with demand for programs, additional capacity was required."

The project is designed to support research in human-computer interaction, computer-mediated communication and media production at the university. And it couldn't come at a better time, Corns said.

"Given our projections we have on the books in terms of enrolment, this was very much top of our priority list. We would have had to find a way to get this building onto campus even without [federal and provincial funding]," he said. "It's fortuitous in the sense that funding became available."