Irving Oil refinery refit good news for Saint John business

The $200 million refit program underway at the Irving Oil refinery is good news for Saint John businesses who are expecting a boom in the next two months.

Up to 2,900 temporary workers will settle in the city with lots of overtime pay to spend.

Temporary workers on the refinery project are working 13 days on, one day off. At a minimum of 10 hours a day, they are making and spending more locally.

Motels like the Colonial Inn tend to fill up when big contracts are in town. They say 80 per cent of their business comes from workers needing month long accommodation.

One auto detailer put up a large sign welcoming refinery workers to the city, hoping to attract them to the new trucks on the lot.

"These guys work hard, they like their toys," employee Jason Blanchard said.

Workers and businesses agree it has been too long since a contract like this came into the city.

Jody Waring with the Pipefitters Union says without it, most of the 400 workers he had on the project would be in Alberta right now.

Waring said keeping the work in the province is not only good for business, it's good for them.

"Even if you're not from Saint John, you're from the Maritimes, you're closer to home so it's nice for a change to actually have something here for the guys so that they didn't have to go across the country to provide for their families," he said.

Businesses are hoping the Energy East pipeline could be the next contract.