Visit Skills Training at Journal of Commerce

Professional Development/Skills Training

May 13, 2008

May 12, 2008

Concrete-pump simulator offers state-of-the-art training for operating engineers

A state-of-the-art concrete-pump simulator has been installed at the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario (OETIO) campus in Oakville.

May 9, 2008

Alberta budget offers more than $8 billion for education, employment programs

The Alberta government will invest more than $1.6 billion in school infrastructure capital support. The money will be used for the development of new schools, upgrading projects and capital maintenance and renewal.

May 9, 2008

CSC’s Labour Market Information program gets bulk of $5.5 million in federal funding

A $5.5 million funding boost to the Construction Sector Council is not just extra cash in its coffers but also a pat on a back, says George Gritziotis, the CSC’s executive director.

May 8, 2008

Federal and Manitoba governments seek to protect temporary foreign workers

The Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Monte Solberg and the Manitoba Minister of Labour and Immigration Nancy Allan have announced that they are working together to develop a Letter of Understanding (LOU) that will strengthen protections for Temporary Foreign Workers.

May 8, 2008

New York City targets “high-risk” construction sites

Following the resignation of New York City’s embattled buildings commissioner, the Michael Bloomberg administration has announced a US$4 million plan to hire specialized engineers to inspect “high-risk” construction sites citywide and develop new procedures to make the work safer.

May 8, 2008

British Columbia attracts over 1,800 skilled and business immigrants in 2007

Colin Hansen, economic development minister, has announced that the British Columbia government has exceeded its 2007-2008 target of attracting 1,730 skilled workers and entrepreneurs to the province under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

May 7, 2008

RCCAO urges co-operation to improve building-permits processes

The need for improvements to the building permits process does not fall solely on municipalities, according to a report commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO).

May 6, 2008

Manitoba budget offers tax credit to employers of apprentices

The Ministry of Competitiveness, Training and Trade announced that as part of the 2008 budget, it was launching a $3.8 million initiative to support the creation of 1,100 new apprenticeship training seats, as well as a new apprenticeship tax credit for businesses.

May 6, 2008

Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association’s health and safety training program grows

With more than 330 students and 23 courses to choose from, the Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association recently completed its second annual health and safety training week. Courses included construction health and safety orientation, first aid/CPR, lock and tag out, aerial man lift, trenching safety, power-actuated tools, fall arrest, WMIS and rigging.

May 5, 2008

Study finds apprenticeship completion rates range from 50 to 60 per cent

According to Statistics Canada, apprentice completion rates for the 1993 apprenticeship cohort ranged between 50 and 60 per cent among the provinces of Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick.

May 2, 2008

Older workers’ injury picture tells two different stories: WSIB

When the Ontario government abolished mandatory retirement at age 65 in 2005, the construction industry was given the opportunity to keep willing workers on its rosters longer.

May 2, 2008

Father recounts story of son’s promising life and tragic workplace death at CSAO meeting

Jim Sandford recently drove home the issue of workplace safety to Construction Safety Association of Ontario members by retelling the tragic story of his son’s workplace death three years ago.

May 1, 2008

Hayman Construction enters home stretch at London wastewater plant

London-based Hayman Construction Inc. is contractor on a $24.5-million project to build Ontario’s largest membrane bioreactor municipal wastewater treatment plant. Stantec provided the main engineering services to the project.

May 1, 2008

CSAO considers trimming number of board members

The Construction Safety Association of Ontario will explore different options on how to reduce its board of directors from 66 members to 20.

April 30, 2008

Steel bunker will encase leaking Chernobyl reactor

Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, work is underway on a colossal new shelter to cover the ruins and deadly radioactive contents of the exploded Soviet-era power plant.

April 30, 2008

Ontario Realty Corp. adopts Ontario Association of Architects document

The Ontario Realty Corporation will base its new consultant contract on an industry standard form, the Ontario Association of Architects’ document 600.

April 30, 2008

Judge orders Prebilt Structures to pay $50,000 in fines

Prebilt Structures Ltd. had pleaded guilty to violating safety rules in connection with the death last year of Claud Adolphus Scully. Scully died as a result of injuries suffered in a fall on a construction site at the University of Prince Edward Island.

April 28, 2008

Australia looks abroad to ease construction labour shortage

The construction industry in Victoria, Australia will need 40,000 skilled workers over the next five years to meet its labour needs, states the Master Builders Association of Victoria [MBAV].

April 28, 2008

Tragedy spurs CSAO chief Nicholls’ lifelong commitment to safety

On the 24th national Day of Mourning, the Construction Safety Association of Ontario’s new president still recalls the first workplace death he ever witnessed.

April 25, 2008

Plan to bolster construction skills in Canada takes its cue from industry association

A federal human resource committee’s recommendations to improve employability in Canada have a foundation in ones the Canadian Construction Association previously has lobbied for.

April 25, 2008

Getting the envelope wrong is just too costly

Over time, we have come to understand that without the practice of the discipline now known as building science, these buildings, and all others constructed without the benefit of a building science perspective, just don’t function properly, efficiently, effectively or with any degree of comfort for residents.

April 24, 2008

Ottawa eyes $4-billion, 25-year transit plan

A new mass transit plan that includes east-west and north-south light rail lines, a tunnel under the downtown core, and as much as 60 kilometres of new bus-only transitway, has been recommended to Ottawa city councillors. Popularly known simply as Option 4, the plan would take perhaps 25 years to build at a cost of about $4 billion in 2008 dollars.

April 23, 2008

Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ study finds public support for better infrastructure funding

More than 90 per cent of respondents to a survey commissioned by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities [FCM] agreed that the federal government should help municipal governments deal with infrastructure issues.

April 23, 2008

Poor communication can take its toll on construction companies, consultant warns

Despite technological advances, effective communication still ranks as one of the top challenges facing the construction industry today, says Florida-based consultant Kevin Dougherty.

April 23, 2008

Hamilton construction association reaches half-way mark in fundraising drive

The Hamilton & District Heavy Construction Association has passed the midway mark in its drive to raise $1 million to help fund establishment of a chair in heavy construction at McMaster University.

April 23, 2008

“Historic” deal assures labour peace during Congress centre build

The board of the Ottawa Congress Centre and the local Building and Construction Trades Council have signed an agreement that guarantees labour peace during construction of the centre’s new building.

April 22, 2008

Construction Sector Council study confirms rising number of temporary foreign workers in construction

A new study says the number of temporary foreign workers being used to meet short-term peak demand in the construction industry is on the rise, especially in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

April 22, 2008

University of Ottawa releases plans for 15-storey tower at downtown campus

The University of Ottawa has decided it’s full speed ahead on expansion of its facilities. A new $90-million, 15-storey tower is planned for the univeristy’s downtown campus.

April 18, 2008

Massachusetts governor unveils $3.8-billion bond proposal for repair of more than 400 bridges

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick plans to unveil a US$3.8 billion bond proposal to repair 411 deteriorating bridges throughout the state over the next eight years, a project he will argue not only improves road safety but also pumps cash into the economy to buffer Massachusetts from a recession.

April 18, 2008

Number of temporary foreign workers in Canadian construction rises

In response to the industry’s need to know more about temporary labour sources, the Construction Sector Council has just published “Temporary Foreign Workers in the Canadian Construction Industry: An Analysis of Programs and Mechanisms.”

April 17, 2008

Indian Affairs’ Strahl denies YouTube campaign’s effect on government policy

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl says a growing YouTube campaign to support native students on one of Canada’s poorest reserves is having no effect on official policy. However, his department is back at the table with leaders of the remote Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario who’ve fought for eight years for a new elementary school.

April 17, 2008

Ontario government admits skilled labour shortage exists, but refuses to make useful changes

A reader responds to a recent Daily Commercial News online poll that asked “Should the journeyman/apprentice ratios be changed to allow more apprentices to be trained?”

April 16, 2008

British Columbia gives $1.4-million boost to Industry Training Authority budget

The British Columbia government is providing $1.4 million in funding to the Industry Training Authority (ITA) to help increase Aboriginal and youth participation in industry training and apprenticeship programs.

April 16, 2008

Bid selectively, consultant tells Canadian Mechanical Contracting conference delegates

Kevin Dougherty, vice-president of Kevlar Consulting of Sarasota, Fla., told a recent Toronto conference sponsored by the Canadian Mechanical Contracting Education Foundation that, in some cases, it makes sense to just not submit a bid.

April 15, 2008

How employers can avoid liability in disputes over work assignments

Construction industry employers often behave as if they are immune from liability in jurisdictional disputes.

April 15, 2008

Falling crane cuts power in Manila

A falling construction crane cut an electricity transmission line and plunged most of the Philippine capital into a three-hour blackout last Friday.

April 15, 2008

The Banks project gets underway in Cincinnati

Ground has been broken on The Banks, an 18-acre, US$600 million mixed-use development on the Ohio River in Downtown Cincinnati, according to a recent story in Commercial Property News.

April 15, 2008

NaiKun Group signs wind-farm training agreement with B.C. Institute of Technology

Representatives from the NaiKun Wind Group hope the B.C. Institute of Technology and Northwest Community College can help the company fill about 200 construction jobs and some highly specialized maintenance positions at an offshore wind farm in British Columbia’s Hecate Strait.

April 14, 2008

Western Canadian unions make presentation to federal immigration committee

A number of unions in British Columbia and Alberta were given little or no notice about sharing their opinions with the government on the federal temporary worker (TFW) program. However, some groups were called upon to give a short presentation before a House of Commons Committee examining problems with the program.

April 14, 2008

Hamilton consultant shares knowledge gained during brownfield redevelopment projects

Carolynn Reid, business development consultant with the City of Hamilton’s economic development department, recounted the challenges of a five-acre waterfront brownfield redevelopment in a presentation to CanBUILD 2008 in Toronto this week.