Canadian Glass Association
Canadian Glass Association
On the heels of a very successful Glass Connections event in Halifax, planning is already underway for the Canadian Glass Association’s Glass Connections 2015. The event will be held June 3 to 4, 2015, at the Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon Hotel in Saskatoon, Sask. As in years past, the opening night will welcome attendees with a casual and fun reception, highlighting our host province. The following day will be filled with educational presentations, a keynote speaker, exhibitors and lots of networking time with your industry peers.
We are working to update the sponsorship opportunities and lay out the best exhibit space possible. If you are interested in receiving information about either, contact the CGA at
info@canadianglassassociation.com.
Registration will open in 2015, but make sure to mark your calendar today to attend this great event.
Ontario Glass and Metal Association
The OGMA held its fall seminar last week on Nov. 13 at Richmond Hill Golf Club in Richmond Hill, Ont. The session was well attended by 61 people.
The seminar included outgoing president, Steve Ringler’s, last presentation as president of the association. Ringler reminded attendees about upcoming OGMA events and initiatives and announced the association’s fall golf tournament raised $5,500 for Wounded Warriors of Canada. He thanked the board for its support and called the opportunity to serve an honour and a privilege. He welcomed incoming OGMA president, Angelo Cairo of Stouffville Glass, and praised his drive and enthusiasm. Cairo will take over in January, 2015. The OGMA thanks Steve for his dedicated service in bringing the new safety manual and the Workplace Safety and Prevention Services group to reality.
Charmaine Mitchell of Workplace Safety and Prevention Services introduced the OGMA Glass Shop Workplace Safety Manual. The document will be of particular importance to companies who do not have a formal safety policy in place and who do not have the time or resources to create a program on their own. The WSPS will work with your company to implement the safety program, will keep you updated on all changes to laws that you must be in compliance with, put you in a strong position to withstand a Workwell audit and help you to defend yourself with the Ministry of Labour in the event of a workplace accident. Your participation in this program is an absolute must for many obvious reasons.
Jennifer Threndyle, a WSPS subject matter expert for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act familiarized attendees with the legislation pertaining to disabilities and the effect new laws will have on glazing contractors and commercial entrance door builders. Threndyle’s entertaining talk was extremely eye-opening and informative, including solid tips to help glass shops avoid running afoul of the legislation.
David Thompson and John Hodder, building envelope specialists with Entuitive, held an informative presentation and discussion on the topic of recent changes to building codes and gave an introduction to energy codes and how they affect the glazing industry. David looked at the evolution of products and materials and assessed where we currently stand, identifying the challenges our industry can expect to face in the future.
Provincial Glazing Association of Alberta
The PGAA in conjunction with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology will be proceeding with our Master Glazier program. It has been a long road to this point but a cheque has been written and we are set to go with our foundation blueprint reading course. The additional eight courses will be on structural glazing, specialty glass, survey fieldwork, air seal barriers, project and site management, craftmanship, supervising and mentoring and doors and related hardware. The program will be open to all journeyman glaziers with five years’ field experience after obtaining journeyman certification. Successful completion of eight of the nine courses will earn a journeyman glazier Master Glazier certification from the PGAA. These courses will also be open to non-field employees who wish to upgrade their skills. Master Glazier certification will not be available to employees who do not meet the journeyman criteria. Watch this space for more updates on our progress.
After countless industry volunteer hours and support from our SAIT partner, all four years of the Alberta Journeyman Glazier Program have been completely updated to reflect current glazing practices and materials. This update was daunting in its scope and a huge “thank you” is due the following contributors who made it happen: Blain Denholm of Alberta Glass, Richard Neal of Ferguson Glass, Brad Simpson of Cal-Tech Glass, Ron Walder of Glass Guild, Bob Stadnyk of Titan Glass, Mitch Huston of Alberta Glass, Steve Moore of Capilano Glass, Blake Simpson of Beacon Glass, Jim Brady of Desa Glass, Ed Dalzell of SAIT and Ken Nelson of Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training.
The Canadian General Standards Board is beginning the process of reviewing the 12 CGSB glass standards, many of which have not been updated for over 20 years. Brent Harder of Ferguson Glass in Calgary has been accepted as a voting member of the CGSB committee on glass. He will provide updates to the PGAA directors and may be asking various PGAA member companies for their input as standards are reviewed. We look forward to hearing from Brent on the committee’s progress.
Our annual PGAA golf tournament on August 14 at the Red Deer Riverbend golf course was sold out. Thank you from all the participants goes out to our volunteers, Ryan Ardiel of Tremco, Dan Rogers of PPG, Dwayne Stolz or Leydens Glass and John Reitmeir of Grant Metals.
The PGAA has many initiatives on the go. Go to our website, pgaa.ca, to learn more. Thank you to all those hardworking volunteers from the Glazing and Architectural Metals Association and the Glass Trades Association that make up our provincial association here in Alberta.
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