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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012
why do we think in 10 years we will
build the same way we do today, and
need 300,000 people in jobs that may
not exist? There is an issue of aging
trades, not so much shortage of trades
people—and we created this shortage
years ago when we shut down shop
classes in high school, when we started
pushing everyone to be a teacher, a
lawyer etc.
The fact is, right now we’re turn-
ing out apprentices and they’re not
getting jobs. This panic has driven
all the attention to our industry, and
we haven’t spent the right amount of
research getting the facts, and that’s
going to create a bigger problem. We
may not have jobs for all of the people
we’re pushing into trades, and we’re
definitely not training enough profes-
sionals. We have to bring them in from
outside the country. It’s really a shame
that we can’t get people at the colleges
to listen. I’m getting a little impatient
with this sky is falling scenario.
How about competitiveness in
the construction industry?
We’re going to face challenges
as we go forward because small com-
panies can’t compete for these large
infrastructure jobs that in-
ternational companies are
competing for. The domestic
industry is at risk. If interna-
tional companies are coming
here to work, they are more
than welcome to compete for these
jobs, but they need to follow the same
guidelines as domestic companies
in our industry. However, these are
things that we monitor as an associa-
tion, and our members are aware of,
but in many cases international com-
panies won’t even talk to us.
Do you think that green build-
ing practices are heading in the right
direction?
We all want to be green… but people
have bought into the LEED certifica-
tions without realizing what goes into
being LEED certified. There are over 60
green accreditation systems out there
and many are better than LEED. We
want to explore these, as our members
want to reduce our footprint. What
we’re really talking about is building
more efficient buildings in the future.
We’re going to go there, but this is just
another area where we need more edu-
cation.
What do your partnerships pro-
vide to members?
Through strong alliances with the
Ontario Association of Architects, the
Consulting Engineers of Ontario, the
Ontario Realty Corporation, and the
Canadian Construction Association,
the OGCA advocates for the construc-
tion industry at all levels of govern-
ment and keeps our members abreast
of what is happening in the industry.
OGCA
“
We may not have jobs for all
of the people we’re pushing into
trades, and we’re definitely not
training enough professionals. We
have to bring them in from out-
side the country.”
