Millwright Regional Council and Renee Gobeil, CRA Director of Strategic Planning and Communications
Toronto, ON. – The Millwright Regional Council met with CRA Director Renee Gobeil on April 12th, 2022, to discuss tax fraud and the underground economy in Ontario’s construction industry, and ways to partner together on this issue.
The underground economy in Ontario’s construction industry undermines the province’s fiscal position and hurts legitimate contractors. A study commissioned by the Ontario Construction Secretariat, estimates that annual revenue losses due to underground activity have increased by 30% over the past decade.
According to Chris Sutton, MRCO Director of Political Affairs, “Construction industry tax fraud negatively affects economic growth in Ontario and reduces tax revenues for all levels of government, putting pressure on the government’s ability to provide the services and benefits that Canadians enjoy and expect.”
According to Statistics Canada, the total value of underground economic activity in 2018 was highest in the four largest economies: Ontario ($22.8 billion), Quebec ($14.2 billion), British Columbia ($10.8 billion) and Alberta ($6.2 billion). These four economies accounted for 88.4% of total underground economy, while the total GDP created by these four provinces accounted for 87.1% of total economy.
According to Duncan McIntosh, MRCO Director of Communications, “The underground economy in Ontario’s construction industry undermines the province’s fiscal position and hurts legitimate contractors. The primary driver of the underground economy is employers improperly classifying their workers as ‘Independent Operators’ rather than employees.”
Underground economic activity negatively affects economic growth in Canada. It also reduces tax revenues for all levels of government, putting pressure on the government’s ability to provide the services and benefits that Canadians enjoy and expect. Moreover, these illegal activities continue to erode Canadian’s faith in the integrity and fairness of Canada’s tax system, undermine the competitiveness of honest businesses, as well as cause honest taxpayers to bear the tax load of those who cheat.
We are encouraged by Renee Gobeil’s support to end construction industry tax fraud and working together towards solutions that reign in the underground economy.
The UBC Tax Fraud Days of Action is taking place across Canada and the United States April 11-16, 2022, to bring awareness to the issues of tax fraud and the underground economy.
Safety is our Highest Priority. Learn more at www.stoptaxfraud.ca
About the Millwright Regional Council (MRC)
The Millwright Regional Council (MRC) is composed of eight affiliated Local Unions of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) across the Province of Ontario. We represent thousands of women and men working as progressive cross-trained construction and maintenance professionals with exceptional skills to install, maintain, diagnose, and repair precision machinery, UBC millwrights are vital partners in industries as diverse as energy, automotive, aerospace, food processing, pharmaceuticals and more.
