• Tip Sheet – Coronavirus and social media

• 15 questions about remote work, answered, Harvard Business Review
• Leading remote workers – the coronavirus’ impact on effective management, Forbes

• Construction Job Centre – employer

• Construction Job Centre – employee

Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP

• Construction companies should check contracts, insurance for relief from potential pandemic losses, published by Business in Vancouver, May 1, 2020
• Limiting Exposure from Exposure: Liability of Essential Service Providers in the Context of COVID-19
• Builders Liens during the COVID-19 Emergency – Protect your Lien Rights
• Frustrated by COVID-19: Recovering and Preventing Business Losses

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

• COVID-19: The exceptional right to renegotiate the terms of a contract in the absence of a force majeure
• Dispute management during COVID-19: Moving from litigation to arbitration
• Suspension of limitation periods and procedural timelines during COVID-19 in Canada
• COVID-19: Is your company insured for business interruptions?
• Contractual risks amid the COVID-19 outbreak
• Customs planning during COVID-19: CBSA updates

BTM Lawyers LLP

• COVID-19 and my construction contract – what do I do now?

Canadian Construction Association

• Protecting yourself from onerous contract conditions

Dentons Canada LLP

• Guidance, but modest comfort: The Competition Bureau’s statement on COVID-19–related competitor collaborations
• Business as usual under the BC Builders’ Lien Act – at least from April 15, 2020

Hamilton Duncan

• COVID-19 and the Failing Business
• COVID-19 and Commercial Leases: Options for Landlords and Tenants

Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP

• Construction Contracts and COVID-19 (May 2020)
• Construction Contracts and COVID-19 (March 2020)

Miller Thomson LLP Barristers & Solicitors

• COVID-19 Financial Services update: terminating or disclaiming contracts

Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

• Business is shut down. What happens with your lease now?
• COVID-19: Limitation of Liability for Essential Service Providers
• Electronic Signatures in a Time of Social Distancing
• Government of British Columbia Issues Order Suspending Limitation Periods
• The Repercussions of COVID-19 on the Execution of Construction Contracts

Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation

• COVID-19 and Unfulfilled Transportation Contracts: Will Force Majeure Clauses Come To The Rescue?
• Litigation and Legislative Responses to the Denial of Business Interruption Claims

NEW: B.C. Government creates COVID-19 temporary layoff period

• Order in Council enacting COVID-19 temporary layoff period

Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP

• New mandatory self-isolation requirement – Top 5 tips employers of workers under the temporary foreign worker program need to know
• Permissive disclosure of personal information in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis
• COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impacts on Canadian Immigration
• COVID-19: Labour + Employment Update (March 25, 2020)

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

• COVID-19 Legal Perspectives: Workplace issues (webinar)
• Canada emergency wage subsidy: Summary & practical guide for employers
• New COVID-19 wage subsidies for Canadian employers
• COVID-19 Legal Perspectives: Workplace issues (webinar)
• Employers and the COVID-19 Federal Emergency Response Act

BTM Lawyers LLP

• COVID-19 and the Workplace Update

Dentons Canada LLP

• Employment and Labour webinar series: (COVID-19) – Legal update for Canadian employers
• COVID-19 and Canadian workplace law: What’s happened so far and what to do now
• Important considerations in challenging times for Canadian employers that provide workplace Group RRSPs

Hamilton Duncan

• COVID-19 and the B.C. Workplace: Dispelling Common Myths

Harris & Co

• Daily COVID-19 updates

McQuarrie Hunter LLP

• Keeping Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Miller Thomson LLP Barristers & Solicitors

• The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy at your fingertips
• Temporary layoff of employees: Tax obligations arising from contributions to a supplementary unemployment benefit plan
• Agreement with creditors: Beware
• Important clauses in construction contracts in light of COVID-19
• COVID-19 and Construction Contracts
• COVID-19 – Impact on environmental compliance and due diligence
• COVID-19 and Business Interruption Claims
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) insurance policy issues

Roper Greyell LLP

• Weekly COVID-19 Updates

Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

• COVID-19: Managing your Workforce in Periods of Economic Uncertainty
• COVID-19 – Health and Safety Implications

NEW: B.C. Government creates COVID-19 temporary layoff period

• Order in Council enacting COVID-19 temporary layoff period

ATAC LAW

• Coronavirus Layoffs are Illegal

BTM Lawyers LLP

• Explaining Temporary Layoffs in BC – What Needed to Change, but Didn’t
• COVID-19 and the Workplace Update: Canada Emergency Response Benefit

Hamilton Duncan

• Amendments to British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act

Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

• Job Protection Measures – Recent Amendments to the British Columbia Employment Standards Act

Miller Thomson LLP Barristers & Solicitors

• To delay or not? Extensions by the CRA and the Tax Court of Canada
• Temporary layoff of employees: Tax obligations arising from contributions to a supplementary unemployment benefit plan
• Rent deferral during pandemic may not reduce GST/HST payable on rent
• Rebates on invoices: how to deal with GST and QST?

• Call to action: Manufacturers needed to help combat COVID-19

• COVID-19 Supply Hub

• Salus Pro* is offering its safety management software free of charge during COVID-19

• Where possible, VRCA has moved its classroom courses to an online format and is actively sourcing new online content. Click here for details.

• During this time, VRCA has needed to reschedule its networking events. Click here for details.

March 2020

• March 26 – The provincial government defined the construction industry as a non-health essential service provider in the context of COVID-19 response and recovery. As such, construction sites should remain open provided they follow the orders and guidance provided by the provincial health officer (PHO) to minimize the risks of COVID-19 transmission and illness. Read more.
• March 26 – VRCA hosted a call with members of its General Contractors Division to share pandemic response plans and best practice COVID-19 safety protocols for construction sites. Thank you to the member companies that made presentations and willingly agreed to share their plans and resources across VRCA’s three Divisions. The documents can be downloaded from VRCA’s COVID-19 Resources page.
• March 23 – In response to all governments’ increasing calls to limit non-essential interactions, VRCA decided to close its office effective 1 p.m. on Monday, March 23. In an email to member companies and their employees, Fiona Famulak, VRCA president, explained the impact this decision has on the purchase of CCDC seals, Commission of Oaths services (statutory declarations) and VRCA print/scan services. Read more.
• March 22 – The provincial government released additional safety guidance for construction companies to manage their sites during COVID-19. All companies in the industry must follow these requirements to ensure the utmost protection of their workers, their families and our communities. Read more.
• March 21 – The Canadian Construction Association issued a statement outlining how Canada’s construction industry is responding to COVID-19. The release included an urgent call for the Government of Canada to undertake several actions and provide additional information. Read more.
• March 18 – VRCA shared that it received clarification from the provincial health officer that her March 16, 2020 order regarding mass gatherings does not apply to industrial sites. The provincial government also confirmed that the reference to industrial sites includes construction sites. In addition to clarifying the earlier order, the provincial health officer also suggested several precautions to reduce the risk of spreading the virus on industrial sites, including: reducing the number of people on site; practicing social distancing by maintaining two metres separation between workers; and not congregating in break areas and lunch rooms. For now, this means construction sites remain open with additional health and safety precautions in place. Read more.
• March 17 – VRCA emailed its member companies and their employees to share that VRCA’s was office remaining open, however, minimally staffed to process essential business, including statutory declarations, and that the balance of VRCA’s staff will work remotely to minimize the risk of spreading the virus. Read more.
• March 13 – VRCA emailed its member companies and their employees to share the association’s plans for in-person events and education courses through April. Read more.
• March 12 – VRCA issued an email to member companies and their employees advising what the association is doing to help keep its visitors, guests and staff safe from risks associated with the COVID-19 virus. Read more.