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June 2020: What Canada’s glass associations have been up to

Fenestration Association of B.C.
FenBC has been working hard at keeping our membership as up-to-date as possible on all the COVID-19 protocols and changes. Yes, we had to cancel all of our in-person meetings and events. We are working on a series of webinars and podcasts over the next few months that will keep our membership informed and up-to-date. The new FenBC website will be live soon. It will include a more mobile-friendly and most impressively will now include a members-only discussion board. This discussion board will include access to members-only publications, minutes to meetings, committee chat rooms and membership discussions. FenBC is holding membership GoToMeetings. This is just an opportunity for FenBC members to talk about their experiences during this time, share insight, offer support and perhaps have a laugh or two. FenBC has decided not to hold its Annual Industry Conference on Oct. 29. Instead we will be offering the same topics via webinar over the month of October in one-hour sessions held weekly. As with all of our conferences and webinars, these will be recorded and available for members. FenBC is working with Morrison Hershfield to get our Glazing Systems Specification Manual completed. Given the current crisis, this project has been delayed. We are looking to get back to it in the next week or so. The FenBC Technical/Education Committee is working hard at developing a Best Practices Guide for many of the technical standards and codes for the fenestration industry.

Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta
PGAA’s annual general meeting was to be held on March 18 but did not meet quorum and has been subsequently postponed until further notice. The directors’ meeting was held as scheduled. The pandemic is causing a vast amount of uncertainty in the Alberta construction realm. All public events associated with the glazing trade have been postponed or cancelled until further notice (Skills Canada, Try a Trade, glazing association golf tournaments, BBQs, etc.). At the board level, we are entertaining open discussions on what we can do as an association to provide added value to our members in these uncertain times. PGAA is providing the members information on the pandemic as well as the Alberta Construction Association’s reports, updates, reactions and directions via the association’s website. The PGAA will be working on developing updated information packages that promote the glazing trade in Alberta. We are working on a brochure displaying current information on our Calgary and Edmonton teaching institutions (with apprenticeship program information), photos of our members’ projects and glazing trade specifics such as potential wage earnings and trade requirements. This will be available to download directly from the PGAA website and will be a beneficial document for handouts at trade shows, school showcases and any other trade-related event. PGAA’s environmental scan discussed at the directors meeting held in March of 2020 was discouraging again for both North and South markets with limited projects to tender and an overabundance of glazing contractors (even coming from neighbouring provinces) submitting pricing with minimal margins. This has only been amplified with the introduction of COVID-19, causing many delays to projects and awards.
Stay safe everyone!

Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association
AGMCA member glazing contractors are facing unprecedented challenges. As a result of the pandemic, many are struggling with project shutdowns; availability of their workforce; supply chain challenges; government regulations; and a host of productivity issues, not to mention the cash flow tap that has been virtually turned off. In this context, it is also difficult and sometimes impossible to meet milestones and other project deadlines on the sites that do remain open. The AGMCA is part of an industry-wide lobby group urging the government to exempt our contractors from liability for delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is our opinion that it should constitute force majeure in contract terms.

Needless to say, our Glazing Contractor Appreciation Day events have been cancelled, and our glazier training centres, along with the vital apprenticeship programs they deliver, have been suspended.

At the time of this writing, the pandemic curve is starting to flatten and governments are beginning to consider the gradual reopening of our economy. Ontario is the third largest construction market in North America and our member glazing contractors are a big part of that. There is no playbook for this one. Our glazing contractors are swimming hard against the current and doing their best to develop new stickhandling techniques. Throughout the pandemic crisis, the AGMCA has endeavoured to keep its members up-to-date with all the latest regulations, government assistance programs and industry-related bulletins, some of which have changed on a daily basis. COVID-19 related links and information can be found on our website at agmca.ca

Ontario Glass and Metal Association
In this space, it is customary to let everybody know about the events we have forthcoming and the initiatives that are underway. However, due to the current COVID-19 reality, there’s not a whole lot to tell you about. We cancelled our annual spring golf tournament and have not planned any seminars as yet for 2020. Our fall golf is scheduled for Thursday, September 24 at the Country Club in Woodbridge and we sincerely hope to be able to host the event, but time will tell and we’ll keep you updated as the date approaches.

In the meantime, we will continue to distribute information to our members that we hope is helpful in finding solutions to managing your business and weathering the economic storm. We sincerely hope that you are diligent in safeguarding your health as well as your families, employees, and co-workers. We look forward to seeing you when circumstances permit.