01-34 GENERALS SPRING25 PT - Flipbook - Page 7
CHAIR’S REPORT
SAFETY AS A FOCUS
Nothing you do on site today will be as important as going home
safely to your family & loved ones By CRAIG LESURF , OGCA Chair
HEN I WAS APPOINTED Chair of
the Ontario General
Contractor’s Association
(OGCA) six months ago, I
said I wanted to help change
the industry for the better
and I believe the OGCA is taking some
significant strides to do so.
For those of you who know me,
safety has become more than just a
responsibility, it’s a passion. I pride
myself on being a dedicated health and
safety advocate with a lifelong mission
to raise the standard of workplace safety
in construction. I am bringing that same
passion to this role to bene昀椀t the OGCA
membership.
As I always say to our project teams,
“Nothing you do on this site today will be
as important as going home safely to your
family & loved ones.”
Two of my priorities for my term as
Chair of the OGCA include: improving
workplace safety and encouraging fair
and balanced contracts for our members.
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THEGENERALS.NET
With respect to improving safety,
one of my goals was to establish a
Safety Summit with participation from
Ontario’s Chief Prevention O昀케cer Dr.
Joel Moody and industry.
The OGCA recently hosted the
summit where Dr. Moody addressed 180
construction professionals. Participants
were then divided into breakout sessions
where they reviewed key data, explored
contributing risks and shared ideas and
recommendations on how to create safer
job sites. These discussions are key to
driving real change and ensuring that
every worker goes home safe at the end
of the day.
Another key is the reinforcement and
promotion of the Four Pillars of being Fit
for Duty: Mental Health, Physical Health,
Emotional Health and Competency.
These are crucial requisites for
preventing critical injuries and fatalities
and will hopefully spark positive change
within the workforce.
In February, I was also fortunate
to attend the OGCA strategic planning
session in Niagara Falls with sta昀昀 and
a select group of Board members to
discuss and outline the path the OGCA
planning to take over the next three
years. We assessed our progress over the
past few years and set a new course for
the future.
While my top priority remains health
and safety, a lot has changed in the last
six months. The U.S. presidential administration recently imposed tari昀昀s on
Canada, including on steel and aluminum, which has a direct impact on our
members. In return, Canada has imposed
retaliatory tari昀昀s. As a result of this trade
war, there is a new wave of Canadianism
sweeping across the country, a surge in
Canadian pride, identity and strong push
to “Buy Canadian.”
What do the next six months hold?
The OGCA will be working with Premier
Doug Ford and the newly elected Ontario
PC Government to put OGCA members
in the best position to weather the storm
during these uncertain times. All I can
say is, elbows up!
In terms of advocacy, another goal
was to set up a committee to focus on
government relations in an e昀昀ort to
strengthen the relationship between
OGCA members and the government and
advance the interests of our membership.
In recent months, the OGCA has
become more proactive in advocating
on behalf of our members against public
purchasers of construction, who in
recent years have been altering contracts
to become excessively one-sided with
unfair, onerous clauses and imbalanced
transfer of risk. We have observed much
better engagement from our membership
in identifying and alerting us of such
contracts and encourage everyone to
continue this trend.
Looking forward, my wife Lisa and I
are eagerly anticipating welcoming you
all to historic Boston, Massachusetts in
September 2025 for the next OGCA Annual General Meeting (AGM). The city is one
our favourite places to visit. It has such a
dynamic and rich history and there’s so
much to do. Boston, which was named
after a town in England, built America’s
昀椀rst subway in 1897 and is home to the
oldest public park in the U.S.
Although we understand some people
are hesitant to travel south of the border
during this time, the AGM was planned
well before Trump came into o昀케ce.
The OGCA is encouraging companies to
bring multiple representatives and for
those individuals to bring their partners.
Among the many events we have planned
is a Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees
baseball game.
I am looking forward to supporting
our membership and collaborating with
OGCA President Giovanni Cautillo and his
dedicated team in the coming year.
The association will continue to
promote construction as a ful昀椀lling and
lucrative career path; advocate for reform
in the Construction Act; enhance the
prompt payment process; collaborate
with the WSIB; promote OGCA education
programs and member services; and
work closely with our Associate Partner
Program (APP) members.
Safety will continue to be a key focus
for me, as I plan to drive change in the
industry and make safety more personal
for each worker, with the goal of reducing
critical injuries and fatalities. While
signi昀椀cant progress has been made over
the past decade, there is still much work
to be done. With your help, together we
can make a di昀昀erence!
CRAIG LESURF , OGCA CHAIR
SPRING 2025 • the generals 7
