Construction workers call on B.C. to make flush toilets mandatory on job sites

The union representing 40,000 construction workers in British Columbia wants the province to make flush toilets mandatory on construction sites, saying the current use of chemical toilets are "unsanitary and undignified."

On Wednesday, B.C. Building Trades launched its Get Flushed campaign, which aims to change provincial rules to force construction companies to provide either toilets and hand-washing facilities connected to sewer systems, or portable units with running water, on job sites with 25 or more workers.

"Construction workers have been faced with unsanitary and undignified washroom conditions for too long," said Brynn Bourke, executive director of the B.C. Building Trades Council in a release.

"We need the provincial government to step in and stand up for the people who build this province."

A new report from the union says "portable chemical washrooms continue to be the default approach and the cleanliness of those washrooms has not been improved."

'Degrading and dehumanizing'

Its campaign features workers who describe delaying washroom visits because of the poor condition and upkeep of portable toilets. Some say they feel they aren't valued by their employer because of washroom facilities provided on job sites.

"I've been at a lot of jobs where the washrooms are so bad that you just have to hold it," said Peter White, an ironworker and B.C. Building Trades member.

"Being forced to use porta-potties is degrading and dehumanizing."

Bourke says the lack of clean, well-lit and heated flush toilets on job sites has been an issue across Canada since the 1970s, but now, as B.C. is trying to attract more workers to the sector to meet demand for a vast acceleration of housing projects, change needs to be expedited.

"We are done waiting," said Bourke at a provincial announcement on Wednesday about attracting more workers to the sector and hosted by Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills Selina Robinson.

The report builds on work done in 2021 that outlined the problems of portable toilets on construction sites and gave the industry two years to make changes.

The new report says not enough has been done. B.C. Building Trades wants the province to make changes to the province's Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation so employers would be forced to provide better facilities.

The report also outlines other jurisdictions, such as Quebec, where after a 12-year campaign the province in 2015 made it mandatory to install heated washrooms with running water on job sites with more than 25 workers.

Robinson said Wednesday that conversations over the plumbed toilet issue on construction sites are taking place between the industry and the Ministry of Labour.

But, she said, having spoken with young women about undertaking careers in the construction industry, on-site facilities such as toilets are a potential obstacle.

Robinson says she encourages employers to improve facilities of their own accord.

"I invite the industry itself to take it on," she said. "Why would you wait to be mandated to treat your employees with dignity and respect?"

The British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA), which represents 10,000 employers in the province's industrial, commercial, institutional and residential multi-unit (ICIR) construction industry, did not immediately respond to inquiries from CBC News over the issue.