PAGE OCR B6 – May 2009 – The Ontario Construction Report
Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS)
works with unions, employers to partner
and help economy recover from recession
STAFF WRITER – The OCR Construction Report Special Feature
rolls around in 2009, we could be hitting while things are less positive in south-
a wall in the industry.” western Ontario including Windsor.
Ontario’s unionized construction training, research and partnering between
The good news is that unionized con- The current economic conditions cre-
workers and contractors are well placed 25 building trade unions, employers and
tractors indicate they are in overall ate special challenges for one of OCS’s
to help the economy through the current government.
healthy condition. In fact, three-quarters major functions: encouraging and pro-
recession, and are ready to work with “We are non partisan,” Strickland
(75 per cent) of construction firms sur- moting the training and skills improve-
government and business to ensure the said in an interview during a break at the
veyed rated their overall health as “very ment of apprentices and journeymen.
construction industry maintains its base Ontario General Contractors Association
strong” or “strong” in an early 2009 sur- Unions and union employers train a large
of highly skilled trades people once the symposium in April. “We facilitate dia-
vey. percentage of Ontario’s construction
economy recovers. logue between employer bargaining
Strickland says OCS members report trades apprentices. The challenge is to
Sean Strickland, the Ontario Con- agencies and unions to minimize (indus-
different circumstances in different areas keep them employed during the eco-
struction Secretariat’s recently-appointed try) disruption, and create greater har-
of the province, so he believes infrastruc- nomic downturn, while providing train-
Chief Executive Officer, says federal and mony within the marketplace and
ture allocations should be directed appro- ing and entry opportunities for new
provincial governments should waste no industry.”
priately, where they are most needed. tradespeople.
time in putting the stimulus infrastruc- Short term as the recession bites into
Eastern and northern Ontario are reason- “With over over 65 union training
ture money to work. the industry, “there are less and less proj-
ably healthy (northern Ontario has an im- employee centres across the province,
The OCS, funded by joint worker and ects from the private sector,” Strickland
pressive amount of hospital and other
employer contributions, supports skills says. “By the time the fourth quarter
infrastructure work currently under-way)
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Please see page OCRB7
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