Leaders Sought to Build New Organization for Ontario’s Skilled Workers

Rod Cameron, Chair of the Appointments Council for the Ontario College of Trades, says that The Ontario College of Trades will modernize the trades in this province. “These new leaders will have a once-in-a-career opportunity to help build a new organization from the ground up.”

TORONTO, Ont. — The Ontario College of Trades is seeking more than 500 leaders to begin the process of self-regulating Ontario’s trades. The College will be in operation in 2012.  At that time, it will represent members in 150 trades, from steamfitters to electricians to chefs and hairstylists.
The Ontario College of Trades is a self-regulatory body—made for the trades, and by the trades—that will have a major impact on how the trades learn, work and are certified. Applications are now being accepted from journeypersons, apprentices, employers and the general public.
The Appointments Council has put out a call for applications for the Board of Governors, four Divisional Boards and the individual Trade Boards. These new leaders will be drawn from a pool of tradespeople that could be as high as one million in the province, including journeypersons, apprentices and employers.
Twenty-one of the available positions are for the Board of Governors itself, which will administer and manage the affairs of the College. The positions include four members selected from each of the College’s four trade sectors of construction, industrial, motive power, and service. These four members, along with membership from the Divisional and Trade boards, will be divided equally between employers and employees.
The Board of Governors will also consist of four members from the general public, with no direct trade affiliation, and one member from the public community college sector. The four Divisional Boards will represent each of the four sectors and the individual Trade Boards will be responsible to their Divisional Board for affairs within the specific trade.
The deadline for applications for all positions is March 31, 2011. For more information on the Ontario College of Trades and the application process, or to submit an application, please visit www.collegeoftrades.ca/appointments.