The Ontario College of Trades took over licensing for roughly 150K tradespeople this week, if you are an Electrician, Plumber, Mechanic, Hairstylist or one of the other compulsory trades you have been automatically enrolled.
New fee rates have likely increased 667% to $120 a year plus HST - up from the $60 stickers you had to buy every 3 years before.
You now have a public web page you can find at http://www.collegeoftrades.ca/member...ublic-register
I have a lot of reservations about this and am curious how others feel, from my perspective:
- The role of this College seems redundant - most trades already have an arms length of regulation - as an electrical contractor for example all my work has to be inspected by ESA. I suspect most all other trades can identify similar bodies that govern them. These systems have not been without their failings but I don't see any reason to believe "this time it will be better - trust us!"
- Leery how this will affect my liabilities, I believe most engineers as part of their college carry insurance for errors and omissions - will I need to do the same? - it won't be for free.
- There are a LOT of people from trade unions on the boards, 3 employees are already on LAST YEAR'S sunshine list.
- I can't find any evidence of oversight for this organization beyond the typical meaningless ombudsman stuff. Not sure what prevents this from becoming another eHealth.
- The stated goals of the College do not appear to coincide with the interests of the membership they represent - they just get the bill. For example this week OCoT's President Ron Johnson stated "We need to attract new workers to the trades if we're going to maintain our competitive edge." - "That's what the Ontario College of Trades is going to do. It's an industry-driven organization with a mandate to modernize and promote the trades." - but why does he feel this burden to promote trades should be bore specifically by people working in the trades? What is the benefit to them?
- I don't see retirees maintaining their licenses - this is unfortunate - retirees can be a Godsend as a trades contractor when you are in a schedule jam - but they won't pay this high a fee because someone "might" need them for a couple weeks the odd summer. I suspect payment delinquency will be high, trades tend to be a feast or famine sector, some manage it better than others but asking for $120+ from a tradesman that hasn't seen a paycheck in a year....
- I am grateful I am not a mechanic, I would not care to defend myself to the College every time a customer is unhappy with their car repair. Most customers are great - some are ..... my heart goes out to you people.
- They claim their rate is a bargain - $20 less than teachers pay - when Hairdressers start getting paid like them let me know....
- They claim "What the College represents is taking industry regulation out of government, and letting industry run things by the industry, for the industry." I guess that explains why every senior position is filled by someone from the Ontario labour Relations Board - http://www.collegeoftrades.ca/wp-con...judicators.pdf
New fee rates have likely increased 667% to $120 a year plus HST - up from the $60 stickers you had to buy every 3 years before.
You now have a public web page you can find at http://www.collegeoftrades.ca/member...ublic-register
I have a lot of reservations about this and am curious how others feel, from my perspective:
- The role of this College seems redundant - most trades already have an arms length of regulation - as an electrical contractor for example all my work has to be inspected by ESA. I suspect most all other trades can identify similar bodies that govern them. These systems have not been without their failings but I don't see any reason to believe "this time it will be better - trust us!"
- Leery how this will affect my liabilities, I believe most engineers as part of their college carry insurance for errors and omissions - will I need to do the same? - it won't be for free.
- There are a LOT of people from trade unions on the boards, 3 employees are already on LAST YEAR'S sunshine list.
- I can't find any evidence of oversight for this organization beyond the typical meaningless ombudsman stuff. Not sure what prevents this from becoming another eHealth.
- The stated goals of the College do not appear to coincide with the interests of the membership they represent - they just get the bill. For example this week OCoT's President Ron Johnson stated "We need to attract new workers to the trades if we're going to maintain our competitive edge." - "That's what the Ontario College of Trades is going to do. It's an industry-driven organization with a mandate to modernize and promote the trades." - but why does he feel this burden to promote trades should be bore specifically by people working in the trades? What is the benefit to them?
- I don't see retirees maintaining their licenses - this is unfortunate - retirees can be a Godsend as a trades contractor when you are in a schedule jam - but they won't pay this high a fee because someone "might" need them for a couple weeks the odd summer. I suspect payment delinquency will be high, trades tend to be a feast or famine sector, some manage it better than others but asking for $120+ from a tradesman that hasn't seen a paycheck in a year....
- I am grateful I am not a mechanic, I would not care to defend myself to the College every time a customer is unhappy with their car repair. Most customers are great - some are ..... my heart goes out to you people.
- They claim their rate is a bargain - $20 less than teachers pay - when Hairdressers start getting paid like them let me know....
- They claim "What the College represents is taking industry regulation out of government, and letting industry run things by the industry, for the industry." I guess that explains why every senior position is filled by someone from the Ontario labour Relations Board - http://www.collegeoftrades.ca/wp-con...judicators.pdf