O Order the www.Ord www.Order Construction Documents Here.ca www.ogca.ca Our online store can be your one stop shop: Order the CCA/CCDC documents you need and pay online. Order today at: www.OrderConstructionDocumentsHere.ca A Service Provided By As an Association of Associations, OSWCA’s Education Committee works closely with its local Associations to advance the cause of construction, in particular the sewer and watermain sector. “It’s extremely important,” says Giovanni Cautillo, OSWCA Executive Director, “to recognize the integral work our local Associations do on a consistent basis to make sure students, as well as persons mid- career looking to make a career change, understand construction is a great career path, for both the short and long term.” OSWCA’s local Associations are engaged in a number of initiatives: as one example, local Association members volunteer through the Ontario Construction Careers Alliance (OCCA). They make presentations to high school students in “They don’t think about the fact that the construc- tion industry needs administrative staff, estimators, schedulers, surveyors, dispatchers, engineers, project managers and accountants. I can go on and on and on. Unfortunately, people often have a very closed view of construction.” That’s why, as a sector, “we need to get into the schools and get students on to job sites and into the offices of sewer and watermain companies,” continues Cautillo. “Then they can see for themselves that there’s so much opportunity – and they can ask all the questions they want of people in a wide variety of roles in our industry.” FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS One effective way to introduce high school students to the wide range of opportunities in the sewer and watermain sector is through firsthand accounts. OSWCA is very active in providing Construction Days, where volunteers from OSWCA local Associations visit schools to talk about the sector. They also conduct visits to local projects and materials manufacturing sites, often as part of the Ontario Construction Careers Alliance (OCCA). OCCA’s members include, among others, OSWCA, the Greater Toronto Sewer & Watermain Contractors FEATURE – EDUCATION OSWCA LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS HELP ATTRACT YOUTH TO OUR SECTOR their classrooms and on actual work sites, highlighting the opportunities a career in the sewer and watermain sector offers. Moreover, each OSWCA local Association provides tangible financial assistance through bursaries and scholarships for post-secondary education. In some cases, the range of studies that qualify for financial assistance demonstrates the changing needs of construction: drawing from studies that include Business Administration; Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Interdisciplinary, CET); Law (Contract, Administrative, Labour); Contract/Construction Management; Construction Technician; Construction Craft Worker; Construction Millwright and General Carpenter. 20 UNDERGROUNDER Fall 2018