Canadian Cement Association and producers call on President to up infrastructure spending

Canada's cement companies and the Cement Association of Canada (CAC) have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as federal ministers to plead for federal government to prioritise construction and strategic infrastructure spending.

The letter signed by executives from St Marys Cement, Lafarge Canada, CRH Canada Group, Lehigh Hanson Materials Canada, McInnis Cement and CAC contains a seven point declaration, as follows: 
• put the construction sector at the core of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan
• prioritise large-scale infrastructure projects
• de-risk provincial and municipal projects by ensuring federal dollars are first into projects
• boost investment in municipal State of Good Repair (SOGR) projects
• optimise existing infrastructure programs that already have approved projects and funding.
• accelerate the transfer of historic levels of funding under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan
• invest in climate action and the continued decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries such as cement.

"We have a very short construction season in Canada and municipalities have lost much of their financial capacity to fund important infrastructure projects this year. We need the federal government to help municipalities get local community infrastructure projects going to boost economic activity and public confidence, " said Michael McSweeney, president and CEO of CAC.

"The cement and concrete industry is responsible for the employment of over 158,000 Canadians and annual economic activity in excess of CAD76bn (US$56.1M),"  McSweeney said. "Our products are local and are produced in virtually every community across the country. We are in a great position to give Canada’s economy an economic boost and help carry on the good work of building a more resilient country," he added.