Canada's Building Trades Unions (CBTU) has announced plans to work with the Ontario government to harmonize national safety standards for construction workers by adopting best practices and the highest standards to ensure work is performed safely.

At a recent board meeting in Ottawa, CBTU's Canadian Executive Board unanimously passed a resolution underscoring the strong commitment of Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, David Piccini, and CBTU and their affiliates.

The resolution aims to dismantle barriers that prevent Canada's construction workers from easily moving between provinces to work on projects. It addresses the challenge of varying health and safety certification standards across Canada, recognizing that interprovincial recertification costs time, money, and causes unnecessary delays to critical project progression.

CBTU calls the resolution “a decisive step”, adding that it will streamline certification processes and champions transformative policies, ensuring tradespeople are job-ready, rigorously trained to consistent safety standards, and eligible to contribute to nation-building projects.

"The unanimous approval of this resolution reflects CBTU and our affiliates' unwavering dedication to our brothers and sisters working to build Canada," said CBTU executive director Sean Strickland. "To ensure our members can be where the work is, we must streamline safety certifications between provinces, to uphold the highest standard of safety, while creating opportunities that put our members to work. Harmonizing health and safety certifications across the country is critical to ensuring our workforce is appropriately trained to consistent safety standards, ready to deliver on nation-building projects safely and efficiently."