Crossflow - Summer  2009
(click here for full magazine in Adobe pdf format)

ON THE COVER:  Cladding And DeckingNeeds To Be Registered Trade
A sustained partnership between management and union forces with an eye to the future promises to bring higher standards to sheet metal work in Ontario. Recognizing that sheeting and decking, referred to alternatively as cladding and decking, requires distinct skills not currently covered in the provincial training curriculum for the sheet metal trade, OSM and the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers’ and Roofers’ Conference have combined forces to apply to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to have it recognized as a registered trade. The most obvious benefit of having registered trades is their ability to provide the construction industry with professionally trained manpower.  Apprentices wishing to join the trade are able to access specific and officially recognized training programs and, at the same time, may be eligible for government assistance through student loans and bursary allowances.   Read more...

 National Exposure For Provincial Competition
Given that the 2008 Ontario Sheet Metal Apprentice Competition was held in Ottawa September 26 – 29, it was well positioned to receive national attention.  Thirteen sheet metal apprentices all champions from their home areas traveled from across Ontario to demonstrate their skills and training at an event that defines apprentice careers and has been known to forge life long friendships.  All events, save the outdoor fabrication exercise, took place at the Crowne Plaza Ottawa Hotel.  The first evening was devoted to a meet and greet reception where apprentices were introduced to each other and took the opportunity to compare backgrounds and experiences, an important step in forging the team ethic that marks a good competition and an invaluable initiation into their professional careers.  The first full day of the competition was taken up by formal theory and pattern drafting exams designed to test apprentice knowledge of their classroom training.  The practical application of the competition, the fabrication of a unique competition piece, tests apprentice ability to transform a drawing into a material object, a work of knowledge, dexterity and precision.  This test was held the following day in an open air setting in the Sparks Street Mall in front of the CBC Building in the heart of Ottawa’s business district a stone’s throw from the parliament buildings.   Read more...

Wally McIntosh:  Portrait Of A Leader
Wally McIntosh is remembered by his colleagues as a man who lived life to its fullest.  A high achiever in the construction industry and founder of McIntosh Mechanical Inc., he brought a unique vibrancy to OSM serving as its president in 1982.  Larry McDonald now president of McIntosh Mechanical, remembers him vividly, “He worked hard; he played hard; he was a great guy.”  McDonald speaks with particular since authority given that he served his apprenticeship at McIntosh Mechanical working for none other than Wally McIntosh.  A licensed plumber and sheet metal journeyman himself, McIntosh was dedicated to apprenticeship programs, indeed, to all aspects of learning in the trade.  McDonald remembers being impressed with his passion for learning, “He always encouraged apprentices to go to night school and then he encouraged apprentices to get additional qualifications.  ‘Be the best you can be’ he would often say.”   Read more...

McIntosh Scholarship Doubles Its Value
The 2009 applicants for the Wally McIntosh Memorial Scholarship will benefit from a revision to the scholarship’s structure, notably doubling its cash value.  Even better news is that rather than selecting a single recipient, judges will pick two candidates to receive the award.  By doubling the value and opening it up to two candidates rather than one, OSM effectively quadruples the award.    Read more.. .

Wally McIntosh Memorial Award at Lambton College
The second part of the scholarship, a separate fund of $500, remains the same.  The Wally McIntosh Memorial Award at Lambton College was created to recognize achievements of young people in McIntosh’s home area entering the trades.   Read more...

2008 Winner Follows McIntosh Tradition
A fitting winner of the 2008 Wally McIntosh Scholarship whether she realizes it or not, Alana Aird has a profile totally in keeping with the Wally McIntosh motto ‘Be the best you can be’.  The daughter of John Aird (Gentry Environmental Systems, Ltd., Rexdale), Aird graduated from St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School with an impressive average of 94.8% in her best six Grade 12 subjects.  Out of a total of ten subjects she scored 93.1%.  According to her high school principal, Aird has a solid history of high academic achievement receiving a proficiency award in each of the four years she attended high school – meaning that she achieved an overall average of 90% throughout her high school studies.   Read more...

Innovative Ottawa Contractor Excels With Leed
Nick Haitas is president of X-L-Air Energy Services Ltd. one of Ottawa’s largest prime mechanical contractors.  Thanks to Haitas’ background X-L-Air brings a wealth of international experience to the construction industry.  Born in Athens, Greece and educated and trained as a professional engineer in South Africa, Haitas first established X-L-Air (Pty) Ltd in South Africa in 1983.  Attracted by Canada’s progressive and peaceful environment and concerned about the then looming racial conflict in South Africa, he moved with his family to Canada in 1988, establishing X-L-Air Energy Services Ltd in 1995.   Read more...

National Exposure For Provincial Competition
Given that the 2008 Ontario Sheet Metal Apprentice Competition was held in Ottawa September 26 – 29, it was well positioned to receive national attention.  Thirteen sheet metal apprentices all champions from their home areas traveled from across Ontario to demonstrate their skills and training at an event that defines apprentice careers and has been known to forge life long friendships.  All events, save the outdoor fabrication exercise, took place at the Crowne Plaza Ottawa Hotel.  The first evening was devoted to a meet and greet reception where apprentices were introduced to each other and took the opportunity to compare backgrounds and experiences, an important step in forging the team ethic that marks a good competition and an invaluable initiation into their professional careers.  The first full day of the competition was taken up by formal theory and pattern drafting exams designed to test apprentice knowledge of their classroom training.  The practical application of the competition, the fabrication of a unique competition piece, tests apprentice ability to transform a drawing into a material object, a work of knowledge, dexterity and precision.  This test was held the following day in an open air setting in the Sparks Street Mall in front of the CBC Building in the heart of Ottawa’s business district a stone’s throw from the parliament buildings.   Read more...

Demographic Survey Supports 3:1 Ratio
OSM recently commissioned economist and construction industry specialist John O’Grady to conduct a demographic survey of the sheet metal industry in response to pressure from certain quarters within the industry who have been pushing for a 1:1 ratio between apprentices and journeymen.  OSM is opposed to this notion on the grounds that it would flood the industry with inadequately trained workers.  OSM is critical of the proposal from another angle since it would make every journeyman a mentor, an unwanted relationship for those with no avocation for teaching.    Read more.. .

New Funding Paves Way To Enhanced Training
When it opened its doors in 2006, the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre ushered in a whole new era for apprentice training in the unionized sheet metal sector in the province.  Hard work and intelligent planning have resulted in the development of a centre that can honestly boast that it is the best equipped TDA for the sheet metal trade in Canada.  Over $820,000 worth of state of the art training equipment, purchased with capital grant funding from the Ontario government’s Skills Training Infrastructure Program (STIP) supports its progressive – and growing - curriculum.  Not surprisingly, the majority of apprentices entering the trade in the province designate the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre as their preferred TDA choice.  To date, the Training Centre has delivered training to close to 492 apprentices.  Read more...

 

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