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The OGCA has sought to be succinct and consistent with our messaging to the government regarding its overarching question to all construction stakeholders on what we believe is needed for the economic recovery of Ontario.

The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) has signed the Workforce 2030 declaration and joined a new coalition with the Canada Green Buildings Council (CanGBC) and other construction stakeholders that will fast-track the workforce to build a low-carbon Ontario.

According to CaGBC research, government investment in a green recovery that prioritizes green building, combined with progressive policy leadership, could, by 2030, lead to over 600,000 direct green building jobs in Ontario and 1.5 million jobs nationally.

Workforce 2030’s foundational partners include 14 other construction stakeholders, including employers, organized labour and training. The OGCA believes that by partnering in Workforce 2030, ICI general contractors will be better informed and prepared to bid on low-carbon projects in Ontario, such as building retrofits and new low-carbon construction.

To learn more about Workforce 2030 and how you can sign the declaration, please click here

The OGCA will be leading a consultation with general contractors who have already been working on building retrofits and low-carbon construction. Our goal is to inform the industry and ensure there is the market capacity in the construction industry for the building projects of the future. If you would like to participate in the consultation, please contact erich@ogca.ca.

COVID-19 has exacerbated many mental health challenges that many Ontarians face daily, including workers in the construction industry. Join us for an afternoon (virtual) symposium to better understand ways to address and prevent chronic stress in our workplaces.

Our second mental health event will bring together construction professionals and experts to share resources and tangible practices that employers and employees can implement.

Click here for more information on the seminar and how to register. The session takes place on November 10.

Trisura Guarantee goes A Step Above
Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company
Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company is a Canadian specialty insurance and surety company with a passionate team that committed to fresh thinking and new ideas. In an industry that is beginning to adapt to the digital age, we’re leading the way with innovative processes that perfectly pair with our expertise in the field, delivering the results our clients are looking for seamlessly.
Click here to visit our website and learn more about our surety and specialty insurance solutions
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Industry News
CCA would like to invite you to participate in an online celebration of our industry on November 3, 2020. National Construction Day recognizes and celebrates the dedicated, hard-working people instrumental in building and connecting our communities through construction. The objective for 2020 is to host a virtual dialogue with industry stakeholders and continue our efforts to shift the perception of the construction industry. Construction Day will demonstrate the industry’s strong health and safety culture, highlight why the industry is an essential service, and promote its impact on our quality of life. 
innovation Corner

PCL Construction is turning the centuries-old construction industry on its head with a push toward digital technology and cloud services.

Job Site Insights™ is a powerful platform that enables PCL to use predictive analytics to compare sensor data with decades of historical project data to provide insights and predictions. This makes us smarter builders and results in increased worker safety, quality and productivity. This can also be used to understand how an existing building is performing and predicts how it will perform in the future.

By gathering and analyzing Internet of Things (IoT) data, PCL is improving its processes to increase safety, efficiency and productivity while positioning itself as a future-ready builder. This also allows PCL to support virtually any IoT hardware device for reliable, cost effective sensors that are suitable for the job site or structure.

JSI™ is built on Azure and is accessible through a desktop PC, tablet or mobile device. It uses Microsoft Power BI dashboards and data visualizations that show everything from costs to quality metrics, schedules and inspections. It connects the productivity tools in Microsoft Office 365 and uses a wide variety of Azure services, including Azure Digital Twins, to uncover deep insights into the data.

Learn more about how PCL created JSI™ at jsi.pcl.com.

Judith Reda, the new Coordinator for the League of Champions, is completing a new website for the League of Champions. She hopes to be able to announce it in the next newsletter.

Watch this space for more information!

Canada’s Safest Employers Awards recognize the outstanding employers in key industries from across Canada for their achievements, leadership and innovation in health and safety over the past 12 months. The 2020 Canada’s Safest Employers Awards were held on Thursday, October 22. To see the full list of winners and nominees, please click here.

On behalf of the League of Champions, we wish to congratulate our member Erin Oliver, Vice President of Health, Safety & Sustainability at Modern Niagara Group Inc. for being the Gold winner of The Avetta Award for Safety Leader of the Year.

Congratulations, Erin!

Concrete Flooring Association
K. Winter Sanitation Inc.

The Building Code Commission is currently seeking new part-time members. 

The job advertisement for Building Code Commission part-time members has been posted to the Public Appointments Secretariat (PAS) website. Please click here to access it.

Interested applicants must apply by the deadline of November 6, 2020.

Metropolitan Credit Adjusters Ltd
PROCORE
Member News

OGCA is pleased to welcome the following new members to the OGCA roster.

  • NDC Development Corporation, Vaughan
  • Preston Construction Inc., Brampton
  • Royalty General Construction, Toronto
  • ASCO Construction (Toronto) Ltd., Mississauga
  • ONIT Construction Inc., Brampton

Please join us in welcoming these new companies!

If you receive an email that looks like the following, please note that it did not come from OGCA, nor did we provide email addresses to this company.

Hey [company] Team,
I got your email from the Ontario General Contractors Association because I thought you might be interested in the payment platform I created. DivDot is a digital platform that makes it easy for contractors to send and receive high-value payments, with no percentage fees.

I would love to show you more about the platform. Do you have time this week for a 15-minute product demo?

All the Best,
Matthew
CEO, DivDot Holdings LTD
https://divdot.com

Associate Partner News and Events

OGCA has over 50 Associate Partner Members and while we encourage them to post information about their companies in our newsletter, not all of them do. We have lawyers, safety consultants, insurance brokers, surety companies and much more. You are encouraged to contact them for their expertise. 

For a full list of APP members, please click here. If you wish to contact them, you can reach out to Mary Wademan for contact information.  

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Ontario Pipe Trades Council
The United Association (UA) has been training qualified piping professionals for over 150 years. With 17 state-of-the-art training centres, we train: Steam/Pipefitters, Gasfitters, Sprinkler fitters, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Mechanics, Plumbers, Instrumentation Mechanics and Welders. Stay ahead of the curve, and stay on time and on budget with our superior piping skills.
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CMiC: Collaboration, Communications & Control. Without Compromise.
CMiC
No matter what the size of the project, CMiC delivers everything you need to run all of your jobs in one place – effective collaboration, communications, control, direction and project tracking. Improved workflows ensure that field teams are able to easily communicate issues, report RFIs, distribute documents, track activities and collaborate more effectively. 
Ask an expert and determine your solution today!
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ProEst Estimating Software
ELM Insurance Brokers Inc.
Legislative & Legal Updates

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.

Education & Events

Former President Clive Thurston and Howard Doucette of Asco Construction Toroonto will be offering a virtual session entitled THSW118 Tender Forms and the Tendering Process: What You Need to Know, on Thursday, December 3 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., as part of The Buildings Show.

One of the greatest challenges in creating tender forms is maintaining a sense of fairness so that all parties can achieve their goals. This discussion will look at some of the challenges caused by unbalanced contracts and how to avoid those, one-sided supplementary conditions. How to deal with Sole sourced products will also be addressed.

The speakers will address how to recognize great tender forms; shorten, simplify and standardize; and practical tips to make the process less complicated. Topics will include how the use of processes such as prequalification in the upcoming prompt payment and adjudication legislation can help achieve a more favourable and fair outcome. The speakers will also address tendering implications due to the COVID -19 virus.

To register for The Buildings Show, please click here.

 

Stitt Feld Handy Group