Ottawa Construction Association speaks out against Ontario College of Trades

July 13, 2012

Ottawa Construction Association speaks out against Ontario College of Trades

OTTAWA

The Ottawa Construction Association (OCA) is the second mixed trade association that is publicly opposing the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) .

?No other jurisdiction in Canada, the United States or likely in the world has established a similar self-funded College of Trades and the Ottawa Construction Association does not see the justification for Ontario to be the experiment,? stated the OCA in a recent news release.

OCOT was legislated in 2009 as a response to one of the recommendations made in the 2008 Compulsory Certification Project Review by Tim Armstrong. Its mandate includes promoting a career in the skilled trades to youth and reviews journeyman to apprentice ratios and compulsory certification.

?Making existing voluntary trades such as bricklayers, carpenters, drywallers, painters, equipment operators, cement finishers for example into a compulsory certified trade with all the necessary licensing and enforcement by Government is a complicated issue,? said OCA president John DeVries in a news release.

?The potential benefits of legislating these trades to be compulsory certified is in OCA?s view more than offset by the significant regulatory burden, decreased productivity due to strict scope of work definitions, the increased cost of construction and the increased incentive for work to be performed in the underground economy.?

Looking at Quebec?s 100 per cent regulated construction market, OCA said it is concerned of the impacts of increased tradesworker and industry regulation.

The OCA statement closely follows a similar announcement by the London and District Construction Association.

OCOT recently released its proposed membership fees, which range from $50 to $600 annually, depending on whether the member is an apprentice, journeyperson, tradesworker or employer/sponsor. All fees will go directly to the College to fund its operation, according to the website.

Various estimates predict that the fees will accrue between $20 and $100 million annually.

The Ontario Construction Employers Coalition, which is calling for the abolition or complete overhaul of OCOT. OCA supports the Coalition in its opposition to OCOT in that it is poised to become a massive bureaucracy with minimal benefit and no accountability.

?The College?s proposed membership fees on employers and trade workers is a tax grab of a minimum of $84 million dollars and the College will be adding red tape when the entire world is trying to eliminate red tape and streamline the process for getting skilled workers into the industry,? stated OCA chairman Dean Drevniok, president of Frecon Construction, a mid-sized general contracting firm in Eastern Ontario.

When fully operational, OCOT will represent 150 skilled trades in Ontario and is expected to be the largest regulatory body in North America with between 400,000 and 600,000 members in the construction, industrial, motive power and service sectors. It is expected to begin accepting members on Jan. 1, 2013.

DCN NEWS SERVICES

Print | Comment

Source: http://www.dcnonl.com/rss/id51023

burmese python national signing day ferris bueller god bless america earned income credit super bowl commercials florida primary 2012