OHBA and Liberals Aim to Improve College of Trades

Following the Liberals’ majority win earlier this month, Newinhomes.com caught up with CEO of the Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA), Joe Vaccaro to see how he suspects the housing industry will be affected. Optimistically, as many leaders are in the field, Vaccaro is excited at the prospects of re-engaging the government on issues that have been concerns in the industry for years.

Most notably, he touted Wynne’s platform on the College of Trades, which has been the subject of much controversy since it was introduced to Ontario by the Liberal government in April 2013. Though Wynne said she will not be demolishing the system, she did promise to reassess it, making necessary changes. Vaccaro said the OHBA is glad to have the opportunity to revise important matters like the College of Trades, as well as others that are relevant to the development and improvement of the market.

Having worked with Wynne since 2003 when the Liberals won the election and she was appointed the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities with increasing involvement as her career progressed and she was promoted to Minister of Education in 2006 and then to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in 2011, Vaccaro said that discourse on the subject matter should lead to improvements in the structure of the bureaucracy. Calling for greater accountability and transparency in several relevant industry matters this year like hikes in development charges, the OHBA conducted in-depth research studies and produced information packages that reflect their commitment to the improvement of housing affordability and job creation in the province in hopes of garnering government attention and support.

“We submitted well over 600 pages for development charges,” said Vaccaro, suggesting that the OHBA has met Wynne’s demands to provide researched evidence on matters regarding inefficiencies in the industry and are ready to have “a thoughtful conversation.”

“We’d like to see accountability and transparency, who is leading the review? The government said they would appoint someone; do they have an understanding of the industry and understanding in contract law? We need someone who can appreciate the world outside of the GTA, in smaller, rural communities where there might only be three licensed retailers,” Vaccaro explained. One of the greatest issues to overcome will be modernizing the system so that younger trades people can be integrated into the workforce, according to Vaccaro it is a priority of the OHBA. Having a labour market where all trades people must have specific certifications is moving towards a Quebec style market, said Vaccaro, which, “From our perspective, would be extremely detrimental. We don’t need a Quebec style labour market here because we have the strength of contract law.”

Overall, the OHBA is enthusiastic about working together with the government to achieve goals on housing affordability improvement and job creation moving forward. “We are positive we can work, inform, educate and engage with the government to try to make sense of the College of Trades structure,” said Vaccaro.