Advocacy

Advocacy and stakeholder outreach are the cornerstones of COCA’s mandate. COCA brings the concerns of our members to the attention of senior officials and decision-makers at Queen’s Park. We work with the government to ensure that Ontario’s legislative landscape enables our industry to thrive and the province to prosper. And we work with other industry stakeholders to ensure our voices are heard.

Read the 2022 Year in Review to review COCA Advocacy efforts in 2022.

See Also

About COCA | Governance | COCA News  | Submissions

Current Issues

Health and Safety

Construction work by its very nature is hazardous.  It’s physical; the work environment changes constantly; workers are often exposed to severe weather conditions, and the workforce on construction changes regularly as projects advance. This is why health and safety must be paramount on every construction site in Ontario.

Preventing work-related illness and injury is the most important job at all construction sites because all workers deserve the right to return home to their families safe and sound each and every day.

The safety of all Ontario workplaces is regulated by the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

COCA is working closely with the Ministry of Labour to ensure the changes made contribute to safer construction worksites.

We are actively engaged with the Prevention Office in the Ministry of Labour on such initiatives as Occupational Health and Safety Awareness Training, Working at Heights Training, Mandatory Entry Level Training for Construction, Joint Health and Safety Committee Certification Training, the Construction Health and Safety Action Plan and the Occupational Health and Safety Programs Review.

We work with our members and the government to improve the province’s workplace health and safety system to reduce workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses.

Resources

WSIB

COCA works with our members and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to ensure Ontario’s compensation scheme is highly efficient and serves the needs of the workers and employers effectively, gets injured workers back to health and back to work in a timely way, offers competitive premium rates and provides best in class service excellence.

Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is an Agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for the administration of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA)and its regulations.

It provides income replacement, health care, medical rehabilitation, disability pensions, return to work and labour market re-entry services to workers in certain industries identified in the Act who become injured while at work or sick due to workplace causes.  It also provides death benefits to surviving dependents of workers who are killed in the course of their work.

Workplace safety is a universal responsibility shared equally by workers and employers and COCA and its members are committed partners with the Ministry of Labour and the WSIB.

Resources

Construction Act

COCA’s Construction Act Taskforce, chaired by Ted Dreyer, has shifted its focus with the Construction Act’s passage and the adjudication process’s introduction.  The Taskforce will continue to identify and add to the list of glitches in the Construction Act.

Construction associations across Ontario have launched a campaign to raise awareness about Prompt Payment and Adjudication, processes provided under Ontario’s new Construction Act to help contractors to get paid on time. The Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) coordinates the campaign.  Visit our Prompt Payment page.

Resources

Apprenticeship and Skilled Trades

In January 2022, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton launched a new Crown agency to promote careers in the skilled trades and to oversee the development of modern learning standards for apprenticeship and the delivery of curriculum, called Skilled Trades Ontario (STO). At the same time he appointed Michael Sherrard as Chair of STO’s Board of Directors and Melissa Young as its Registrar and CEO. COCA’s committee continues to monitor and engage STO and was part of the fall consultations.

COCA is actively engaged with the Ministry, STO and other stakeholders.

Resources

Partnerships

Partnership and collaboration are integral components of COCA’s government relations strategy. We recognize that only in very rare circumstances will we win the day working on our own. We understand that we must work with other stakeholders in construction and in other industries to influence the direction of public policy.  COCA participates in a variety of coalitions, partnerships and committees to further the interests of our members and the construction industry. In 2018 COCA was actively engaged with no less than 15 coalitions, industry and employer associations and committees that meet on a regular basis to address issues that affect the construction industry.

These include:

  • Canadian Construction Association
  • Provincial Labour-Management Health & Safety Committee (OHSA Section 21 committee for construction)
  • Construction Legislative Review Committee (CLRC)
  • Prevention Employers Partnership
  • College of Trades and Appointments Council and Classification Roster
  • Ontario Business Coalition
  • WSIB Chair’s Industry Advisory Committee
  • WSIB Chair’s Construction Industry Advisory Committee
  • Prompt Payment Ontario
  • Daily Commercial News by Construct Connect Editorial Advisory Board
  • Institute for Work & Health’s Knowledge Exchange
  • Ontario Construction Users Council
  • BuildForce Canada’s Ontario Labour Market Information Committee
  • Council on Experiential Learning (an advisory committee to the Minister of Education)
  • Skills Ontario