Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Supporting Your Essential Service!

CLAC was pleased to participate in the prebudget process and offer recommendations for the 2025 Ontario budget

The full submission is available to download. Here is a summary of our recommendations for the construction industry.

Allocate dedicated, multiyear (e.g., three-to five-year) funding for group sponsorship programs either through the ministry itself or Skilled Trades Ontario. This will allow CLAC and other similar organizations to continue supporting both apprentices and employers effectively, ensuring the continued growth and development of skilled trades in Ontario.
Section 163.1 of the Ontario Labour Relations Act should be revised to clarify that project labour agreements (PLAs) are a tool for use between private-sector owners and labour unions on industrial and commercial projects only. PLAs should be prohibited for use on projects owned or procured by public entities including, but not limited to, Infrastructure Ontario, municipalities, hospitals, and universities or schools.
Revise the Ontario Labour Relations Act to permit a public entity, as listed in section 127(1), to opt out of being a construction employer, at any time, provided they issue three months written notice.
Applications for certification should be deemed to be filed at times and on days that the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) is open for business. Adding this feature to the Ontario Labour Relations Act would substantially diminish the undemocratic practice of excluding the majority of workers from the process of unionization.
Unions relying on membership evidence in certification applications should be required to submit evidence that the worker supports a unionization effort at their current employer.

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