Dr. Awad Hanna is back to provide professional development training on 2 key topics: Basic Principles and Practices of Project Construction Estimation and Advanced Comprehensive Practices for Effective Electrical Project Management.

The dates are as follows and the registration link for each is below.

• October 24, Tuesday: Basic Principles and Practices of Project Construction Estimation- https://bit.ly/ECAO-Awad-Hanna-Training-Day1 | Flyer

• October 25 & 26, Wednesday & Thursday: Advanced Comprehensive Practices for Effective Electrical Project Management- https://bit.ly/ECAO-Awad-Hanna-Training-Day2and3 | Flyer

The cost for training sessions is $600 CAD ($ 530.97 CAD+ taxes) per person, per day. Payment is accepted online via PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express or we can send you an invoice.

All sessions will be held at the ECAO Offices at 10 Carlson Court., Suite 702, from 8:30 to 4:30. The registration fee covers the session, breakfast, working lunch and parking.

If you or your staff are interested in any or all of these sessions, please feel free to fill out the registration forms above. Limited spots available!!

We are excited to launch our newest offering, ECAO Learning Centre to the ECAO Community! We have developed a dedicated Learning Centre with a wide range of topics including,

• Health and Safety
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)
• NECA Resources
• NETCO
• Certi-Fire
• Upcoming Trainings

to keep you at the forefront of the electrical contracting industry. It will cater to your professional growth and your company's future, serving as a comprehensive learning resource. It will be your one stop for learning and development.

Check it out here: https://bit.ly/ECAO-Learning-Centre

Ensure your voice is heard! We value your input as we strive to continually enhance our learning center. If you have any suggestions or recommendations regarding the topics that should be included in this hub, please don't hesitate to contact us. Your feedback is essential in shaping our offerings.

If you do not have your log-in credentials for ECAO website, please reach out to me at kahluwalia@ecao.org. 

ECAO has been selected by ELECTRI International to assist in their ongoing research to better understand the expectations of today’s electrical construction workforce. ELECTRI is the R&D arm for the electrical contracting industry. This survey has been thoughtfully created by academic researchers and industry professionals to help us capture specific knowledge of electricians at different phases of their careers. To help you get this survey to your field personnel you can share the link and QR code provided below. ELECTRI has had a lot of success with foreman sharing the QR codes on their jobsites with their teams

Please let your workforce know that their survey responses are completely anonymous. We ask that everyone taking the survey try to answer all the questions. If you are uncertain about a particular response, leave that answer blank. A “blank” will keep us from skewing our data and will also help us identify opportunities to refine our questions for others who take the survey in the future. 

We sincerely appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to help support this research. We hope this initiative will help retain and attract top talent for our contractors.

Link to Survey: Workforce Survey - Canada (surveymonkey.com)

Join ECAO and Future Leaders Advisory Council’s (FLAC) Committee for an exciting evening of networking at the ECAO-FLAC 2023 Social Event! This is an opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow industry professionals, future leaders , contractor members, ECAO board and affiliate Partners.

Date: October 19, 2022 | Time: 4:30pm- 8pm EST | Venue: Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar Dixon Rd, 25 Carlson Ct M9W 6A2 Etobicoke, ON M9W 6L2

REGISTER HERE

Participation and Registration is free of charge. For any questions, please contact Vincent at vduong@ecao.org.

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Certi-Fire and Graybar Canada

Learn More about FLAC

Canada needs more skilled trades workers. Demographic shifts and high retirement rates are fuelling demand and an ever-growing need to recruit and train thousands more Canadians for rewarding careers in the skilled trades.

Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, announced a new awareness campaign to highlight the value of a career in the skilled trades. For the first time, a series of experiential marketing events will be featured across Canada, including: Ottawa as a first stop, Montréal, Fredericton, Saint John, Toronto and Vancouver.

In Ontario, the construction industry was the second fastest growing industry with 9.2% growth from 2019 to 2022. This industry makes up a large percentage of employment for Red Seal trades in Canada.

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Payment delays and disputes can cost your business a LOT of time and money. That’s why Ontario has added Prompt Payment and Adjudication to the Construction Act.

The law now requires payors to pay invoices according to fixed timelines for construction. If your payor does not make payment when it is due, you can choose to use adjudication to enforce your right to payment. It’s a fast and inexpensive way to resolve construction payment disputes.

Learn More

In this article we will explore how Canadian Courts treat claims for payment under “cost-plus” or “time and material” contracts. The two forms are, of course, similar. In a “cost-plus” arrangement, the hiring party agrees to pay the supplier’s actual costs, plus a fee for profit, while under a time and materials (or “T&M”) contract, the client agrees to pay fixed rates for labour (on an hourly-basis) along with the actual cost of materials supplied. Under a T&M contract, of course, the supplier’s profit is included in the labour rates.

Recently, in Sjostrom Sheet Metal Ltd. v. Geo A. Kelson Company Limited, 2023 ONSC 4959 (CanLII), Associate Justice Todd Robinson of Ontario’s construction lien Court in Toronto offered a very useful summary of how the law applies in relation to such contacts. In doing so, he referenced a case law review previously conducted by Healey, J. in Infinity Construction Inc. v. Skyline Executive Acquisitions Inc., 2020 ONSC 77 (Canlii)

AJ Robinson firstly found that the T&M contract at issue was sufficiently similar to a cost-plus arrangement to apply the case law principles applicable to cost-plus contracts. His Honour then noted that courts will often deny payment on the basis of an implied term guarding against the “wasteful or uneconomic use of labour and materials”, even where the contracts are “open-ended”. He then confirmed that, generally speaking, where an estimate or budget is provided and unless the contract expressly provides otherwise:

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As autumn approaches, COVID-19 cases in Ontario are on the rise, leading to the implementation of certain restrictions in hospitals and institutions. It is anticipated that COVID-19 cases will continue to increase in the coming months.

Currently, the number of COVID-19 cases within the construction industry remains relatively low. Nonetheless, it is essential to exercise caution and maintain a vigilant approach to health and safety measures on job sites to mitigate the potential spread of the virus.

Adhering to safe work practices, including maintaining physical distance, practicing proper hand and tool sanitation, wearing masks, implementing job rotation, conducting screenings, engaging in awareness discussions, reinforcing COVID-19 policies and procedures, and thoughtful work planning, will play a crucial role in safeguarding the well-being of our workers and their families. These measures are as vital as ever to keep job sites operational while prioritizing safety.

The ECAO will continue to work together to support members to minimize the spread of Covid 19 and its impact on workers, families, and job sites.

We encourage you to review the attached COVID-19 documents to refresh your knowledge of protocols as we continue our diligent efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.

COVID-19 Policy | COVID-19 Procedure | ECAO Face Covering Safe Work Practice | COVID-19 Sanitize Hands Sign