President Clive Thurston recently underwent knee replacement surgery.

Staff and the Board of Directors wish him an easy recovery and hope he is back in the office quickly!

Many of our members have been asking why they are still receiving renewal dues from the Ontario College of Trades since the passage of Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018.

The Act: 

• Sets the journeyperson to apprentice ratios to one-to-one,
• Establishes a moratorium on trade classification and reclassification, and,
• Abolishes the Ontario College of Trades (College), by repealing the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009, on a future date to be proclaimed.

Until formal legislation removes the following functions, the College of Trades still has the authority to: 

• Issue or renew Certificates of Qualification and other credentials,
• Verify credentials on worksites for compulsory trades,
• Undertake trade equivalency assessments, 
• Support labour mobility through credential verification, and,
• Inspectors continue to conduct spot checks for credentials for compulsory trades.   

Annual membership fees have been reduced or eliminated to be:

• $0 for Apprentices Class members
• $0 for Journeyperson Candidates Class members
• $0 for Tradespersons Class members
• $60 (+ HST) for Journeypersons Class members 

Involuntary trades (such as carpenters) are not legally required to renew their membership with OCOT.

Please contact Steven Crombie if you have questions.

The latest issue of the Ontario Electrical League's newsletter is now available. Click here to read the October 18 issue.

The Ontario Electrical Construction Company Limited celebrated their 90th Anniversary with a Gala at the Toronto Marriott Markham on October 19, 2019. The event attracted 150 guests from their Sudbury, North Bay and Toronto offices. Senior Management took the opportunity to unveil the Company's rebranding. The new corporate logo includes 6 beams that represent the 3 sectors the Company operates in: Institutional, Commercial and Industrial and their 3 core values: Safety, Quality and Experience.

Attendees also celebrated the Ontario Electrical Construction's receipt of the COR^TM Excellence Milestone Award for the 2nd year in a row. The award recognizes IHSA certified firms that have achieved injury free milestones the past 3 years.

All employees and guests were invited to sign the League of Champions jersey to acknowledge their commitment to safety.

A big congratulations to the Ontario Electrical Construction (OEC) for achieving another milestone. Thank you for being a Safety Leader and for your commitment to inspire leaders to become health and safety champions.

David Irwin, HSE Manager at Walsh Canada, was featured in the Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine’s “My Safety Moment.”

In the article, Dave shared how he got into health and safety, what he likes about being a safety professional, what are his biggest safety-related challenges as HSE Manager, and more.

Congratulations to David Irwin and to all of the Safest Employers winners!

Thank you, Dave, for your commitment as a Safety Champion and for continuously inspiring leaders to be health and safety champions.

Please check out Dave’s tweet and read his full story in the Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) website.

Is your company or association a Safety Leader? Are you a Safety Champion and want to make a difference in the Ontario construction industry? Do you want to join an organization that inspire leaders to be health and safety champions?

League of Champions Members and Patrons are committed to inspire leaders to be health and safety champions. Please visit the LOC website, Facebook and Twitter page for more information about the League of Champions.

To apply to become a Safety Champion, please contact Marjorie Javier by email at Marjorie@theLOC.ca or by phone 905-671-3969.

Rod Cook, Vice President of Workplace Health & Safety Services, is excited to announce that on November 1, their Health and Safety Excellence program will be open and any business can begin the registration process by visiting their website. 

Unfortunately, the public launch event they had invited you to for November 6, needs to be rescheduled due to circumstances beyond their control. They will be in touch once alternate plans are finalized. 

They appreciate your understanding.

Amendments effective January 1, 2020 will clarify requirements for temporary stairs in the Construction Projects Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The changes will:

• Clarify where temporary stairs should start and end (i.e. clearly requiring temporary stairs in underground levels).
• Exempt an additional specific situation where the installation of temporary stairs may not be possible (i.e. where formwork or falsework is erected to a suspended slab). 

For more information, read the amending regulation:

• O.Reg. 327/19, which amends O. Reg. 213/91 – Construction Projects. 

Should you have any questions or concerns please direct them to WebHSpolicy@ontario.ca.  

Marcus Gillam is pleased to announce the hiring and appointment of Craig Lesurf as President of Gillam Group Inc. and Gillam Urban Contractors Inc. In this role, Craig will be responsible for the continuous growth of the Gillam brand and managing the overall operations of the Gillam Group, while Marcus Gillam, as CEO, will continue to oversee the Gillam Group companies.

The management team at Gillam is thrilled to have Craig playing a leadership role, as Craig truly champions Gillam’s culture and values, particularly the importance of relationships with clients, staff, and industry partners over the long term.

Craig will remain a member of the OGCA Board of Directors, as well as retaining his position as Chair of the OGCA Safety Committee.

To read more about Craig, please click here.

Please click here for the official news release and photo from SickKids commemorating today’s ceremonial groundbreaking event for their new Patient Support Centre, following 8 months of demolition on the Elizabeth McMaster building.

The project team for SickKids’ new Patient Support Centre includes:

• Construction manager: PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Toronto)
• Architect: B+H Architects
• Structural Consultant: Entuitive
• Electrical Consultant: Mulvey & Banani
• Mechanical Consultant: The Mitchell Partnership
• Demolition: Priestly Demolition

Please don’t hesitate to contact Liisa Morley or Lynn Bessoudo for more information.

The latest issue of the Ontario Legislative Reports is now available on the OGCA website under Government Relations. For earlier issues, please contact the OGCA.

Canadian Construction Innovations has launched the CONnected webinar series, with the inaugural session on ‘The modular construction revolution in North America.’

Here are more details about it: 

Topic: The modular construction revolution in North America 
When: Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST 

What you will learn: 

• Modular construction in North America – the scale and speed of change
• The competitive landscape – is modular construction a threat or opportunity from foreign forces?
• Opportunities for home-based construction companies in modular construction
• The future of modular construction in Canada and much more!

Registration: click here to register.