CDAO and I/O Resume Collaborative Meetings

 Rather than the larger roundtable meetings of the past, we have worked out a program of in-depth, short, intense meetings that will focus on one or two key issues at a time, developing answers and action items to address challenges that both sides are experiencing.

The restoration of these meetings is welcomed by all members of the CDAO. We look forward to restoring the past working relationship that so benefited both the industry and Infrastructure Ontario.

The first of these meetings took place a week ago, with two main topics being discussed: market sounding and market availability.

We touched on many things, such as the need for a pipeline and information on what work is coming, so that we can properly repair and address the market and be ready to respond when the projects come.

We talked about the issues surrounding the lack of workers in our industry, and the need for more tradespeople. Further talks on all these topics will continue and smaller subgroups will break off to deal with various issues that came out during this meeting.

We were extremely pleased by the open and informative discussions that were held at the table led by David Ho, and we look forward to continuing these meetings as we move forward.

The OGCA had representatives from both the 3P and the real estate arenas, these representatives brought forward clear issues of concern and positive recommendations on how they could be addressed.

More meetings are planned and talks will continue on such areas as the vendor of record, contractor performance, and the current procurement system.

We look forward to the restoration of this working relationship that has proven so successful in the past and will continue to prove successful in the future.

As always, members are encouraged to send their comments, complaints, and most importantly, their recommendations, to the OGCA so that we can bring forward this information to the right people at I/O.