Executive Director's Message: 
Design & Construction Can Lead Saskatchewan Out of Economic Storm

On March 18, our world changed in a blink of an eye, maybe forever.  What didn’t change was the SK consulting engineering industry’s resolve to continue delivering their much-needed services during these unprecedented times.

Your association did its best to get in front of anticipated industry challenges, including:

• Requesting essential service status, noting much of our industry had moved quickly to a remote work environment and could continue to easily deliver the design element of their services
• Voicing, in conjunction with the construction industry, that work could continue safely on construction sites, encouraging government to allow these sites to remain open
• That infrastructure stimulus could be a key contributor to economic recovery, including the roll-out of many small or less complex projects, as well as O&M and retrofit projects that could be undertaken immediately
• That much of the procurement red tape should be stripped away to allow local consulting engineering firms opportunities to keep working, including using the clause in NWPTA that allows prioritizing local vendors in emergent situations
• Encouraging the consideration of “mega” flagship or legacy projects, something we had already brought to their attention prior to the pandemic’s arrival.

Our association has received signals from government that they have heard our message, and rumours abound that government is soon set to unveil a very large capital investment announcement.  We know this cannot come soon enough for many of you, particularly as both municipal and private sector projects continue to dry up, and current clients are delaying work currently on the books.

Thank you to those who responded to our request to share, in confidence, your current backlog and your capacity to undertake more work.   This information was rolled up in the aggregate, anonymously, and shared with government as they make their final decisions about which capital investments make sense given our industry’s capacity to respond.

Our next advocacy push is encouraging clients to hire consulting engineers for project scoping to accelerate work getting on the street.  Our members know this province’s capital inventory well, and in many cases had direct experience designing and/or undertaking the contract administration in many different sectors and areas throughout the province.  Our members are uniquely equipped with direct knowledge to assist government make informed decisions about future capital investments.

On a personal note, I have spoken with many of you in recent weeks and I know many of you are hurting and are uncertain about what the future will bring.  I can assure you I am doing my very level best to ensure the interests of this industry are heard.  Hang on!  I am hoping our collective messaging will soon pay off.  Stay safe everyone!

May 5, 2020