SmartHomeOwners

MONTREAL: Quebec's heavily regulated construction industry is, according to a new report, a serious factor driving up the cost of building projects in the province.

An economic note produced by the Montreal Economic Institute says all of Quebec would benefit, from the project bosses to the workers, if the province's strict rules were relaxed.

Provincial rules set out 26 different construction trades, compared with just six in Ontario, and employers can only hire workers who hold very specific certifications.

David Descoteaux, a researcher at the conservative institute, says the rules clearly have an impact on the amount of time and employees it takes to finish a job.

For example, a contractor installing hard floors and carpets in the same building would need to hire two different sets of workers, some with a permit to do tile settings and others permitted to do resilient flooring layers.

Descoteaux says reducing the number of regulated trades to a more manageable number would benefit workers, who would be allowed to do more than a single task.

Quebec's construction industry has been under the microscope since a number of scandals emerged in 2009 linking alleged cost overruns to organized crime and corruption.

The Charest government created a police task force to investigate the allegations, but has resisted calls to convene a public inquiry.