Introducing the Pathways to ICI Team!

By way of background, the OGCA, through the Board of Directors, highlighted early in 2021 the need to attract more individuals to construction as a whole, but specifically to the categories of Site Supervisors and Project Managers.

Clearly these two positions are critical for our members and so, the OGCA enlisted the professional assistance of outside organizations to further facilitate the discussion. First Work, who are Ontario’s leading youth employment network, and Purpose Co., a workforce solutions organization, were approached to create a working paper through an OGCA member study.

The nature of this study was to facilitate the requisite input on how to accomplish this endeavour for the entire ICI construction industry. To accomplish this goal, a working taskforce comprised of OGCA member companies was struck. The resultant outcome was the “BUILDING PATHWAYS AND PIPELINES INTO ICI CONSTRUCTION.” Find the entire report here.

The report noted that, “The OGCA recognizes the need to develop concerted approaches to access untapped talent of underrepresented labour groups (youth and newcomers), while developing pathways for existing employees to grow into these in-demand, leadership roles for Ontario’s General Contractors (GC) to thrive in post-pandemic recovery.”

“The overall goal of this project was to generate the highest-impact solutions for GCs. Therefore, this project used a methodology that situated GCs as the ‘end-user’ of the solutions and focused on eliciting their collaboration and input at all stages. In particular, the project focused on: 

• surfacing existing promising practices, priorities, and success criteria from GCs; 
• prototyping those concepts into sector-wide or scaled options; and 
• then using industry insight to tailor those solutions further.

The outcomes generated were recommendations and actionable solutions that the OGCA then intended to approach both government and industry on to increase the entrants into the Site Supervisor and Project Manager categories.

Among the recommended solutions were the following that the OGCA deemed the most actionable and that would yield the highest benefit for our members. They included the following:

• Newcomer Bridging Program (open to skilled newcomer talent with international experience, that uses a combination of classroom learning, language upskilling and job placements to prepare participants to enter the industry)
• New Graduates Bridging Program (open to new and recent graduates, that uses a combination of classroom learning, job placement opportunities, coaching and mentorship to accelerate skill development and prepare participants to enter the industry)
• Internal Employer Upskilling Toolkit (a toolkit of resources to support employers to select promising internal candidates and train them for PM and Site Supervisor roles)

Armed with the recommendations from this detailed report, the OGCA then approached the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development through a grant submission to obtain the necessary funding to advance this program and ultimately assist the OGCA’s members. The grant was successful, and the OGCA has since embarked on bringing these actionable recommendations to fruition.

To tackle this truly herculean task, the OGCA needed to attract the proper team members who would not only action the plan, but who had the requisite experience to truly make this program succeed and demonstrate a direct benefit to our members.

Let me introduce you to our amazing Pathway to ICI Construction team!

Khoa Ly-Kilis, Manager of Programs – Pathway to ICI

Khoa has deep roots in construction and truly understands and appreciates the challenges our members face daily. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Toronto, St. George Campus with a double major in Environmental Science and Urban Economic Geography.

By experience, over the past 20 years Khoa has worked in both the private and public sectors in various industries. Khoa’s wide-ranging experience extends from progressive roles in retail store management, to working in the regulatory health profession environment, to building and leading education and public programs increasing environmental awareness and stewardship at a conservation authority, to developing and implementing technical and soft skills programs for internationally trained environmental professionals; working with a multitude of stakeholders, government agencies and industry professionals to create training and career opportunities. The experience she holds is perfectly positioned to truly be the catalyst for our Pathways to ICI program.

Since 2008, Khoa has focused her professional growth in the construction and development worlds in varying capacities that include roles with the contractor, the environmental consultant, the developer as well as being an independent corporate development consultant. Performing in wide-ranging progressive roles including leading and mentoring multi-disciplinary teams, project management, strategic planning and implementation and industry partnership building. Essentially, it can all be boiled down to experience working effectively and respectfully with people.

Khamla Khamphengmueng, Pathways to ICI - Project Coordinator

Khamla has honed her skills with over 15 years of progressive experience in strategic planning, program coordination, and diversity outreach. As part of the Diversity and Outreach team at Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), she was successful at achieving the program funding goal to assist new Canadians, specifically professionally trained geoscientists and engineers, secure employment opportunities. This skill set is vital to the success of the OGCA program, and Khamla is perfectly suited to facilitate the advancement of our program.

As a Program Supervisor at Aptus Treatment Centre, Khamla oversaw and managed a team in a residential home environment. In this role, she re-evaluated and developed new systems and processes to ensure efficiencies and overall organizational flow. She is adept at team building, staff training and development of new procedures for clear roles and accountability.

Additionally, for the success of the OGCA Pathway to ICI, Khamla brings the assets of a creative thinker coupled with experience in the construction sector. As Business Development Coordinator at Aquatech Dewatering Company, she played an integral role in the company’s rebranding; creating and implementing marketing initiatives for the company’s two divisions; Dewatering and Pump and Power. Strategies included; magazine advertisements, tradeshows, website redevelopment, SEO strategy, and special events.

I would like you all to welcome our “dynamic duo” to the OGCA team and by extension to the world of ICI construction.

I am excited for this program and know that it will have profound impacts on our industry. Additionally, I am humbled that Khoa and Khamla have agreed to be part of our OGCA team and to lend their experience, expertise, enthusiasm, and drive to ensure its overall success.

Khoa and Khamla will be reaching out to you and I have already communicated to them that our members are the most engaged and dynamic contractors in any industry.

Should any of our members have questions regarding the OGCA Pathways to ICI Program or want to participate please contact our dynamic team directly at:

Khoa Ly-Kilis, khoa@ogca.ca

Khamla Khamphengmueng, khamla@ogca.ca

If you have any general inquiries, or if you require any assistance from the OGCA, please contact me directly at giovanni@ogca.ca or via phone at 905.671.3969.