Photo courtesy of Bob Schneider

By Scott Roblin

Housing Starts

Spring housing start slowdown not likely attributed to pandemic

May 4, 2020 | 5:26 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Housing starts in Medicine Hat have slowed to a crawl, though that may be due more to market conditions and the season than the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to March numbers released by BILD Alberta, there was just one new housing start launched in Medicine Hat last month in what was a single-detached property.

However, the Medicine Hat Construction Association isn’t sounding the alarm and haven’t seen much of an impact on construction due to the virus at all.

March has been a slow month over the last three years for home starts in the city, with just two combined starts in March dating back to 2018.

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Medicine Hat’s housing market stagnated in 2019 with only 87 housing starts across the community, which was a drop of 74.6 percent from the previous year.

However, MHCA executive director John Digman expects to see local housing numbers pick up over the summer months and is even anticipating a strong season in commercial infrastructure.

“The City are doing their best to try and release projects ahead of schedule,” said Digman. “The provincial government are definitely releasing projects ahead of schedule, new schools and those sort of things. There will be more infrastructure work coming out over the next few weeks than maybe there would have been a year ago. So, in some respects things are potentially looking up.”

One area where the pandemic has impacted the local industry has been safety protocol, which is receiving extra attention for crews.

“Safety is a key issue in construction, it’s always the number one priority,” said Digman. “This is just a different safety issue. Instead of the danger of falling from heights, this is a danger of catching an illness from social transmission.”

Physical distancing has been a balancing act for many of these companies according to Digman, as some safety protocols dictate that two or more people must work within the same two metre zone.

“The workers are doing their best in difficult circumstances,” said Digman. “But, there are times when momentarily they do need to be closer than two metres apart.”

Already using gloves and masks on work sites, PPE usage is being encouraged for all construction workers in Medicine Hat.

Steps like colour coordinating tools and limiting paper documents on site are being implemented at sites across the city, while other crews are taking measures to limit contact between employees.

“They’re stopping people going up and down stairwells, so they’re doing one at a time,” said Digman. “They’re minimizing the work breaks, segregating work breaks. So, we’re doing everything possible to try and keep the workers safe because that’s what construction is all about.”

The Medicine Hat Construction Association say they’ve been in consultation with their provincial and national counterparts and are relaying pertinent information back to their local stakeholders.