June 2, 2009

College of Trades

Recommendations from final report on framework for College of Trades

Kevin Whitaker, implementation advisor for the College of Trades, recently submitted his final report to the province which looked at the institution’s governance structure, scope and mandate framework.

Here are the recommendations from the report.

• The College should have primary responsibility for the promotion of the trades, raising their profile and status

• The College should be organized into four divisions; Construction, Services, Industrial and Motive Power

• A Board of Governors consist of 22 Members; two employee and two employer members from each of the four divisions, five lay members representing the public and the CEO as an ex officio non-voting member

• The College’s board of governors will amongst themselves select a chair. The chair will designate an executive committee comprised of deputy chair, treasurer and secretary

• Each division will be directed by a divisional board consisting of five member

• Each trade or group of trades shall be represented by a trade board that reports to the appropriate division

• Applications for compulsory/restricted status and ratio disputes, be referred to and then decided by a three person review panel

• Following royal assent, the government will appoint a transitional board of governors consisting of one chair and eight members envelope manufacturers

• During the staging-in period, the transitional board will be responsible for making appointments to all decision making positions and will be continued as the Appointments Council once the board of governors is installed

• Making appointments to the board of governors, the divisional boards, the trade boards and the adjudicative rosters, the appointments council shall within the College, as a whole, attempt to reflect the workplace reality of the trades and the diversity of the province

• College staff shall report to a CEO with standing departments

• The province shall provide one-time start up costs and current funding will follow the transfer of responsibilities. Members shall pay an annual fee of approximately one hundred dollars which may over time be varied by the College

• Staging-in of the College should occur in three phases over the course of 27 months, beginning on the day of royal assent to the statutory amendments creating the College

• A joint transition team consisting of MTCU and College staff should co-ordinate the transfer of responsibilities and supervise the work of the College of Trades during the initial start-up.

• Industry, through the college, will take primary responsibility for the regulation of all trades in Ontario through the performance of standard regulatory functions.

• The college should be responsible for removing barriers to access both foreign trained workers and those who are currently under-represented in the trades

• The government through the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities (MTCU) shall remain responsible for some functions currently performed, for purposes of being able to play a role in the establishment and maintenance of a broad public policy framework

• College membership will include all who work in the trades and will begin by including all journeypersons, and all employers of apprentices and journeypersons. The college may create additional categories of membership

• Trades boards will report to and take direction from the college’s divisional boards that will report to and take direction from the board of governors. The divisional and trade boards should exercise decision making authority over day to day issues uniquely pertinent to them.

— VINCE VERSACE

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