The Trim Association of Ontario (TAO) recognizes the Carpenters’ Union Local 27 as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all carpenters and carpenters’ apprentices. In partnership with the Local’s Joint Apprenticeship Training Trust Fund, the TAO helps administer the Residential Trim Carpenter Certification Program at the Unions’ 62,000 square foot training facility in Woodbridge Ontario. Workers are encouraged to undergo a skills assessment that standardizes the skill level among Trim Carpenters including ESL as required.
Workers who fall short of the minimum standards can upgrade their skills through evening classes. Those who pass the program’s requirements receive a Certified Residential Trim Carpenter Certificate. Additional training required and administered by the Local includes WHMIS and Fall Protection.
Established in 2006, the certification program is designed to create more consistency in workmanship and to help satisfy the new home industry’s demand for skilled workers.
The College of Carpenters and Allied Trades Inc. (CCAT) is a jointly trusted union-employer construction skills school that was established to serve the recruitment and educational needs of Carpenters Local 27 members and their employers.
Since its inception in 1986, CCAT has offered an extensive variety of carpentry trades-related pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, health and safety, and continuing education courses to thousands of students.
CCAT's two state-of-the-art facilities in Woodbridge total approximately 113,000 square feet of "hands-on" shop and classroom areas that have been customized in accordance with the theoretical and practical requirements of the educational programs.
CCAT is the largest Training Delivery Agency of General Carpentry Apprenticeship - on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD) - in the province of Ontario, with well over 2,000 Carpentry Apprentices signed to its Local Apprenticeship Committee and providing all three levels of in-school training (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced) to over 450 carpenter apprentices a year.
Rising consumer expectations and the province’s Tarion home warranty program have fuelled a demand for more elaborate finishes, raising the bar in craftsmanship. Builders are responding by upgrading their standard features and finishes.
