March 30, 2005
More jobs for trades
Sudbury riding wave of new development
Marek Krasuski
DCN correspondent
SUDBURY, Ont.
If the growth in housing markets and retail expansion reflects an abiding confidence in the local economy, then the City of Greater Sudbury can look forward to dimensions of prosperity not seen in recent history.
Developments are mushrooming in strategic areas of the city. Housing starts, stagnant for years due to an out-migration of residents looking for work in southern Ontario and beyond, have exceeded even Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation predictions by 20 per cent.
According to the city’s director of building services, Guido Mazza, Greater Sudbury can look forward to a measurable and sustained growth trajectory.
“These developments augur well for the future. Contractors are predicting a strong growth pattern over the next five years,” he said.
For Ron Martin, executive director of the Sudbury Construction Association, more work simply translates into more jobs.
Ron Martin
“For every million dollars of ICI construction, a total of 27 full-time jobs are created.”
“From a construction point of view it’s nice to have our people work here at home,” he said, acknowledging that a shortage of skilled labour has resulted from the robust construction trend.
It is the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors that have ignited a construction boom of unprecedented proportions in Greater Sudbury.
Tens of millions of dollars are pouring into the retail sector alone as existing facilities are expanded and new ones are developed.
Leading the retail construction boom is the Rio Can expansion of the Millennium Centre, a retail mix of box stores and state-of-the-art movie theatre complex. Now in its third development stage, the centre is expanding to include another $25 million of new infrastructure.
The shells of several new buildings have been completed recently. Contractors are now finishing the interiors of 14 new stores, among them Reitman’s, Mr. Big and Tall, and PetSmart.
This singular development has created 200 construction jobs for local contractors and their employees, once a major priority for local politicians. But no longer. If anything, Sudbury’s construction boom has created a shortage of skilled labour in the workforce.
“The only (thing) holding us up is the lack of subtrades,” lamented Mazza, referring to the paring down of the labour force, due in part to the retail boom, but also to a parallel development in the industrial sector where many trades have found work with mining giants Inco and Falconbridge.
The rapacious demand for nickel in the burgeoning Chinese market, coupled with an increase in mineral prices, has swelled expansion in the mining industry. Both companies have slated over $200 million for further development and improvements to infrastructure.
Still, despite the challenges, a collective mood of buoyant optimism resounds through the halls of industry and government.
During the official launch of RioCan’s Millenium Centre expansion, Sudbury Mayor David Coutemanche spoke about the importance of these developments.
“The local economy is on fire,” he proclaimed as dump trucks and industrial scoops shifted tons of rock in the background.
The heated economy, once reduced to a few embers, has flamed similar expansions in strategic parts of the city.
A reconfiguration of the New Sudbury Shopping Centre, the city’s largest mall, is undergoing a $25-million makeover. One of the malls’ tenants, Future Shop, will move from the building to a new facility built on the same property.
The anchor store, Wal-Mart, will expand its existing location and Swiss Chalet and other long-time tenants are undergoing similar expansions, shadowing expectations of the city’s future growth.
