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Professional Development/Skills Training

June 19, 2013

OCOT review panel proposing a ratio reduction for plumbers and steamfitters

The journeyperson to apprentice ratio for the plumber and steamfitter trades should be reduced, concluded the review panel at the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT).

June 19, 2013

ACEC conference to focus on economic solutions

Consulting engineers from across Canada are gathering for their annual conference in Alberta to network and discuss the most important opportunities and challenges facing their business today and in the future.

June 19, 2013

Man fined in construction site death of 12 year old Nova Scotia boy

A construction project manager charged in the death of a 12-year-old Cape Breton boy has been fined $5,750 and sentenced to 100 hours of community service.

June 18, 2013

Students strut their best at Skills Canada

Canada’s best skilled trade and technology students competed in the grueling two-day 2013 Skills Canada National Competition in Vancouver earlier this month.

June 17, 2013

Ontario budget passes with NDP support

The Ontario NDP kept its promise and voted with the minority Liberals to pass the 2013 budget on June 11, avoiding an election.

June 17, 2013

CCA pushing for Canada Job Grant

The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) is engaged in discussions with the federal government about the Canada Job Grant in order to help ensure this new program is successful.

June 17, 2013

Registration for training programs fell in 2011

Total registration in apprenticeship training programs across the country declined in 2011, reports Statistics Canada.

June 17, 2013

New training centre comes at perfect time

The Carpenters’ Union Training Centre (Local 1946) in London celebrated its grand opening in style recently, with a number of union leaders from around the province and south of the border in attendance.

June 14, 2013

BuildForce Canada to tackle government funding cuts

A group of construction industry leaders from across the country have rescued the Construction Sector Council (CSC) by forming a new national organization called BuildForce Canada, in response to federal government cutbacks.

June 13, 2013

MTO announces road projects at OHMPA tour

Asphalt manufactured roads in the large and heavily travelled central region of Ontario “are being put to the test and they’re standing up well,” says the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).

June 13, 2013

SNC-Lavalin hopes Algeria police raid will help to shed light on wrong

SNC-Lavalin hopes a recent raid of its headquarters in Algeria will shed light on a global corruption scheme that has sullied the Canadian engineering company’s reputation.

June 12, 2013

Milton Velodrome breaks ground

Ground has officially been broken on the Milton Pan Am/Parapan Am Velodrome which will be home to cycling during the 2015 Games.

June 12, 2013

U.S. construction unemployment rate lowest May level in five years

Construction employment increased by 7,000 in May in the United States, helping to push the industry’s unemployment rate down to the lowest May level in five years, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the relatively positive jobs report for the sector underscores the need to address potential shortages of skilled workers.

June 12, 2013

McMaster’s Health Sciences Campus a Gold Seal project

McMaster University’s new Health Sciences Campus is poised to provide world-class healthcare and training to family doctors, nurse practitioners and other vital healthcare workers, but before one stethoscope is used or single patient examined, the project will be under the constant care of Gold Seal-certified construction professionals.

June 11, 2013

Wrongdoing found at Blue Water Bridge Canada: integrity commissioner

A new report says the head of a Crown corporation that oversees a major trade link between Canada and the United States misused taxpayers’ money by awarding two overly generous severance packages.

June 10, 2013

Flemming remembered for strong leadership

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) First District Canada international vice-president Phil Flemming passed away suddenly on May 25th at the age of 68.

June 10, 2013

Laval under trusteeship amid corruption allegations

Quebec’s third-largest city was placed under trusteeship on June 3 in the midst of a situation Premier Pauline Marois described as “terrible and disheartening and sad.”

June 10, 2013

Cambridge hospital project RFQ issued

A request for qualifications has been issued to build and finance Cambridge Memorial Hospital’s redevelopment project.

June 10, 2013

Water management program receives support

The University of Waterloo has announced receipt of a $1.75 million commitment from RBC Foundation to support development of a new graduate study program in integrated water management.

June 7, 2013

Temporary foreign worker reforms raise concerns with CCA

The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) is concerned about changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, especially in Alberta where the new policy is being implemented without consideration of its unique labour market conditions.

June 7, 2013

Five finalists announced for Urban Open Space Award competition

Five projects. including one in Vancouver, have been selected as finalists for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Urban Open Space Award, a competition that recognizes outstanding examples of transformative and vibrant public open space — large and small — that have spurred economic and social regeneration of their adjacent communities.

June 7, 2013

Apprentice use on federal projects needs improvement

Improved employer apprenticeship tax credits and a better understanding of the national apprenticeship landscape are essential, say industry stakeholders, if the federal government intends to promote apprentice use on federal projects.

June 6, 2013

Mixed-Use Project Progress

Construction is moving along for the Pan Am Games Athletes’ Village project in West Don Lands in Toronto, Ont.

June 4, 2013

Chapelview improves living environment

The Chapelview housing project in Brampton, Ont. recently added another award to its already impressive list of accolades.

June 4, 2013

Mixed reactions to report on barriers to the trades

Provincial leaders of trades governing bodies are calling a recent report that says restricting the rate of apprentice entry acts as a barrier to entry into the trades as “food for thought.”

June 3, 2013

Training facility set to break ground next year

MCI Design Build Corp. is slated to start construction late next year on a 2,000-square-metre, multi-sport training centre in London, Ont. The facility is the first such gymnastics training centre in the city designed to meet international specifications.

June 3, 2013

New CISC website packed with everything on Canadian steel

The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) has launched a new bilingual "built on a cutting-edge technology platform using the latest design, content and usability best practices."

June 3, 2013

COCA gala key to building relationships

As the industry gears up for another busy summer, the Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) hosts its annual Welcome to Construction Season Reception at Queen’s Park today.

June 3, 2013

Audit program to keep an eye on firms

The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) has announced plans to establish an audit program to exercise more detailed control over the business practices of firms that deliver engineering services. It also will broaden its activities so as to pay more systematic attention to the practices of the organizations for which its members work.

May 31, 2013

Pan Am Aquatics Centre swimming in steel

The Pan American Aquatics Centre (PAAC), field house and Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) comprise a high-performance aquatics and athletics facility currently under construction on the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.

May 30, 2013

Ground breaks on U of T innovation complex

The University of Toronto (U of T) Mississauga has broken ground on a $35 million innovation complex designed to help train the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

May 30, 2013

NYC's aging, crowded Penn Station, nation's busiest train hub, in desperate need of overhaul

The busiest passenger train station in the United States is a 1960s-era, utilitarian labyrinth in the basement of a basketball arena.

May 29, 2013

OCOT officers ready to enforce compulsory trades

The first set of enforcement officers for the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) has been sworn-in and is set to enforce certification and training standards in the compulsory trades.

May 28, 2013

Ground breaks on Hwy. 417 expansion

Officials broke ground on the $206-million expansion of Highway 417 in Ottawa from Nicholas Street to Ottawa Road 174 recently.

May 28, 2013

Manitoba Construction Career Expo a hit

The first-hand experience of welding, riding in a scissor lift or laying brick was something that few of the 1,700 high school students attending the recent Manitoba Construction Career Expo have ever done before.

May 27, 2013

Opposition tackle Harper government on lack of youth employment

Whether jobs are created or lost on any given month, the one constant in Canada’s post-recession employment record has been that for young people, the news has always been bad.

May 24, 2013

Prompt payment bill headed to committee

In what is being billed as a win-win for the province’s construction industry, landmark prompt payment legislation has been tabled at Queen’s Park.

May 24, 2013

George Brown College building named after Tridel CEO

George Brown College's construction management school will be named the Angelo Del Zotto School of Construction Management after the chief executive officer and chairman of the Tridel Group of Companies and Tridel Corporation which pledged a $3 million gift to the college's Success at Work fundraising campaign.

May 23, 2013

Future tradespeople put to the test

The chair of the Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) said it is “thrilling” to see what the students and young apprentices accomplish at the annual Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC).

May 22, 2013

Trying to define the “lowest price”

As we all know the “lowest price” at the start of each project is sometimes very different at the end of the project.

May 22, 2013

New ETFO headquarters a benchmark design

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has set a benchmark in sustainable design with its recently completed headquarters.

May 21, 2013

Multi-employer approach needed in apprenticeships

A multi-employer approach to apprenticeship training results in higher apprenticeship completion rates, according to a new study commissioned by the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS).