Labour Relations and Workforce Management in Canada

How construction labour relations and workforce management work in Canada, following one Hamilton general contractor through a hospital tower: provincial jurisdiction, construction provisions, Quebec's R-20 system and the Charter; building trades, CLAC and open shop models; card-based certification and Ontario's province-wide ICI bargaining; reading and applying collective agreements; trade jurisdiction and the OLRB; project agreements and community benefits; lawful hiring, onboarding and retention; apprenticeship, ratios, mentoring and Team Canada Strong; workforce planning, levelling and the cost of overtime; harassment prevention and Ontario's construction site requirements; just cause, grievances and arbitration; and a capstone workforce and labour relations plan.

CON-365 Year 3 3 credits 12 lessons · 3 h 49 min

Offered by HSM University · Construction Management

This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.

What you'll learn

Explain how Canadian construction labour relations are regulated, including provincial jurisdiction, construction provisions, Quebec's R-20 system, the Charter, and the employment laws that apply to every worker.
Compare building trades craft unions, all-employee unions such as CLAC, and open shop contractors, keep related union and non-union companies separate, and follow the rules for supervisors during organizing.
Describe card-based certification in Ontario construction, the effect of a certificate, and province-wide bargaining in the ICI sector, and build agreement escalation into bids.
Read and apply a construction collective agreement, including wages and classifications, the total package, hours and overtime, show-up pay, subcontracting clauses, apprentices and stewards.
Prevent and resolve trade jurisdiction disputes through mark-up conferences, structured assignment decisions and the OLRB's jurisdictional dispute procedure.
Explain project agreements and community benefits agreements, evaluate the arguments about them, and manage apprentice and equity-deserving workforce targets across employers.
Recruit and hire construction workers lawfully, size requests to hiring halls using measured yields, and onboard and retain new workers.
Plan apprentices into crews within ratios, explain the business case for apprenticeship, and act on the causes of non-completion through mentoring and support.
Turn a schedule into a labour histogram, level the workforce, plan across subcontractors, and manage productivity and the cost of overtime.
Prevent harassment and build a respectful, inclusive site, meet the legal duties, and respond correctly when a concern is raised.
Apply just cause and progressive discipline, investigate fairly, manage grievances and time limits, and understand the protections that apply to non-union workers.
Prepare a workforce and labour relations plan for a new project, with framework, demand, sourcing, apprenticeship, commitments, jurisdiction, respect, discipline, measures and risks.

Course content

12 lessons · 3 h 49 min total · final exam

1 Construction labour relations in Canada 19 min · quiz
2 Unions, open shops and alternative models 19 min · quiz
3 Certification and bargaining structure in construction 20 min · quiz
4 Collective agreements: reading and applying the terms 18 min · quiz
5 Trade jurisdiction and work assignment disputes 21 min · quiz
6 Project labour agreements and community benefits 22 min · quiz
7 Recruiting, hiring and onboarding the workforce 19 min · quiz
8 Apprenticeship and training 20 min · quiz
9 Workforce planning and productivity 17 min · quiz
10 Respect, inclusion and harassment prevention 18 min · quiz
11 Discipline, grievances and arbitration 18 min · quiz
12 Capstone: a workforce and labour relations plan 18 min · quiz
E Final exam 20 questions

Requirements

CON-305 Site Supervision and Leadership

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.

Description

Part of the Construction Management stream, typically taken in year 3.