TORONTO — Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has announced changes to the process of determining the classification of a trade.
Changes to the system of supporting trade classification reviews, establishing conditions for registering a training agreement for apprentices and granting authority to the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) Board to prescribe academic standards for trades came into effect April 23, said a media statement.
The reforms are the latest in a series with the next taking effect July 1. At that time, the statement said, changes will come into effect that will establish how existing trades may be referred to panels for a classification review and the additional criteria and process to be used by classification panels when determining a trade’s classification.
Beginning in 2019, independent panels will conduct reviews to determine whether a trade’s classification is either voluntary or compulsory. If a trade is determined to be compulsory, panels will consider which practices are limited to that trade and will then submit their determinations to the Ontario government. If required, the government would implement a panel’s determination by regulation.
Under new authority given to it, the board of OCOT can now propose a regulation to establish new academic standards for trades. If the board chooses to make this regulation, it will establish a process to make decisions before altering any academic standards.
Commented College CEO and registrar George Gritziotis, “Guaranteeing we have an open and transparent process through independent panels to determine trades classifications is essential to the future growth and modernization of the skilled trades in the province.”
I believe that Alberta has developed one of the best trades training programs in the world and has been very successful for the past 75 years or more. Ontario can freely collaborate with Alberta and see what makes this program successful instead of starting from some new base point. Sharing education information between provinces should be the first step in furthering education and having a common standard for all Canadians. An electrician,welder ,plumber or carpenter in NL needs to have the training as the same trades do in BC and all the provinces and territories in between. National standards set with the collaborative efforts of all provinces and territories could put Canada ahead of the world if we would work in a humble cooperative manner.