NEWS

In 1996 the industry committees for the industrial and construction electrical trades jointly decided to review the scope of their trades. Their decision was that competencies related to Electronic Controls were incorporated into the Industrial Electrician and the Construction and Maintenance Electrician and Domestic and Rural Electrician. A common core curriculum was implemented.

The result was that all electricians certified post-1996 in Industrial Electrician and Construction and Maintenance Electrician and Domestic and Rural Electrician are considered to have been trained and certified in this broader scope of practice including electronic controls.

The new legislation governing trade certification, the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009 (OCTAA), recognizes all current trades. In the electrical sector these are:

* Industrial Electrician 442A

* Construction and Maintenance Electrician 309A

* Domestic and Rural Electrician 309C

All holders of certificates in these trades are considered certified in electronic controls. There is no longer a need to hold a separate certificate for electronic controls. Since the electrician trades are designated as compulsory trades, as of April 8th, all journeypersons working in one of the electrician trades had to hold a valid certificate in a trade designated under the new Act.

In order to ensure that all journeypersons practicing the electrician trades were fully in compliance with the legal requirements of the new Act, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) decided to reissue to all holders of a 309D the original Certificate of Qualification in the electrician trade in which they had been originally trained and certified (i.e. 309A or 309C). Not to do so would have placed these journeypersons in jeopardy of not being able to legally work in their trade as of April 8th.

The College is also looking at finding a solution to recognize these changes on its public register.

To read more, please see the below OCOT News Page.