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More clarity needed about OCOT, CEO says
According George Gritziotis, many trade workers in Ontario still seem to be unclear about the eight-year-old college’s role in the workplace.
The registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) admits that many trade workers in Ontario still seem to be unclear about the eight-year-old college’s role in the workplace and its potential impact on them.
In a recent message on the OCOT website, George Gritziotis says that while the college has made advances since it was established in 2009, more clarity is still needed among trade workers.
“The questions I keep hearing are: What does the College do for me as a member? What value does the College bring? [and] What do I get for my membership fee?” he writes.
Although Gritziotis is not specifically named on the page, the message appears under the headline of “CEO’s message” and the opening paragraph the writer describes himself as “the new registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Trades.
He describes the college’s principal mandate as being to promote skilled trades in Ontario and protect the public from unqualified, incompetent or unfit practitioners.
“In a competitive and crowded industry where others have not invested the same amount of time in acquiring the required skills and expertise, you (OCOT members) stand out both for your Certificate of Qualification and College membership,” he writes. “The College is working, on your behalf, to ensure that you do stand out from those who are not certified tradespeople.”
Gritziotis points out that skilled trades play an important role in Ontario, and the demand for skilled trade professionals greatly outstrips supply.
He said the college will continue to partner with government to modernize apprenticeships, update training standards and ensure workers are certified to perform the work of compulsory trades.
Gritziotis replaced the outgoing college registrar and CEO David Tsubouchi on Oct. 16, 2017.
You can read his full message HERE.
I think the College of Trades is a complete waste of our money. In my trade we don’t see any change. There are still all kinds of back year shops repairing cars without a licence and people can still purchase brake parts and have a neighbour install them… Most of us are still upset about this job creation plan that was not at all needed.
Bryan
I agree with you. The Ontario College of Trades has no jurisdiction of who sells parts. Big business throws lots of money to the political parties which makes this problem difficult to manage. The College of Trades IS trying to close down these shops but there are so many it is hard for them to keep up. I, personally do not see The College of Trades being set up as a job creation. There has been a lot of convictions recently that we are not aware of. Where do you think we would be without the College of Trades?
Agreed ocot is expensive, poor value for my money! Government money grab!
Her in Lies the problem. They will let anybody do anything and there is nothing that can be done. i.e. how come a person on the street can buy brake parts for cars and do there own work , risking everyone’s life if done wrong. Or buy a gas furnace and install it themselves. do all their own electrical work on their house. So many other things that are wrong. All that the college of trades do is take our money it is not helping the honest person and they cannot stop the other and they have no authority, outside the trades. Just a money scam, we now pay 3 times what we use to pay for our license in one year than we did for 3 years.
after the 3rd vist in one year from the collage of trades I asked the 2 guys chking for licences why they weren’t going after the back yard mechanic doing steering and brakes without a lic there response was how do we find them ? my response was why do u have to? I can buy Freon without a odp card if they want to do something to stop un qualified people from doing brakes parts places should have to see a licence before selling to put in prospective I cant buy ammo without a gun licence