The Ontario Construction Report – August 2010 – PAGE OCR B3


National textbook introduced for


masonry apprentices STAFF WRITER – The OCR Construction Report Special Feature


The publication of the first national textbook for Canadian masonry apprentices required several years of effort and many hours of co-ordination between trade contractors, designers and academic leaders across the country, says Sandra Skivsky, Business Communications Director of the Canada Masonry Centre.


The close-to-400 page book will allow masonry apprentice instructors to deliver a standardized curriculum. At present, instructors in the different provinces “have different notes, handouts and copies of various material,” she said. Creating a national textbook from scratch is certainly a major undertaking, especially since apprenticeship is under provincial jurisdiction, and apprentices work for contractors in various climates and environments. However, Skivsky and John Blair, Executive Director of the Ontario Masonry Contractors’ Association, said the industry is working to achieve national standards and wants apprentices to be famil- iar with all aspects of the industry including advanced refrac- tory and heritage restoration work, so they can specialize in these fields if they wish. “Until now, people were myopically functioning around one area of our industry,” Blair said. “They weren’t as mobile and flexible about the needs of the industry. We were effec- tively captured by our own expertise. The guy who can lay bricks well in a house, can’t build cavity rainwalls in a school or institutional setting.”


Blair said the industry has changed dramatically in the past


decade. “Trade skills are required to address these changes – they have to be in step.


Skivsky said the association is initially printing 3,000 copies of the book (ISBN: 978-0-9737209-3-8), which retails for $125 a copy and is available from the Canada Masonry Centre (http://www.canadamasonrycentre.com). The book is just the first stage of a multi-platform curricu- lum distribution system, which will in the future include on- line and video resources, as well, she said.


CONSTRUCTION LIMITED


MASONR Y CONTRACT ORS


We are pleased to be part of Ontario Masonry Contractors Association continuing success.


245 Fifth Avenue • Arnprior, Ontario K7S 3M3 Tel.: (613) 623-3613 • Fax: (613) 623-8705 E-mail: info@mcgonigalconstruction.ca


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