By Giovanni Cautillo
Special to Ontario Construction News
With the summer winding down, most people’s thoughts now turn to “Back to School.” This time usually symbolizes new beginnings and directions for youth, and one of the most prominent choices that they can make at this time is to select the Specialized Trades Exploration Program (STEP) to ICI Construction Program.
The STEP to ICI Construction Program allows students to gain hands-on experience in ICI construction while earning their high school diploma. This program has been developed to improve school-to-work transition for high-school students by providing them with the essential skills they need to prepare for future construction careers. This program is a link for employers and potential new youth to enter into construction.
The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) is proud to be in our second year of collaboration with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and especially working with Elvy Moro, the TDSB STEP to Construction Director. This program was initially developed by Elvy over 17 years ago in the hopes of bettering the lives of a few of his students who did not want to pursue the academic track toward university. This program’s roots are in the high-rise residential sector, but the program lends itself perfectly to the ICI construction sector.
This ingenious program allows for students to experience first-hand all of the possibilities that are offered on an ICI construction site. This not only includes all of the well-known construction possibilities such as electrical, plumbing and carpentry, but all of the various unknown and highly lucrative work in every aspect of ICI construction. In short, this program allows for students to experience a highly tactile interaction with each and every group on an ICI jobsite.
This partnership provides safe environments for students to experience an ICI construction job site. The students are able to watch and interact with various trades, have the opportunity to perform tasks, and more importantly, be able to discuss career options with people working in the trades. In short, it gives young people a safe access point to enter into construction and the exposure on a site to really assess their personal strengths with the various opportunities available.
The students in the program are prepared by the TDSB and arrive on site armed with the legislated training in:
- Working at Heights
- WHMIS
- 4 Step Awareness, and
- New Entry to Construction Training
They are also equipped by the TDSB with the requisite safety boots, hard hats, safety glasses and work clothing. Additionally, each student has their WSIB premiums fully covered by the Ministry of Education. The employer does not need to expend any monies to attract these students, only agree to have one student on a single jobsite and provide a safe learning environment for the student, per semester, to understand what ICI construction entails.
This is a WIN-WIN-WIN scenario. Students will gain exclusive access to OGCA ICI construction, our members will obtain a vital new access point for youth to enter into construction, and the TDSB functioning as the facilitator to ensure that students are trained, coached and administered, so that they are actively participating. Additionally, the program boasts an incredible 97% placement of all the students into construction careers!
Within the first year of this program’s collaboration, the OGCA and TDSB successfully placed 15 students onto ICI construction sites through our members. These numbers were in direct relation to low enrollment by the students due to the continued threat of COVID-19. The OGCA knows that we have more volunteers ready to place students, but we are always looking for more members to volunteer sites commencing in October 2022 to facilitate the placement of more students. The OGCA hopes to be able to expand our inaugural years student placements of 15 to two or three times this amount.
Although this program is currently allocated through the Toronto District School Board, please note that Elvy Moro has been actively engaging with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development to have this program replicated in all school boards throughout the province. And when that occurs, the OGCA wants to work alongside Elvy and all of the school boards to expand this program exponentially. The OGCA will keep all of our members throughout Ontario abreast of developments.
The OGCA is incredibly excited with the overall potential of this program, and we see limitless possibilities in the STEP to ICI Construction through this collaboration, especially on the provincial stage. Special thanks to Elvy Moro for his steadfast vision of this program and his desire to actively engage with the OGCA.
Together we will accomplish great things!
Should anyone want to discuss their interest and/or involvement in the STEP to ICI Construction Program, or if you require any assistance from the OGCA, please contact me directly at giovanni@ogca.ca or via phone at 905.671.3969.
Giovanni Cautillo is the OGCA’s president. This story was originally published in the association’s internal newsletter.