TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2025 /CNW/ – The push for using recycled asphalt and concrete is gaining momentum as the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) joins nine other influential organizations representing civil infrastructure leaders, builders, suppliers, and engineers, united behind the goal of increasing the use of Recycled Crushed Aggregates (RCA) in public infrastructure projects across Ontario.

With CAA on board, the coalition that launched earlier this year is advocating for policy changes that will incentivize and mandate the use of RCA in projects like roads, subdivisions, highways, bridges, and tunnels, and, above all, harmonize municipal specifications through provincial standards to build greener, more cost-effective, and high-performing public infrastructure that residents can rely on.

“As the voice of Canadian motorists, CAA supports smarter infrastructure investments that improve road safety, durability, and reliability,” said Lauren Fisher, Manager of Government and Stakeholder Relations for CAA South Central Ontario. “The use of recycled crushed aggregates is proven to deliver reliable performance, while cutting costs and carbon emissions. We’re proud to join this important coalition and support a mandate that will benefit drivers, taxpayers, and the environment.”

“CAA’s support underscores the fact that this isn’t just a construction issue—it’s a public interest issue. Using more recycled materials in infrastructure projects can safeguard the long-term expansion of our transportation networks while preserving non-renewable resources and reducing carbon emissions, waste, and traffic congestion,” said Raly Chakarova, Executive Director of the Toronto Area Road Builders Association (TARBA). “Beyond an increased use of sustainable materials, standardizing construction specifications and contracts at the municipal level can go further to rein in rising construction costs, speed up project delivery, and ensure higher quality outcomes.”

RCA is produced by reclaiming and recycling concrete and asphalt that would otherwise end up in landfills. Since RCA is available at a fraction of the distance to new construction sites, the need for long-haul heavy truck transport is reduced, along with carbon emissions, project costs, traffic congestion, and wear and tear on roads. Despite being a proven and high-performing material already used in 400-series highways, Toronto Pearson Airport, and many road and transit projects across the province, RCA use in municipal projects is severely limited by some existing local policies.

If Ontario municipalities mandate just 20% RCA use in their infrastructure projects, they can save more than $260 million annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 15 million gas cars from the road every year.

The 10 coalition members include:

• CAA
• Concrete Ontario
• Good Roads
• Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (GTSWCA)
• Heavy Construction Association of Toronto (HCAT)
• Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO)
• Ontario Road Builders Association (ORBA)
• Ontario Sand, Stone, and Gravel Association (OSSGA)
• Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE)
• Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA)

To learn more about the campaign and the benefits of RCA, visit rcaontario.ca.

For media inquiries, please contact Raly Chakarova, Executive Director, Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA) at raly@tarba.org and Lauren Fisher, Manager of Government and Stakeholder Relations, CAA at lhun@caasco.ca.

About CAA

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit auto club offering roadside services, automotive care, travel, and insurance. There are more than 2.6 million CAA members in Ontario and over 6 million members in Canada. For more than 100 years, CAA has advocated on behalf of its members at all three levels of government on issues related to transportation infrastructure, traffic safety, consumer protection, and mobility. Three clubs currently operate in Ontario – South Central Ontario, North & East Ontario, and Niagara.

About TARBA 

The Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA) represents unionized contractors building multi-modal transportation infrastructure, including roads, transit, highways, bike lanes, and sidewalks, in the Greater Toronto Area and Simcoe County. TARBA advocates for policies and practices that promote safe, cost-efficient, and sustainable infrastructure development.

Toronto, ON—Amid rising construction costs caused by Trump’s tariffs, three associations representing municipal builders are calling for standardized road-building specifications and procurement practices at the municipal level to reduce costs through efficiencies and economies of scale.

Ontario’s municipalities own and manage more public infrastructure than the federal and provincial governments combined, with more than 50 per cent of their budgets allocated to construction and infrastructure. While provincial standards exist, municipalities have discretion in their implementation and have instead amassed hundreds of varying requirements for how to build and procure similar use projects, like roads, bridges, sewers and watermains. These differences cost taxpayers millions of dollars more, while reducing quality and productivity and increasing waste and carbon emissions.

The Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA), the Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association (GTSWCA), and the Heavy Construction Association of Toronto (HCAT) members build more than 75 per cent of the total capital infrastructure construction portfolio across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) each year.

The associations are sounding the alarm about the critical transportation and house-enabling infrastructure projects that will be put at risk with rising construction costs and continued economic uncertainty.

“This is a pivotal moment for infrastructure development in Ontario,” said Patrick McManus, Executive Director of the GTSWCA. “By standardizing construction specifications and contracts, we will reign in rising construction costs and lay the groundwork for sustainable growth and cost-effective infrastructure solutions without fundamentally altering how we design, build, finance, or maintain our critical core infrastructure in the region.”

“There are more than 300 different asphalt mix designs in the GTA alone, with each municipality having different requirements on how a road ought to be paved,” said Raly Chakarova, Executive Director at TARBA. “We’re talking about breaking down interprovincial trade barriers, but just as important is harmonizing practices across municipal boundaries, especially in an economically significant region like the GTA. This is a real solution that will bring in faster construction timelines and create significant cost savings for taxpayers, particularly through initiatives such as the standardized and enhanced use of Recycled Crushed Aggregates.”

“This is the time for the provincial and federal governments to step in and ensure that municipalities have predictable and continuous infrastructure funding to get projects out the door, shovels in the ground, and keep everyone employed,” said Peter Smith, Executive Director at HCAT. “But municipalities need to drop their own barriers. There is no reason that a different asphalt type or watermain fitting needs to be used simply because a project crosses over Steeles Ave.”

To safeguard infrastructure projects while addressing the significant red tape and associated business costs of having hundreds of road specifications and procurement specifications across Ontario, the province should consult with municipalities to develop a comprehensive strategy to enhance efficiency and reduce construction costs by: 

• Implementing uniform technical standards for road construction throughout Ontario to ensure consistency, efficiency, and performance in infrastructure projects.

• Streamlining and standardizing procurement processes to shorten tender timelines, facilitating quicker project commencement and completion.

• Providing clearer guidelines and timelines for permitting processes, reducing uncertainty and delays in project approvals.

• Establishing a common framework and approach for reimbursement for cost increases caused by new tariffs to limit project disruption.

Media Contact

For media inquiries or further information, please contact Raly Chakarova, Executive Director, TARBA at raly@tarba.org or Patrick McManus, Executive Director, GTSWCA at patrick.mcmanus@oswca.org.

About TARBA

The Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA) represents contractors involved in the new construction and maintenance of roads, sidewalks, highways, and other critical infrastructure in the Greater Toronto Area. TARBA advocates for policies and practices that promote safe, efficient, and sustainable infrastructure development.  

About GTSWCA 

The Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association (GTSWCA) serves as a collective voice for its members who build water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure across the Greater Toronto Area.

About HCAT

The Heavy Construction Association of Toronto (HCAT) represents contractors in the heavy civil engineering construction sector, including bridge construction and rehabilitation, tunnels, marine construction, and structure foundations. HCAT advocates for best practices in infrastructure development while addressing industry challenges, providing educational opportunities, and promoting safety and sustainability.

In conjunction with the Government of Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement, the province has published its Final Report on the 2024 Construction Act Review.

This review took place over the last 12-months, let by Duncan W. Glaholt. It was commissioned by Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General to assess and recommend updates to the Construction Act, focusing on: payment holdbacks, adjudication, and other administrative processes.

Key proposals and themes from the report include:

1. Mandatory Annual Holdback Release: The report suggests making the annual or phased release of holdback payments mandatory across the construction industry. Currently, the process is optional, creating cash flow challenges, especially for smaller subcontractors.

2. Mandatory Annual Flow Down Payment of Basic Holdback Received by Contractors and Subcontractors: Related to the mandatory annual release of basic holdback, the report recommends all basic holdback received annually by a contractor or subcontractor shall be paid to those from whom that contractor or subcontractor kept holdbacks within 14 days, without setoff, if there are no preserved or perfected liens on title in respect of the subcontract.

3. Expanded Adjudication Access: The report advocates broadening adjudication rights to cover all disputes under construction contracts, ensuring faster, interim binding resolutions, and reducing costly litigation. Recommendations include simplifying processes and removing barriers to encourage more frequent use of adjudication. The report further recommends permitting adjudication to be commenced for a period of 90 days following the earliest of the date that a contract is completed, abandoned or terminated.

4. Multiple Disputes Referred to a Single Adjudication: The report recommends where the parties find themselves facing multiple disputes arising out of the same contract and factual matrix, it should be open to them to jointly recommend consolidation of those disputes into a single adjudication, subject to the agreement of their adjudicator, or, alternatively, recommend the order of determination of the disputes, again subject to the agreement of the adjudicator.

5. Simplified Administrative Processes: Amendments are proposed to clarify lien and payment regulations, prevent unnecessary legal complications, and support simpler, more transparent project management. These changes aim to improve efficiency and reduce disputes over regulatory ambiguities.

6. Improved Protections for Design Professionals: The report discusses extending lien rights to pre-construction services provided by design professionals, as their work often precedes visible improvements yet adds value to projects.

Comments:

Litigation Exclusion Clauses Including Adjudication: Another interest group suggested the prohibition of adjudication reprisal or exclusion clauses. This was a practical concern involving the application of the following clause “The City may reject a Bid from a Supplier where in the opinion of the Treasurer in consultation with the City Solicitor, the commercial relationship between the City and the Supplier, including any sub-contractor the Supplier intends to use, has been impaired by the act(s) or omission(s) of the Supplier or sub-contractor, within the five-year period immediately preceding the date on which the Bid is to be awarded” in the face of a prior adjudication by a contractor. The parties found their way through the serious policy concerns over a reprisal clause being triggered by a statutory right effectively written right into the contract, however there was lingering concern. In my view this is part of a larger policy-driven conversation.

Conflict Avoidance Procedure: One institutional consultee proposed adoption of a dispute avoidance system in addition so statutory adjudication and summary lien enforcement procedures already in the Act. The suggestion was that “Pursuant to such a conflict avoidance process, parties to a contract or subcontract could elect to appoint from the ODACC roster a conflict avoidance expert or panel (the “CAE”). This CAE would be provided with the contract/subcontract and related documents and may then be engaged upon request by the parties to either provide guidance to help coach the parties through issues arising under the contract/subcontract or to provide a non-binding determination and suggested way forward within no more than 28 days. The CAE would be empowered by the parties to take on a more inquisitorial and collaborative approach to resolving the dispute, working together with parties to get to the heart of the issues and identify practical solutions agreeable to all parties. Where the CAE’s determination is not accepted by both parties, they may then proceed to adjudication (or other dispute resolution process).” This process (or the RICS “CAP” process in the U.K.) has merit and may be worthy of further examination.

Overall, the report stresses the need for a more predictable, fair, and equitable framework to support Ontario’s construction industry, focusing on reducing cash flow problems and legal disputes while maintaining robust protections for all parties.

Original post by GTSWCA.