Saskatoon’s Construction Association says more emphasis needs to be placed on local when awarding contracts especially now, in the pandemic, with its resulting economic fall out.

Association Executive Director Shannon Friesen says they have written a letter to the Saskatoon Library Public Board of Trustees to share their concerns. Friesen says their membership is disheartened that a project the size of the new Saskatoon Central Library has been awarded to a team of three out of province architects to design.

Friesen points out that best value procurement includes a number of factors, “Low price isn’t the only thing you’re looking at. You’re looking at how much community investment is there, what’s the follow up after the project is done, the investment and spin off to the economy having local contractors and local sub trades and, you know, the local impact to the economy itself.”

On a hopeful note Friesen says the Library has indicated approximately $2 million of design contract is up for sub consultants that will be mostly local. The prime design contract overall is valued at $4.8 million.

The construction association’s executive director says if there is public money paying for a project then their should be more local involvement. Shannon Friesen says they will continue to lobby for change where procurement process is viewed as an economic opportunity and local would have a weighted, scored criteria when the RFPs are being finalized.