Inside The OIRCA
By Don Marks, OIRCA Executive Director

A Roof Training Centre For Ontario?

Faithful readers of the Roofing News know that much has been written on the subject of a skilled workers shortage in the ICI roofing sector.  While manpower shortages are certainly not unique to the roofing industry, a lack of a training facility for our trade is.

One only has to travel to BC, Alberta and Quebec to find full-blown roofing training centres.  Other provinces also offer various forms of training, though not necessarily in a facility devoted to the one trade.  In the US, roofing facilities for formal training can be found offered by state and regional roofing associations not mention their National Roofing Contractors Association.

In Ontario, most construction trades are able to point to a building devoted to industry specific education.  Why then is the Ontario roofing industry on the outside looking in?  Those with good memories may recall that roughly eight years ago the OIRCA announced the establishment of the Ontario Roofing Training Institute (ORTI).  That dream died a slow death because of, “should I say it”, politics.

In 2008, an opportunity has materialized that may allow us to redeem ourselves.  Conestoga College, a community college based out of Kitchener and who has opened a new campus in Waterloo devoted to the construction trades has offered OIRCA and the Ontario roofing industry a piece of land to build a roofing specific training institute.

While it is early days and at this point I do not want publicize the details of the offer, suffice to say, our industry must seriously entertain this prospect.  Offers such as this do not come along every day and it really would behove us to exhaust all efforts to give it due consideration.

What Conestoga College is building at their Waterloo campus is really quite unique; a campus devoted to construction trades. By bringing young people, foreign workers, whoever, to one site to be exposed to all the trades makes a great deal of sense.  Raising awareness of roofing issues among other college students and graduates is a bonus.

The roofing industry in Ontario desperately needs a focal point for training.  More than just delivering apprenticeship, such a facility could provide a whole myriad of roofing related education.  Courses devoted to occupational health and safety, skills upgrading, new product showcasing and application, to mention a few.  Professional development curriculum such as contract management, estimating and construction supervision would be included.  Pre-apprentice and safety orientation programs would be available for new workers and those people re-entering the workforce.

Equally attractive is Conestoga’s partnerships with elementary and secondary school institutions, their strong involvement with international student enrolment and relationships with business and industry province-wide.

It is time that the roofing industry in Ontario takes control of its destiny and plays apart in securing the future by building this “centre of excellence”.  All stakeholders in the roofing industry must come together to share in this responsibility.  The future of our industry demands that we make this opportunity a reality.