By Mary Van Buren, Canadian Construction Association

In 2017, the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) embarked on a yearlong process engaging with members and stakeholders from across the country to develop a new five-year plan. Approved at CCA’s latest board meeting in Banff in March, you can view the plan at www.plan.cca-acc.com. The vision of the plan is to “Build a Better Canada” by inspiring a progressive, innovative and sustainable construction industry that consistently acts with integrity.

Putting the industry first

Values guide what people and organizations do. CCA’s new strategic plan’s first value is “industry first.” This means that every decision we make must be taken through the lens of what is best for our members and the industry while contributing positively to our communities. Additional values include innovation, inclusiveness, smarts and débrouillard – the French word for resourceful.

Championing national issues

Working as an industry, we will become an employer of choice and a stronger lobbyist. To address workforce shortages, construction must attract a diverse workforce from under-represented segments, such as women, Indigenous peoples, new Canadians and others. CCA’s new vice-president of public affairs, Rodrigue Gilbert, is hard at work planning a Hill Day in late November so key Members of Parliament can hear straight from our members – their voters – on issues that matter. While CCA has an excellent reputation, we will focus on deepening our influence with the government, bureaucracy, Crown corporations and others essential to advancing our goals.

Adopting best practices

Our goal is to lead the construction industry in adopting best practices that will help members in their success. We will be positioning CCA as an information hub to quickly and effectively lead members to valued resources, technology and innovation. Communication needs to be easily accessible and agile, and we will accomplish this by delivering our content and services with a digital-first approach. An example of this is the Gold Seal Certification exams that will soon be online.

Evolving to serve better

One of our main goals is to drive member value. Broadening our membership ensures all voices, from colleges to universities and owners, are represented. Working collaboratively with CCA partner associations will strengthen the services that are essential to our members’ continued success. I am happy to report that work is already underway in this area as Janet Slavin started as our vice-president of member value in February. We will be looking into providing tiered, more customized services and increasing our revenue stream with non-dues revenue to fund additional activities for the benefit of the Canadian construction industry. Also already in progress is the review of the CCA governance model to ensure that CCA works as efficiently as possible. The current structure will be evaluated by an outside expert against governance best practices.

Mary Van Buren is the president of the Canadian Construction Association. Email her at mvanburen@cca-acc.com if you have feedback to share on CCA’s strategic plan. Visit www.cca-acc.com for more information and bit.ly/ccasubscribe to receive updates from CCA, CCDC, CDBI, Gold Seal or LCI-C.

Photos courtesy of plan.cca-acc.com