A Message from SAC’s President

As we enter into the third decade of the 21st century, the surety industry, along with the rest of Canada and the world finds itself in the midst of an almost surreal, nightmare scenario that none of us could have even contemplated, let alone prepared for. As the COVID-19 virus spreads across Canada and around the world, so too does its impact on every facet of our lives.

As always, our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of our staff, members, stakeholder clients, families and the greater community.

Through all this uncertainty, the Surety Association of Canada (SAC) team is working hard to do our utmost to minimize the impact that this situation may have on the quality of the programs, services and support that our association provides to our members and the broader surety industry. As part of that effort, we are engaged in numerous discussions and virtual meetings with industry and government partners to discover how COVID-19 will impact the surety industry bringing a collective voice to the table on how to minimize the risks.

As the crisis continues to unfold over the coming weeks and months, the surety industry will confront an array of challenges, the magnitude and number of which are unprecedented. As we work through these issues and attempt to deal with the fallout and impact of COVID-19 on the construction sector, as well as other sectors served by the surety industry, we pledge to continue providing that critical risk mitigation and responsive service that has established the surety industry as a stabilizing force during turbulent times.

That said, even with our best efforts, the problems, the challenges and the displacement will be daunting specifically for Canada’s building industry. Surety bonds cannot solve all problems and no two circumstances will be the same, each eliciting a different response and level of engagement. More importantly though, we can’t do it alone. The SAC Board of Directors has endorsed a Policy Statement which outlines SAC’s response to the current crisis affecting the construction sector. Our position is the same for the commercial sector which is also facing a time of ambiguity and challenges.

In Canada, provinces have either declared states of emergencies or public health emergencies, hence, the SAC team will continue to work remotely to serve our members and stakeholder communities at this time. We encourage our members and stakeholders to reach out to us via email or by phone for any questions or support that they require from us, as well to share with us the impact this global crisis is having on your business or workplace. We encourage our members to share best practices that we can make available here on the SAC website for others to access and to keep informed.

During this challenging and uncertain time, we continue to send our very best wishes to you all and know that together through social distancing that we will be able to “flatten the curve” to the minimize and slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Continue to stay safe and well.

Steve Ness
President
Surety Association of Canada