Advocacy ALERT

From supply chain resilience to security clearance red tape: CCA and federal officials meet to build alignment

With infrastructure central to the federal government’s economic and political strategy – from the launch of the Major Projects Office (MPO) and Build Canada Homes (BCH) initiative to Buy Canadian procurement policies and new defence infrastructure investments – the construction industry is a key driver in delivering on national priorities.

On October 2, senior federal officials and the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) met in Ottawa for their semi-annual joint meeting to discuss how government and industry can better align to support these goals and address persistent barriers that continue to challenge project delivery.  

The meeting brought together a broad range of senior decision-makers from departments and agencies including Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), Defence Construction Canada (DCC), Department of National Defence (DND), Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Opportunities highlighted

Discussions covered a range of topics, from the industry’s supply chain challenges to best practices in vendor performance management (VPM). A key point of concern was the long-standing issue of security clearances for construction procurement. This remains a continuous impediment to the industry’s activities and is counterintuitive to the government’s building mindset, especially with the increase in defence spending. Without meaningful consultation with construction stakeholders directly affected by these policies, administrative bottlenecks risk delaying or undermining critical infrastructure projects.

This latest roundtable provided an important forum to examine both the challenges and opportunities related to federal construction projects and procurement. In the current political and economic climate, more transparency and collaboration are needed to ensure that government and industry are aligned on building the Canada that Canadians need and deserve.

The industry is ready to build and shares the government’s building mindset. The next step is gaining government support to address key pain points that impede our ability to fully realize their initiatives.