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Will 2026 be the year that anti-discrimination\/anti-harassment (ADAH) training becomes mandatory in Ontario\u2019s construction workplaces?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the fervent goal of Ontario Building and Construction Trades Women (OBCT) and their leadership under program manager Kate Walsh.<\/p>\n
She says the training program created by the OBCT is fully realized and it\u2019s time to ensure ADAH training is embedded throughout the construction industry.<\/p>\n
The OBCT program is supported by the Ontario Building Trades and includes comprehensive training modules and train-the-trainers programming. Making the training mandatory would bring it in line with working at heights mandates, with enforcement by the Ministry of Labour, Walsh notes, and it\u2019s a necessary step because discrimination and harassment are safety issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is still our goal,\u201d Walsh said in March after her colleague Gillian Olohan delivered a presentation on ADAH to delegates attending an Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS) conference. \u201cWe are optimistic, but regardless, we\u2019re pushing forward with industry and the support of our local unions to get this training out there. It\u2019s important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Olohan\u00a0is the\u00a0program manager\u00a0for Construction Training\u00a0and\u00a0Apprenticeship Ontario\u00a0through the\u00a0Building Trades. She told delegates an OBCT survey of female construction workers in 2025 found 52 per cent experienced harassment and feeling unsafe at work.<\/p>\n
Of those who reported it, more than half were dissatisfied with how it was handled.<\/p>\n
The survey also found more than half of the tradeswomen with children reported turning down work due to child care challenges, and 67 per cent identified more women in leadership positions as essential for long-term retention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese findings shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise,\u201d said Olohan. \u201cThey show that if we want to recruit more women and keep them, both culture and structure are key. This is why the OBCT developed our anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making the training mandatory, Olohan said, would include incorporating the training into apprenticeship programs and integrating it within the Occupational Health and Safety framework.<\/p>\n
She said making ADAH training mandatory is \u201cboth ambitious and attainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we know, safe and more respectful worksites benefit everyone involved, and this is where the leaders in this room come into play,\u201d said Olohan, urging the delegates to boost advocacy efforts and begin adoption of ADAH training programs.<\/p>\n
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Walsh said in the policy\u2019s formative days, the OBCT realized that off-the-shelf training wouldn\u2019t work in construction. The industry\u2019s constantly changing crews, long and irregular hours and province-wide mobility create conditions that standard workplace programs don\u2019t address well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need something that\u2019s construction-specific,\u201d she said. \u201cOtherwise it\u2019s going to fall flat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OBCT ADAH training, Walsh said, is \u201creally tailored to the Ontario construction industry. It\u2019s been vetted by our stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walsh noted members of the OBCT met with Minister of Labour David Piccini last May during a Queen\u2019s Park lobby day and discussed various issues, but their main goal was to impress the point that ADAH training should be mandatory.<\/p>\n
The MOL has supported the initiative through skills development funding, Walsh noted.<\/p>\n
In response to questions, the MOL issued a statement March 25 saying in part, \u201cOur government has taken action to ensure every worker has a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace, free from harassment and discrimination. Our five-year occupational health and safety strategy, Prevention Works, strengthens protections and improves policies for workers in every sector across the province, with a particular focus on workplace violence and harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement recognized the OBCT advocacy and added, \u201cWe will continue to work with partners across industries to improve training and enforcement to ensure safe workplaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OBCT was founded in 2019 after a resolution at a Building Trades conference. Currently, women represent five per cent of onsite trades in Ontario\u2019s construction sector, with 14,200 women working directly on the tools.<\/p>\n
Despite the long odds, Olohan told delegates at the OCS event, progress is being made.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCreating safer and more inclusive workplaces isn\u2019t about giving something up, it\u2019s about building something stronger,\u201d she said. \u201cOBCT is living proof that in just a few short years, we\u2019ve gone from a resolution that passed at convention to real, concrete results.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
[ad_2] [ad_1] Will 2026 be the year that anti-discrimination\/anti-harassment (ADAH) training becomes mandatory in Ontario\u2019s construction workplaces? That\u2019s the fervent goal … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1037],"tags":[357,295],"class_list":["post-34828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-commercial-news","tag-blog","tag-technology","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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