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ADVOCACY
FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR ONTARIO
OGCA Advocates for ICI Sector in 2025 Pre-Budget Consultation.
By ANDREW SAMPOGNA, OGCA Vice-President
ARLIER THIS YEAR, the Ontario General
Contractors Association (OGCA)
was invited by the Government of
Ontario to participate in the 2025
Pre-Budget Consultation process.
In response, the OGCA submitted
a series of strategic recommendations
designed to support small, medium, and
large contractors within the industrial,
commercial, and institutional (ICI) construction sector.
Our recommendations aim to maintain
Ontario contractors’ status as some of the
safest employers in the province, attract
and retain skilled workers, and ensure
the province’s infrastructure continues to
drive investment and economic growth.
The OGCA’s submission centred on four
key recommendations:
E
RECOMMENDATION 1:
Invest in workplace safety culture through
The Chief Prevention Office (CPO)
Through the Skills Development Fund (SDF),
the OGCA has successfully launched the
Pathways to ICI program, which supports
recent graduates and newcomers to
Canada who are seeking careers in
project management.
Ontario’s ICI contractors have long led the way in promoting health
and safety on construction sites. Our members remain committed to
their responsibilities in fostering safe, healthy workplaces. However,
workplace safety is a shared responsibility, and workers also play a
crucial role in identifying and mitigating risk.
We recommend the Government of Ontario provide the O昀케ce of
the Chief Prevention O昀케cer with the necessary resources to create
and deliver an awareness and training program focused on safety
culture and worksite environments. This initiative would help
reinforce workers’ role in ensuring not only their own safety, but also
that of their colleagues.
By empowering the CPO to lead this initiative, the government can
support an industry-wide cultural shift toward proactive, engaged
safety practices at all levels of the workforce.
The OGCA continues to advocate for improvements in public sector
procurement and project delivery processes. Delays in relocating or
removing utility infrastructure—caused by a lack of prioritization
from facility and utility owners—often result in signi昀椀cant delays
to public infrastructure projects. These setbacks can extend project
timelines by months, or even years.
We propose the creation of a high-level team of “construction
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RECOMMENDATION 2:
Reduce red tape and modernize procurement in
public infrastructure projects
