On April 9–11, members of MCA Canada’s board of directors and the chief operating officers of provincial and Ontario zone MCAs converged upon Ottawa to participate in the association’s annual mid-year meetings and Lobby Day on Parliament Hill.

A total of 10 committee, council and board meetings were held over the two-day period. Participants discussed issues such as branding, prompt payment legislation, services and programs, service contractor initiatives, membership recruitment, government relations, management educational offerings, and development of an insurance captive for the membership.

MCA Canada also held its annual Day on the Hill in partnership with the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating on April 11. Our two main areas of focus were the harmonization of standards throughout Canada and across North America, and the need for federal prompt payment legislation. We attended more than 40 meetings with Members of Parliament and received positive feedback.

Look for more information on both of these events in the weeks ahead.

The members of the MSCC’s board of governors agreed last week that the MSCC Certified Contractors designation would be changed to the MSCC Gold Standard Contractor designation. To achieve your Gold Standard, visit www.servicecontractor.ca, call 613-232-0492 or email daryl@mcac.ca.

The Board of Governors of the Mechanical Service Contractors of Canada (MSCC) met in Ottawa last week. One of the initiatives approved by the board was to waive the exam application fee of $75 for the MSCC Certified Technicians exam until the end of June. To become an MSCC Certified Technician, email daryl@mcac.ca. Become one of Canada’s elite service technicians. Learn more at www.servicecontractor.ca.

This year’s Annual CEC Fundraising Golf Tournament has moved to an exciting new venue, the Royal Ontario Golf Club in Milton, ON. The Royal Ontario is a prestigious course that everyone will enjoy. The tournament will take place Wednesday, July 12. Enjoy an amazing golf course, a great BBQ lunch, on-course games, a prime-rib dinner, prizes, trophies and much more. Registration is now open and there are plenty of exceptional sponsorship opportunities. See you on the links!

CEC would like to thank the following MCA Canada members for their early sponsorship support for our annual golf tournament.

• Gold sponsors: Victaulic and Bradford White
• Beat the Broker: AON
• Balls: DMS Industrial and Wolseley
• Pin flags: Dobbin Sales (Chicago Faucets)
• Dinner: Ontario Pipe Trades Council
• Beverage carts: DMS Industrial
• Tees: Bibby Ste. Croix

Interested in becoming a sponsor? There are still plenty of opportunities available. Learn more.

Do you have an employee who has a son or daughter currently studying to be in the mechanical contracting industry? Are you a member of an MCA student chapter? If so, we’ve got good news: CEC and Federated Insurance can help offset the financial burden. We are accepting applications for our annual scholarship until June 30. This is the 12th year that Federated Insurance has generously sponsored the scholarship. For further information please contact Tania Johnston at 613-232-5169 or tania@mcac.ca.

• Download scholarship criteria
• Download scholarship application

The industry-led Canadian Construction Productivity Initiative is defining what productivity means for Canada's construction and maintenance industry. Through awareness-raising, education and sharing of leading and best practices, the group's goal is to make productivity a core value of the industry.

A task force on project management services delivery is in the final stages of developing a guide that aims to shed some light onto how stakeholders involved in a project can interact with project management firms and what roles and responsibilities those involved have.

Check out the following programs offered by the CEC and our local MCAs in the months ahead!

• MSCC Sales Academy – Toronto, ON – April 19-20 and May 17-18
• Project Scheduling Essentials – Hamilton, ON – May 9 and 15
• Project Scheduling Essentials – Saskatoon, SK – May 16 and 17
• Proactive Service – Vancouver, BC – June 15

Need a regular dose of construction tech news? Look no further than the ConTechTrio weekly podcast. Hosted by JBKnowledge CEO James Benham, ConAppGuru’s Rob McKinney and BIM Expert Josh Bone, the ConTechTrio is dedicated to sharing construction trends, research and innovation through their weekly podcasts. Every week, they interview executives and industry leaders in construction to learn how they are applying the latest tech on projects. Listen or watch live, or access the archive of all episodes on the JBKnowledge website. If you prefer, you can subscribe for notices the moment each new episode is published. Get your geek on!

If project teams had an unlimited amount of time to develop that same estimate, or accurate forecasts for every factor that impacted their costs, or a surfeit of information about site conditions — how would that change the success of their bid? Such a reality, of unconstrained design, may not be that far off, delivered by a combination of six technology trends.

1506: The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican is laid.
1775: Paul Revere rides from Charleston to Lexington warning the "regulars are coming!"
1783: Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the day since it began.
1861: Colonel Robert E. Lee turns down offer to command Union armies (US Civil War).
1881: Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
1902: Denmark is first country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals.
1906: San Francisco earthquake and fire kills nearly 4,000 while destroying 75% of the city.
1912: The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
1923: 74,000 (62,281 paid) on hand for opening of Yankee Stadium.
1948: International Court of Justice opens at Hague Netherlands.
1946: Jackie Robinson debuts as 2nd baseman for the Montreal Royals.
1948: International Court of Justice opens at Hague Netherlands.
1966: Bill Russell becomes the first black coach in NBA history (Boston Celtics).
1975: John Lennon releases "Stand by Me."
1982: Canada Constitution Act replaces British North America Act.
1983: Pulitzer Prize awarded to Alice Walker for "The Color Purple".
1999: Wayne Gretzky plays his last game in the NHL.

• April 20: MCA Hamilton AGM & Trade Show, Hamilton, ON
• April 20: MCA Alberta AGM, Edmonton, AB
• April 21: CANS De-Icer, Halifax, NS
• April 26: MCA Manitoba AGM, Winnipeg, MB
• April 26-27: MCEE Tradeshow, Montréal, QC
• May 5-7: MCA British Columbia/Alberta Conference, Victoria, BC
• May 11-19: MCA of Ontario AGM, Edinburgh, Scotland
• May 25: CANS Golf Tournament, Halifax, NS
• May 26-28: CCA Meetings, St. John’s, NL
• May 31-June 3: Skills Canada National Competition, Winnipeg MB
• June 6: MCA Canada Western Regional Meetings, Saskatoon, SK
• June 15: MCA Sask/Ron Young Memorial Golf, Moon Lake Golf and Country Club, SK 
• June 22: MCA Sask/ASHRAE Golf Tournament, Deer Valley Golf Club, SK
• June 23: MCA Eastern Regional Meeting, St. John’s, NL
• June 25-27: CIPH Annual Business Conference, Ottawa, ON
• July 12: CEC Golf Tournament, Royal Ontario Golf Club, Milton, ON
• July 13: CANS Developing Executives Meet and Greet, Halifax, NS
• September 21: CIPHEX Roadshow, St. John’s, NL
• September 29: CANS 155th AGM, St. Andrew's By-The-Sea, NB
• September 29-October 1: MCA Toronto AGM, Collingwood, ON
• October 2-4: CCA Meetings, Niagara Falls, ON
• October 15-18: MSCA Educational Conference, Boca Raton, Florida
• October 17: CIPHEX Roadshow, Edmonton, AB
• October 19: CIPHEX Roadshow, Regina, SK
• November 6-9: MCA Canada’s 76th National Conference, Maui, Hawaii

We still need your help! Operation Eyesight has prevented more than 35 million people from facing the needless tragedy of preventable blindness. Their work is focused in places where blindness can be deadly, especially to those who are very young, old or poor. MCA Canada's members, offices and staff have made significant contributions to help in this worthwhile cause but we still have a long way to go.