Catch up on the latest industry news and notes with The WCA Newsletter for July 5, available here.

The latest edition of The WCA Newsletter, featuring a story on the new WCA Awards Fund at MITT, is now available here.

WCA Members and Guests got to enjoy one of the nicest days of the year so far on Wednesday, teeing off at Grand Pines Golf Course for our annual Summer Golf Tournament. 144 golfers came out and enjoyed the weather along with a great day of golf, food and fun with industry friends.

If you’d like to see the photos from the event, they’re all available here.

Congratulations goes out to our winning team of STAR Building Materials, comprised of Mark Kennedy, Michael Jeanson, Kevin Foulis, Taylor McMahon. The STAR team fired an impressive score of 62 (-10) to win by a single stroke. Well done! You’ve all earned a box of TaylorMade TP5X Summer Commemorative Balls and $100 gift cards to Golf Town for your efforts.

Of course, the day wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors. Thank you all for your support:

Our other prize winners are:

Longest Drive – Garmin Apprach S12 Golf Watch:

Women’s Longest Drive (Hole 9) – Erin Thibideau (We are unsure which company or team – if you know Erin please let her know!)

Men’s Longest Drive (Hole 6) – Sean Campbell, Sigfusson Northern – Team YCLM

Closest to the Pin – Wingman 2 Bushnell Golf Speaker

Women’s Closest to the Pin (Hole 4) – Christa Lee, PCL Constructors Canada – Team YCLM

Men’s Closest to the Pin (Hole 7) – Travis Hebert – Antex Western

Sunbelt Rentals – Random draw winner of a STIHL iMow Robotic Mower

• Kristen Carter, Penn-co – Team MWC

Boxx Modular – Random draw winner of a Sony ULT Party Speaker

• Bart Dlugosz – BDR Services

Blue tickets – Random winners

#9176594 – White Waterproof Backpack donated by Xpromo & $100 Dinning Out Winnipeg Gift Card

#9176640 – Teal Yeti Day Trip Lunch Box, Frogger Wet/Dry Towel and Club Brush

#9176617 – Black Waterproof Backpack donated by Xpromo & $100 Dinning Out Winnipeg Gift Card *claimed*

#9176706 – Wine duo & $100 Dinning Out Winnipeg Gift Card *claimed*

Please reach out to us at wca@winnipegconstruction.ca to claim your prize.

Catch up on the latest industry news and notes with the June 7 edition of The WCA Newsletter, available here.

Catch up on the latest industry news and notes with the May 24 edition of The WCA Newsletter, available here.

Fore! WCA Members were shaking off the winter rust and getting back on the golf course on May 15 for our annual Spring Golf Tournament at Pine Ridge and Elmhurst Golf Courses. The weather didn’t look friendly in the morning but ended up co-operating, and more than 250 golfers enjoyed a great day of golf, food and fun with industry colleagues.

If you’d like to see photos from the day, you can find the album here.

Congratulations to our winners, a threesome from FlexNetworks made up of Scott Weibe, Miran Saradzic and Shayne Gingrad, who fired an incredible 54 at Pine Ridge – four strokes better than the second place team. Well done! They will each be taking home a Yeti 30oz Rambler and a $100 gift card to Golf Town.

Of course, the day wouldn’t have been possible without all our sponsors. Thank you for all your support:

Our other prize winners are:

Elmhurst       

Men’s and Women’s Longest Drive: Hole #9

Men’s – Greg Lorenc – Brandt Tractor Ltd. – (Garmin Approach S12 Golf Watch)

Women’s – Laura Lomow – Ellement (Wine package)

Men’s and Women’s Closest to the Pin:

Men’s – Hole # 8 – Ryan Trubyk – Dave’s Quick Print (Garmin Approach S12 Golf Watch)

Women’s – Hole # 14 – Dorothy Kleiber – Champion Ironworks Ltd. (Wingman 2 Bushnell Golf Speaker)

Men’s and Women’s Longest Drive: Hole #17

Men’s – Sam Werbowski – Inland Audio Visual (Yeti 30oz Rambler and $100 Golf Town gift card)

Women’s – Laura Lomow – Ellement (Wingman 2 Bushnell Golf Speaker)

Pine Ridge    

Men’s and Women’s Longest Drive: Hole #2

Men’s – Scott Weibe, FlexNetworks (Garmin Approach S12 Golf Watch)

Women’s (blank sheet) Random Draw Winner – Terri Randall – Ambassador Sales (1986) Inc. (Wine package)

Hole # 16, Men’s and Women’s Closest to the Pin:

Men’s – Stephen George – AMC Foam Technologies Inc. (Garmin Approach S12 Golf Watch)

Women’s (blank sheet) Random Draw Winner: Soo Lee – Bockstael. (Wine package)

Sunbelt Rentals random draw winners of $250.00 Golf Town Gift Card

• Alain MacNair – Bockstael
• Dave Ungrin – Concord Projects Ltd.

Door Prize (blue ticket) winning numbers:

9176450 – WCA Cooler and LC Gift Card *Claimed*

9176378 – Wine Package *Claimed*

9176530 – Yeti Lunch Box and Ladies Golf Towel *Claimed*

9176566 – $100 WOW Entertainment Gift Card *Claimed*

If you’re a prize winner, please reach out to wca@winnipegconstruction.ca and we’ll organize the delivery or pickup of your prize.

Our next golf tournament is June 19 at Grand Pines.

Catch up on the latest industry news and notes with the May 10 edition of The WCA Newsletter, available here.

Catch up on the latest industry news and notes with The WCA Newsletter for April 12, available here.

Winnipeg Construction Association Disappointed in Provincial Government’s Apprenticeship Ratio Regression

WINNIPEG , March 27, 2024 – On Wednesday, the provincial government announced a regression of the Apprenticeship Ratio from two apprentices for each journeyperson to one apprentice per journeyperson. The Winnipeg Construction Association (WCA) has been strongly advocating against this change.

“It’s extremely disappointing to see Manitoba move backwards on this,” said Ron Hambley, WCA President. “Anyone can tell you that we’re currently in the middle of a skilled labour shortage that’s going to get worse before it gets better. This certainly won’t help the industry train more skilled workers.”

WCA has identified a litany of reasons not to regress back to a 1:1 apprenticeship ratio. This change may force apprentices to train under journeypersons who are unwilling to provide their expertise, make it more difficult for rural and northern apprentices to find journeyperson to train under, cost current apprentices jobs and make it more difficult for apprentices to graduate.

“The government has tried to frame the ratio change as a safety issue, but there’s nothing to suggest that a change back to a 1:1 ratio will make workers safer on the job,” said Hambley. “All construction worker injuries have steadily declined over the past five years, and we’ve had a 2:1 ratio since 2021.”

In a 2024 survey of WCA Member companies, 80% responded they would reduce the number of apprentices they are able to hire should the ratio change back to 1:1. 63% of respondents said they would be forced to lay off apprentices.

“We encourage the government and the Apprenticeship Board to consider construction workforce needs and the aspirations of young women and men looking to enter the construction workforce when they’re implementing these changes,” said Hambley. “Fewer apprentices today means fewer journeypersons tomorrow.”

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Media Contact: Darryl Harrison, Director, Stakeholder Engagement and Advocacy

darryl@winnipegconstruction.ca, 204-775-8664 ext: 2249

The Winnipeg Construction Association is an incorporated, not-for-profit trade association representing commercial contractors and suppliers throughout Manitoba. We currently have over 700 member firms, including manufacturers, suppliers, financial institutions, lawyers, insurance and bonding companies and brokers.

The latest issue of The WCA Newsletter is now available online here.