Bulletin Board

The Conestoga - OIRCA Centre for Roofing Training & Technology has announced the availability of the Roofing Fundamentals Course:

Program 0726 is 16 weeks in duration and will be starting in November 2010.

Program details are available at: http://www.conestogac.on.ca/fulltime/programoverview.jsp?SchoolID=5&ProgramCode=0726&v=1001

Course details are available at: http://www.conestogac.on.ca/fulltime/programcourses.jsp?SchoolID=5&ProgramCode=0726&v=1001

With the Conestoga - OIRCA Centre for Roofing Training & Technology officially open, OIRCA members should start thinking about registering apprentices and planning for the “in-school” training portion. We have scheduled two class intakes for 2011; January 3 to February 25th and February 26 to April 22nd. Each class holds a maximum of 24 apprentices, so space is limited.

As you may be aware, the in-school segments consist of 8 weeks of Basic and 8 weeks of Advanced which are usually taken one year apart. If you have not already done so, you should be contacting your local apprenticeship office to register your employee(s). A list of those offices can be found at www.findhelp.ca/mtcu/appoff.html

Construction of the Conestoga - OIRCA Centre for Roofing Training & Technology is complete. Courses and curriculum are now being prepared. Classes are expected to begin as early as the fall of 2010 with "in-school" apprenticeship starting in January 2011.

For a larger image click here.

OIRCA Past President, Mr. Dave Walden owner of OIRCA member company, Conestoga Roofing & Sheet Metal of Cambridge Ontario has installed the first 250kW photovoltaic (PV) rooftop solar collection system in Ontario. Mr. Walden, also owner of Towcon Holdings, installed the system on one of Towcon's warehouse buildings in Cambridge.

The rooftop installtion includes almost 1400 solar panels on 75,000 sq ft of roof. Towcon partnered with Canadian Solar, a Canadian manufacturer of PV panels and Aecon Construction. The installed system has a total rated capacity of 305kW direct current and incorporates a "ballasted" rooftop panel/rack system. A media tour was held on February 9, 2010, where attendees were given a tour of the rooftop installation. For more information, contact Canadian Solar at www.canadian-solar.ca

RGM Construction & Industrial Safety Managers Inc. has announced their 2010 schedule for Fall Protection System Safety Courses to be held at the Toronto Construction Association Centre.

For course dates and details click here

During the January 21, 2010 OIRCA Annual General Meeting, the following individuals from OIRCA member companies were announced as the 2010 OIRCA Board of Directors:

Brian Benham, York Roofing Ltd., Concord (President)

Barry Warner, Covertite Eastern Ltd., Kingston (1st Vice-President) 

Jim Norman, Palmer Roofing& Insulation Ltd., St. Clements (Past-President)

Manuel DaCosta, Viana Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd., Toronto, (Treasurer)

Dave Devine, D.R. Devine Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd., Ottawa

Marc Jamieson, All-Bond Roofing Ltd., Toronto

Doug Brown, Convoy Supply Ltd., Etobicoke

Peter Serino, Soprema Inc, Woodbridge

Nelson Rites, Crawford Roofing Corporation, Toronto

Allen Lyte, Halsall Associates Ltd., Richmond Hill

Blair Holmes, Flynn Canada Ltd., Hamilton

Mike Witt, Semple-Gooder Roofing Ltd., London

Rob Kucher, Cardinal Roofing & Sheet Metal Inc., Thunder Bay

Mark your calendars now, so that you can be part of the 15th Annual Conestoga Golf Classic for the benefit of the Conestoga-OIRCA Centre for Roofing Training and Technology taking place on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at Rebel Creek Golf Club in Petersburg. While the official event brochure and registration card will be mailed to you in March, we expect this will be a sold out event and invite you to pre-register by contacting Julie Gillis, of Conestoga College, at 519-748-5220 ext. 3285 or jgillis@conestogac.on.ca

For more details go to www.playtheclassic.com

OIRCA member Nedlaw Roofing Ltd. of Breslau is installing the roof on the Conestoga - OIRCA Centre for Roofing Training & Technology. Nedlaw has donated their labour to install the system.

The specified roofing system is a two-ply modified-bitumen system donated by Soprema. The roof insulation is 5 inches of Roxul's TopRock DD Plus, also donated. Roofmart has donated asphalt, insulation fasteners and spun aluminum flashings. Lexcan Ltd. has donated three skylights and a roof hatch while Brooklin Concrete is donating PedSlab paving stones for the roof walkway. Firestone Building Products will be donating materials for the front canopy which will include TPO, sloped architectural metal and green roofing systems.

Roof inspection services have been donated by Consultant Member, Dorian Building Envelope Consulting Inc.

The OIRCA - Conestoga College Roofing Training Centre is ahead of schedule. The steel is up and the roof deck is being installed. Roofing work had been scheduled for the first week of January but has been moved forward to December 7th. The centre is scheduled to open in the spring of 2010.

For a larger image click here.

The OIRCA and Conestoga College have unveiled the design for the Roofing Skills Training Centre at the college's Waterloo Campus.

For a larger image, click here

Friday, September 25, 2009

Conestoga College's Waterloo Campus was the scene of the Official Ground Breaking Ceremony of the OIRCA - Conestoga Roofing Skills Training Centre. Those in attendance included The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, Harold Albrecht, MP Kitchener-Conestoga, and Leeanna Pendergast, MPP Kitchener-Conestoga.

Representing OIRCA and the College; Don Marks, OIRCA Executive Director, John Tibbits, Conestoga College President and Andre Beaudry, Conestoga College Vice President. OIRCA member donors in attendance included representatives from Flynn Canada, Conestoga Roofing, Nedlaw Roofing, Soprema Inc., IKO Industries, Roxul and Lexcan Ltd.

The actual construction groundbreaking is expected in October with project completion in late spring 2010.

The Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association (OIRCA) is very pleased and proud to announce that we are planning to enter into an agreement with Conestoga College* to develop a roofing skills training institute at their Construction Centre of Excellence, Waterloo Campus. The 12,400 square foot facility has been made possible through provincial and federal grants totaling $1M.

The training center, the first of its kind in Ontario, will deliver all aspects of roofing specific training including apprenticeship, occupational health and safety, skills upgrading, construction management and new technologies to mention a few.

One of the major attractions to partnering with Conestoga College is their ability to recruit young people, unemployed adults and immigrants to the Waterloo campus, which is devoted to the construction trades. In the years ahead, the roofing industry will be looking for new workers to enter our trade. Conestoga College will become a major portal to meet that demand. OIRCA hopes that the Conestoga College success will become a model or template for additional training facilities around the province.

Plans are to fast-track construction through a design-build process. An RFP will be released in July and we hope to break ground in the fall. Leading up to that launch a great deal must be accomplished and in a short time period. Of paramount importance is the raising of additional funding required to balance the budget. Industry donations, cash and in-kind are needed to make this dream a reality. In the weeks ahead, both the OIRCA and Conestoga College will be approaching industry leaders looking for that support. We are confident that OIRCA members will lead the way in raising the necessary funds.

This facility will service the entire roofing industry in Ontario; roofing contractors, manufacturer/suppliers and the design/consulting community will all benefit. When OIRCA planned to build the Ontario Roofing Training Institute (ORTI) a few years back, the industry was very giving. We look for that generosity once again. This time a training center will be built.

* Conestoga College will be receiving provincial and federal grants totaling almost $100M. The college is expected to increase in size by fifty percent. A large part of that growth is their Waterloo construction skills trade campus, which includes our roofing center along with a new HVAC school, both following on the heels of the new masonry training facility already up and running next door to our roofing site.