More layoffs coming for employees who worked at Ontario Science Centre

TORONTO — More workers at the Ontario Science Centre are set to lose their jobs as the abruptly shuttered east-Toronto attraction contemplates a move to a temporary home, potentially in a neighbouring city.

Dexterra Group, which provided cleaning services for the attraction, sent a letter to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union last week, saying 28 employees will lose their jobs by Oct. 31.

The science centre has terminated its cleaning services agreement with Dexterra and that triggered the layoff notice, the company said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press.

The employees were given the news on Friday.

“They’re devastated,” said Martin Fischer the president of Local 549 of OPSEU that represents about 500 science centre workers.

“With the plans for science centre to continue at a new location, they really wanted to be part of that.”

Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he doesn’t like hearing about job losses.

“We’ll find jobs for those people within the system, so we’ll help them out,” he said.

One location being considered for a temporary science centre appears to be a convention centre site in Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto, Dexterra told the union.

The science centre, which abruptly closed to the public in June, said staff and the exhibits had to be gone from the facility by the end of October.

“We sincerely appreciate the hard work and dedication of the Dexterra employees, some of who have worked at the Science Centre for many years,” centre spokeswoman Laura Berkenblit wrote in a statement.

“Acknowledging that it falls under the purview of Dexterra to identify new roles for employees, we hope that any transitions can happen as quickly as possible.

Dexterra declined to comment.

Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma has said the science centre’s closure was due to structural issues with the roof after an outside engineering firm found problems among some panels that could falter under a heavy load of snow.

The latest layoffs do not fall under the government’s purview since those employees work for a independent company, said Ash Milton, Surma’s spokesman.

“Our hope is that any potential impacts to the employment of staff working for third-party contractors at the science centre facility might be mitigated through other opportunities within those organizations,” Milton said.

The science centre’s closure sparked an outcry from the local community, politicians and workers who criticized the decision to shut the facility rather than address the structural problems with the aging building.

The province had already planned to eventually move the science centre to a redeveloped Ontario Place on Toronto’s waterfront – a move that has come under widespread criticism – but that building will not open until 2028 at the earliest and will have a significantly smaller footprint. It will be nestled near a revamped outdoor concert venue, a massive privately owned spa and beaches.

The province has not said if the original science centre building will be repaired. Surma has said the fate of the building will be subject to discussions with the City of Toronto, which along with its conservation authority has leased the site’s land to the province to operate the science centre.

Until the new facility is built at Ontario Place, the province has been looking for somewhere to house a temporary science centre that it would like to have operational by Jan. 1, 2026.

A recent request for proposals has closed. Surma’s office said Infrastructure Ontario is reviewing those submissions, but had no other updates.

The letter from Dexterra to the union shed light on potential developments.

The company said the government has “yet to identify the best options that would accommodate the unique nature of the science centre requirements, but one possibility evidently contemplated includes a convention centre location in Mississauga, which is beyond the scope of the OPSEU collective agreement.”

The company said “it is unlikely that members of the bargaining unit will be recalled by a successor employer to return to perform janitorial services work at the science centre’s temporary location within the 18-month recall time period as provided in the collective agreement.”

Ford didn’t tip his hand about the location of an interim spot.

“What I want to do is listen to other options because I know Toronto has options, Mississauga does and everyone else,” he said. “I just want to get a new one built as quickly as possible.”

This is the second set of layoffs at the science centre. Days after the province permanently closed the building, more than 50 food services workers were laid off.

JP Hornick, OPSEU’s president, said the relocation is “disastrous” and called on the government to reverse course.

“Our workers deserve better than to lose their employment over political decisions made by the Ford government,” Hornick said.

“The relocation is destroying a cultural and educational anchor in the Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park communities and the livelihoods of those who work there.”

Premier Doug Ford should be creating jobs, not getting rid of them, said Adil Shamji, the Liberal provincial representative for the area.

“The Science Centre has been a source of cultural, educational and economic prosperity,” he said.

“It’s been a massive source of jobs and of prosperity for the businesses in the region in the community and this certainly does strike another blow against people who really need their jobs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press