This past week, OGCA hosted its 10th Symposium for a record number of sponsors, speakers and attendees. From all accounts, this was the best Symposium yet. The sessions all received high scores and were acclaimed for their value to the attendees. The Builders' awards presentation was a terrific evening and a full report on the Award winners will come in future editions, as will coverage in the DCN and Construction News and Report Group.

We were honoured that Premier Wynne attended to address the attendees. She spent time on the floor speaking to members and sponsors before delivering a terrific speech to the crowd.

During this event, OGCA Safety Committee Chair Craig Lesurf and MySafeWork’s Rob Ellis presented the Premier with her personal Jersey of Courage which has thousands of signatures on it collected by Rob Ellis and OGCA over the past year.

There will be more follow up on sessions and video interviews with many of the speakers, on key topics like Lien Act Reform and Marijuana in the Workplace.

My personal thanks to Mary, Lyndsy and Cheryl for their untiring efforts to ensure a smooth and successful event, which David and I appreciated. Thanks to all our volunteers who, event after event, step up to assist us in making this — as several sponsors said to me — the best organized and most valuable event they have ever experienced.

Look forward to our next endeavour in 2019.

The League of Champions would like to welcome its newest members and Patrons:

Hart-Well Electrical Co.
E&E Seegmiller Ltd. (shown, at left)
Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning

If you are interested in becoming a member of the League of Champions, please contact Lyndsy Miceli at the OGCA Offices (lyndsy@ogca.ca).

For a small donation to the MySafeWork charity, you will receive a jersey of courage, bearing the League of Champions logo, and your name on the back.

Join some of the leading companies who believe in a safety culture and that everyone should go home safe every day. 

 

 

 

 

On April 28, MySafeWork is holding its first annual Courageous Live-streaming event encouraging young workers around the provinces to stand up to unsafe work.

In support of changing the culture of safety in Canada, we recognize it begins in the schools.

Watch the live-stream event on April 28 at 9:00am EST by registering today.

Please click here to register.

Safety Month at OGCA is underway and many of its members have begun planning their events in raising awareness in Health and Safety. This month is an opportunity for workplaces to improve awareness and share best practices.

Safety Week’s theme, "It’s in our hands" includes many resources and tools for handling and promoting hand safety. For more information, please visit www.constructionsafetyweek.com.

OGCA is encouraging member companies to tell us what your company has planned:

May 1 - Walsh Canada will be holding two events, at their Etobicoke General Hospital jobsite and at their CFB Borden site.

May 2 - PCL Constructors will be holding its Safety Event on their Milton District Hospital site.

May 5 & 6 – EllisDon holds its 2-day EllisDon/Threads of Life Charity Hockey Tournament.

If you would like to see your event displayed, tell us what you and your team have planned for safety week. Send information to mary@ogca.ca for inclusion in the next newsletter.

On behalf of the occupational health and safety system, George Gritziotis, Chief Prevention Officer, is pleased to share the Occupational Health and Safety in Ontario: 2015-16 Annual Report. The report highlights our 2015-16 accomplishments in advancing the integrated strategy, Healthy and Safe Ontario Workplaces.

The Chief Prevention Officer has extended the April 1, 2017, deadline for Working at Heights Training Requirements by another six months.

This recognizes that there is a significant group of workers who have not yet completed the training required for all construction workers who may work at heights of three meters or more.

The extension only applies to those who have registered in a recognized program to be completed before October 1, 2017.

Click here for further details.

Congratulations to all the winners of the Ontario Builder Awards, and in particular, to Kenaidan Contracting Ltd. who won the Achievement Award as overall winner for the West Harbour GO Station. In the next week or so, we will be adding the photos of the award winners to the OGCA website.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement will have a significant impact on the construction industry. Major sections of the 324-page document address opening up procurement and labour mobility across the country.

The latest Ontario Legislative Report (March 28, 2017) is available here. Previous issues can also be found at the OGCA website (www.ogca.ca) under Government Resources.

Did you know that 1 in 7 people in Ontario have a disability? As our population ages, this number is expected to increase to 1 in 5. The need for accessibility in every aspect of our everyday life is becoming more important. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is the legislative framework that will help make Ontario accessible by 2025.

Now that the 2017 Symposium is over, OGCA staff will be working on our next event – the OGCA’s 38^th annual A.R. Timms Memorial Golf Tournament and Chairman’s Luncheon.

We hope you can join us on Monday, July 10, 2017, at the Glencairn Golf Course in Milton, for a round of golf, refreshments and networking with your fellow industry stakeholders!

And on another note ... we will soon be working on the 79^th Annual General Meeting and Conference, at the OMNI King Edward in Toronto from October 19 – 22, 2017.

We have several interesting sessions planned, including Ret. Brig. Gen. Bernard (Bernie) Banks, Duncan Glaholt on adjudication (with a mock adjudication planned) and entertainment to keep you laughing.

We hope you can join us for breakfast with MPPs in the Legislative Dining Room on October 19 before the conference gets started. More information on that to follow.

The Chairman's Dinner will be held in the newly refurbished Crystal Ballroom on Saturday, October 21.