Now is the time to advance the community benefits agenda, said guest speakers at an open house information session organized by the Carpenters’ Union Local 27.
The event, held in Vaughan, Ont. Jan. 20, brought community leaders and agencies together with leaders of the construction trades to share information about opportunities for underrepresented groups in construction.
“We all have a part to play in building this community benefits movement,” stated Rosemarie Powell, executive director, Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN).
The TCBN has built community-labour partnerships with workforce development agencies, learning institutions and funders so that historically disadvantaged communities and equity seeking groups can access the opportunities that are coming out of these major infrastructure projects, said Powell.
“Today’s event is a wonderful opportunity for us all who are responsible essentially in fulfilling the demand for more skilled workers to come together, to learn more about one another and to talk openly about the planning systems and processes that we need to produce the labour from our local population,” she explained.
Economist John O’Grady talked about the trends that are shaping the outlook in the GTA construction market in the next few years. He said the construction industry in the GTA is in a period that can only be described as “boom conditions.”
“Virtually every sector is working at full capacity and being stretched,” said O’Grady. “There is an enormous opportunity here to use that recruitment process, to use that need for more apprentices, to bring those opportunities to segments of the population that previously have not had the access to these opportunities. Now is the time to advance the community benefits agenda.”
TCBN has signed community benefits agreements on the Eglinton Crosstown, the Finch West LRT, the West Park Healthcare Centre, Casino Woodbine and soon with the provincial government’s Macdonald block reconstruction project. TCBN has also been able to secure a community benefits agreement framework with the City of Toronto.
“We are here today because of our strong interest in seeing members of our local communities where these projects are located benefit from the well-paying jobs and opportunities associated with these projects,” said Powell.
“We know in order for community benefits agreements to be successful all of us — contractors, labour and community groups — need to be working together in new ways. We need to develop systems and processes that provide a smooth pathway into jobs and apprenticeships required for the projects with signed agreements. We need to attract and prepare a steady supply of job-ready, well-qualified candidates for these jobs. We need a well-coordinated pre-apprenticeship system that has a standardized curriculum.”
Ontario Construction Consortium (OCC) executive director Phil Gillies said there are some encouraging moves being made by the Ford government but there are other issues that are a cause for concern.
“The push announced by both Labour Minister (Monte) McNaughton and Education Minister (Stephen) Lecce to launch a campaign to inform secondary students about the viability of a career path in the skilled trades is good and we (OCC) support it,” said Gillies.
“The government indicates it wants to streamline the application process for young people starting their journey to apprenticeship. The current system…can be tricky to navigate for a young person starting out. The ministry seems willing to engage the unionized sector in helping to design this public relations campaign.”
The OCC has some concerns with the Ford government’s proposal to change the apprenticeship system to one of portable skill sets under which apprentices could be trained to perform smaller subsets of skills within big disciplines.
The City of Toronto recently implemented a Community Benefits Framework to help create community benefits opportunities within city programs and projects, said April Lim, public policy professional for the city.
“For the City of Toronto, it simply makes sense,” Lim stated. “There is a demand for construction hiring and there is a huge supply of unemployed Torontonians who are looking for career opportunities and community benefits align with a range of City of Toronto priorities.”
Colleen Dignam, management consultant at the City of Toronto, said the number of employment opportunities for social hiring in construction continues to rise because of the use of programs and agreements related to equity hires in construction projects.
“Promoting careers in the trades contributes to growing the skilled workforce labour pool required by employers and unions to build the infrastructure needed to support the growth of our cities, provinces and country,” said Dignam. “With the need identified to increase the number of new and skilled workers in construction, there are opportunities available for community, for service providers, for unions, union training centres and employers.”
Follow the author on Twitter @DCN_Angela.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed