The OGCA is proud to present “Addressing Racism in Construction: A Conversation with EllisDon” on Wednesday, December 9 at 10 a.m.

At the event, Giovanni Cautillo, President of the OGCA, will discuss current and longstanding issues facing the construction sector with Geoff Smith, President and CEO of EllisDon, Jennifer Khan, Head of Inclusive Diversity at EllisDon, and Samuel Ajobo, Chair of Alliance for the Black Employee Experience and Leadership (ABEEL). The event will also feature an opening address from Hon. Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training, and Skills Development.

As leaders in the ICI construction, EllisDon has refused to be silent on this issue and is determined to hold those responsible to account. In their response to these heinous acts, EllisDon demonstrated leadership in our industry by taking concrete steps to address these specific events and the issue of racism in the construction industry. Our goal is to share their experience, discuss how EllisDon responded as general contractors, and learn from their leadership on the issue.

RSVP now for this meaningful dialogue

OGCA now provides electronic notarization of construction documents.

To have your documents notarized please follow the following instructions.

1. Complete your Statutory Declaration form and submit it to Judy at the OGCA offices by scanning your document and emailing it to her at judy@ogca.ca. You can go online at www.ogca.ca and pay the $30 (plus HST) fee.
2. Judy will review your form to ensure that it is properly completed. You will then receive an appointment with our notary, Clive Thurston, which will take place over Zoom. Mr. Thurston will set up the call and send you the link.
3. Once you connect to this appointment, you will be required to present photo ID, which you can show to Mr. Thurston, at which point he will ask you to swear as to the authenticity of the document and the signature. Once you’ve done that, he will sign and stamp the document, scan it and email it back to you.

Please ensure that when you submit the document that you have signed it, and filled out all the appropriate information.

Last week, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Minister and Minister of Finance, released a Fall 2020 Economic Statement titled Supporting Canadians and Fighting COVID-19: Fall Economic Statement 2020.

The document is focused on protecting Canadian’s health, jobs and the economy. Highlights of the document include:

• The elimination of the interest on repayment of the federal portion of the Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans for 2021-2022.
• $150 million over three years, starting in 2020-2021, to Infrastructure Canada to improve ventilation in public buildings and reduce the spread of COVID-19.
• $15 million in 2021-2022 in the Foreign Credential Recognition Program, and up to 15,000 skilled newcomers are expected to benefit from this investment.

For a full summary of the 2020 Federal Fall Economic Statement, see the Ontario Construction Secretariat’s FES Bulletin or read the Government of Canada’s Build Back Better Plan.

The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development has released more information about the new Group Sponsorship Grant. This program will allow an apprentice to complete their training with more than one employer and reduce the burden for construction employers looking to hire apprentices.

Group sponsors consist of two or more people who act as a single sponsor to collectively provide apprentices training. Sponsors can share multiple apprenticeship management and training responsibilities, including:

• interviewing and selecting prospective apprentices and establishing a training network
• coordinating and monitoring the apprentice's on-the-job workplace training
• submitting documentation for apprenticeship application, registration of training agreements and completion of the apprenticeship training programs
• supporting apprentices through the complete apprenticeship cycle, including registration, workplace and classroom-based training, completion and trade certification
• overseeing affiliated employers and organizations who provide apprenticeship training and ensuring they deliver apprenticeship training following the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, its regulations and training standards.

The application is available to existing and new group sponsors. Successful applicants may receive funding for up to three years. Employers and organizations can apply for the Group Sponsorship Grant at Ontario.ca/hireanapprentice.

December 7, 2020 – Mississauga, ON – The Surety Association of Canada (SAC) held its 29th Annual General Meeting virtually on December 3, 2020.

During the virtual event, the association recognized the 2020 Graduating Class of the Associateship of Canadian Surety Bonding (A.C.S.B.) Designation Program.

Please click here to see the full Press Release. Congratulations to the students, many of whom work for members of the OGCA's Associate Partners.

COMPASS, powered by Bespoke Metrics, is a leading prequalification platform that supports data collection, verification and analytics across the entire construction supply chain. COMPASS analytics empowers data and empirical-based decision making by providing an unbiased assessment of subcontractor risk and suggested contract ranges.  

COMPASS is unique in its approach to data collection – coordinating annual data collection and verification on behalf of the construction industry. By offering the industry-accepted standardized form (1Form) via a secure online platform, COMPASS also minimizes the arduous and repetitive process of completing multiple customized forms while giving subcontractors full control over who can access their sensitive data. Subcontractors also benefit from increased efficiency, feedback in how to improve their qualification application, a secure method to share sensitive data, and exposure to the network of general contractors to generate new business opportunities.  

For more information on COMPASS, read their AON Technology Profile and visit their website. 

On December 14, at 2 p.m., the League of Champions Presents Norm Keith and Managing Workplace Legal Risk During the Pandemic.

COVID-19 has changed many aspects of how contractors do business. In order to adapt and ensure compliance with the new regulatory requirements that are continuously changing, the LOC has asked Norm Keith, Canada’s leading OHS lawyer, to provide guidance.

Norm will provide clear and concise guidance on the law and best practices for minimizing legal risk on construction projects during the pandemic, as well as provide direction on dealing with workers and regulators when a COVID-19 outbreak occurs on a construction site. Please join us for this highly informative and dynamic presentation.

To register, visit the LOC website or click the following link https://www.theloc.ca/blog

Champions
The LOC is very happy to welcome our newest Champion, Bronnenco Construction Ltd. Welcome to the League!

The updated COR 2020 program introduced early this year will fully replace the COR 2015 as of October 2021. Until that time employers applying for the program or COR certified firms applying for a renewal can chose either program.

The new program contains four new models prescribed by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. The program is recognised by the Ministry as meeting the requirements of the SOSE program that will provide recognition of excellence in implementing an effective internal management system.

Companies in the process of obtaining or upgrading to COR 2020 are also eligible to participate in the WSIBs Health and Safety Excellence program and its financial incentives.

The following links to the IHSA’s COR Transitional Tool provide the information you need.

COR2020 Transition Tool

COR WSIB FlowChart

Ontario’s construction industry is doing well in the difficult challenge of stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus on our worksites. As of December 7, the WSIB reports that more than 7,000 claims have been settled for COVID-19 and only 44 are in construction. The industry is responsible for approximately 1/2 of one percent of recognised workplace spread.

OGCA has worked with the provincial government included Minister Monte McNaughton to keep our workers safe and have the industry declared an essential throughout the province. This has only been possible with the industries commitment to run safe clean sites with protocols focused on protecting our employees.

The government will be under immense pressure to close down most workplace as the daily count continues to increase and ICU beds are full. OGCA will continue to support constructions’ vigilance in protecting our workers and allow them to keep working.

For more information on COVD-19 and construction, visit www.ogca.ca/health-safety/covid-19/

Thought you’d be interested in knowing that CAMH has officially opened their two new buildings and today their Emergency Department moved to its new location on Queen St.!

Please click here for CAMH’s news release, including a quote from PCL and the project partners:

“We’re thrilled to mark completion of the largest phase of CAMH’s campus redevelopment that will advance the future of mental health and addictions treatment. I’d like to commend our partners and over 450 tradespeople whose commitment to safety enabled us to complete two facilities on an active hospital campus during a global pandemic, with over 1.5 million hours worked without a lost time injury.”
- Bruce Sonnenberg, Vice President and District Manager, PCL Constructors Canada Inc.

Here is a link to a short time-lapse video.

The image shown is the Lobby in the Crisis & Critical Care Building featuring art from Rebecca Baird (credit CAMH) 

The OGCA is incredibly fortunate to have such a vested volunteer group in the Associate Partner Program (APP). The OGCA values your involvement and contributions to the construction industry and especially to our members.

Additionally, we recognize that 2020 has not been a normal year for our APP members and the historical networking and sponsorship opportunities have all but disappeared. Unfortunately, 2021 seems to offer more of the same conditions brought about due to this pandemic.

To offset this continuing COVID-19 state, the OGCA has some ideas to help further promote the APP participants to the OGCA members through some online and virtual offerings, as well as in-print articles.

If you are an Associate Partner, please click here for the rest of the information. This has been emailed to all of the Associate Partners as well.  

The latest issue of the Ontario Legislative Reports is now available on the OGCA website. Please click here to access the latest issue.

The Ontario Legislative Report is updated every two weeks and explains the intention and status of legislation and regulations that could impact the construction industry. For issues prior to January 2020, please contact Mary Wademan at OGCA.

Some 10 years ago, the OGCA sat down with both the public and separate school boards to iron out fair and reasonable contract conditions.

It is only through such reasonable contracts that we can all attain that which we seek: a well-built project that is on time and on budget.

Please click here to see the full report from Clive Thurston.