Trades NL: Building Trades Council of Newfoundland and Labrador represents 14 building trades unions in its work operations and prides itself on having a diverse, qualified, safe, and productive workforce of over 14000 unionized skilled trade workers. Trades NL fosters a culture of inclusion and belonging for all, including employees, members, and communities. Trades NL values diversity, inclusion and belonging within its organization and recognizes the mental health impact that comes with having a safe and respectful workplace. As a result of their DEI efforts, Trades NL has implemented a mental health taskforce for its members, as well as having mental health, respectful workplace, and culture awareness resources available on a learning hub for all its unions, contractors, and members. Under the organizations Standard of Excellence, it commits to treat all employees fairly, support career development, teamwork, and collaboration. Trades NL takes pride in its’ positive impact on its membership and contractors and its well-known reputation across industry. As part of the organization’s diversity work, Trades NL created an Indigenous Skilled Trades Office (ISTO) in 2018, located in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In 2023, the office expanded to Corner Brook and St. John’s which gave staff the ability to offer services province wide. The addition of the ISTO office has increased the diversity of its staff, increased staff retention and employees are invested in the organization’s goals and vision, benefiting both Trades NL, ISTO and it’s members. The ISTO has advanced the DEI within Trades NL and the community by successfully assisting over 500 clients with job search skills, preparedness, and/or employment interventions. As its mission, the office seeks to create new employment opportunities for Indigenous apprentices and journeypersons while increasing apprenticeship completion rates. The ISTO also fosters greater commitment and participation of employers and unions to create employment opportunities, overcome barriers and enhance support in the workplace. Lower Churchill Project Trades NL takes pride in its collaborative approach and continuous advocacy on community benefits agreements ensuring equal opportunities for its workforce. The building trades council has committed to negotiating collective agreements on behalf of the unions the organization represents and has negotiated various agreements for industrial projects including the Lower Churchill Project. The Lower Churchill River Project is a monumental hydroelectric development located in Labrador. Spanning the Lower Churchill River, the project began in 2013 and consists of two main components: the Muskrat Falls Generating Facility and the Gull Island Generating Station. The Muskrat Falls Generating Facility, completed in 2021, harnesses the power of the river through a dam and powerhouse, generating up to 824 megawatts of electricity. Meanwhile, the proposed Gull Island Generating Station, expected to be constructed in the future, is projected to have over 2,250 megawatts. Best practices from this project were the Gender Equity and Diversity Program, hiring priority to ensure that local qualified talent was hired first (Order: Innu, community, provincial, national) and a women’s employment plan. Trades NL is committed to diversity on many levels of the organization. Its mission statement is to provide a highly trained, diverse, safe, and highly productive working tradespersons to the Newfoundland and Labrador Building and Construction industry by fostering pride and professionalism in the trades through training for life-long career opportunities.

The Hamilton Community Benefits Network (HCBN) is a broad collective made up of representatives from many community organizations across Hamilton, including YWCA, the Hamilton District Labour Council and more, to advocate for an inclusive, thriving city in which all residents have equitable opportunities to contribute to building healthy communities and a prospering economy. HCBN is currently working on CBA projects related to transit, as well as affordable housing. Hamilton Community Benefits Network did an extraordinary job building strong and meaningful relationships with local communities and residents. The partnerships HCBN has been able to build with communities and other organizations is outstanding. HCBN continues to organize the communities to advocate for CBAs and employment benefits and affordable housing for the Hamilton LRT project. HCBN has grown significantly in the past few years. The coalition is now stewarding the Hamilton LRT Transit affordable housing lab, identifying and co-developing financing solutions to preserve existing and create new affordable housing near transit corridors in the City of Hamilton. In addition, HCBN has conducted 15 community engagement sessions, both virtually and in person. HCBN has also undertaken multiple online surveys with 2317 responses from residents of Hamilton. This continuing engagement is being used to help shape the advocacy undertaken by HCBN. HCBN is part of the Hamilton LRT subcommittee, and they have presented their survey results and advocacy asks to Metrolinx and the City of Hamilton at LRT subcommittee meetings.

The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project is being built in North Cowichan, a growing municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The project is being built under the Province of British Columbia’s Community Benefits Agreement and also under a Competitive Alliance project delivery model, one of the first of its kind in Canada. As a Community Benefits Agreement project, the Cowichan Hospital Project includes a commitment to maximizing economic and social benefits and employment for locals, Indigenous workers and others traditionally underrepresented in the construction trades. As an Alliance project, all partners on the build share this commitment in a no-blame, no-claim, best-for-project approach. The Alliance includes the Vancouver Island Health Authority, EllisDon, BC Infrastructure Benefits Inc and Infrastructure BC. Together, they are the Nuts’a’maat Alliance. Nutsa’maat is a Hul’qumi’num (First Nations) term which means, “work together with one mind and one heart, with respect.” The Nuts’a’maat Alliance embodies these values in its problem solving, assumption of risk, future planning and inclusion of hospital users and Indigenous Rightsholders. BCIB participates at all levels of the Nuts’a’maat Alliance and collaborates with the contractor and government project owner to help ensure the objectives (and terms) of the Community Benefits Agreement are included and maximized through the project lifecycle. Because the Competitive Alliance model is tied to a Community Benefits Agreement project, key objectives of the CBA are included and incentivized in the Project Agreement. The Alliance model uses a pain share / gain share mechanism to encourage contractor performance. Priorities include: •Hours worked by locals •Hours worked by Indigenous workers •Hours worked by underrepresented workers •Hours worked by apprentices and trainees. This helps ensure the contractor, owner and all parties are aligned and working together on shared objectives and outcomes. The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project is achieving some of the best results of all Community Benefits Agreement projects in British Columbia. To date, more than 90% of the workers on the project have been local (living within 100km). 18% of the workers have been Indigenous tradespeople. This is more than triple the BC provincial average of 5%. More than 25% of workers have been apprentices or trainees, helping build the next generation of skilled trades workers. The Alliance is one of the first of its kind in British Columbia and in Canada. Paired with British Columbia’s unique Community Benefits Agreement and the BCIB employer model as a member of the Alliance, the project boasts Indigenous participation triple the provincial industry average, and apprenticeship rates higher than any other CBA project. BCIB, the employer member of the Alliance, has been recognized for its work as a progressive construction employer earning recognition as one of British Columbia's Top Employers and one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers. Its Respectful Onsite Initiative training suite, a powerful tool for culture change and addressing racism, harassment and bullying on jobsites, has been in demand outside of the construction industry. Organizations volunteering to participate in the workshops include local governments, companies and the RCMP. The Alliance has been recognized for incorporating Indigenous cultural traditions on this project. For example, Bubba Qwulshemut is a member of the Cowichan Tribes and BCIB’s Workforce Trades Mentorship and Onsite Support Manager on the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project. He asked if he could put up a large spike or hook at the entrance to the site. “This is a teaching that was put forward always by our elders,” explains Bubba. “On any longhouse that’s Coast Salish, there’s a nail, a spike, a horseshoe. We want people to come in with good intentions, so we have somewhere to metaphorically hang stuff up. We didn’t ask, we told anybody that walked through those doors to leave their anger, their frustration, their hatred, outside on that spike. We ask them to hang up their bad feelings there. It’s to help protect the sacredness within the confines of the space.” Bubba thought the new hospital is also a space worthy of protection. “This healing place is going to be here for so many generations,” he says. The Alliance supported the installation of a large cedar post with a spike and asked Bubba to announce its purpose and meaning to all workers at an employee appreciation luncheon hosted by the prime contractor, last December. The spike is accompanied by a plaque, which states: For generations to come, this will be a sacred place of healing. We come together to build a hospital and the work needs to be done with hands that are free of harmful feelings like hatred, prejudice, anger, and fear. This spike represents a place to hang what weighs you down so that you enter the site with an open mind and heart. In this way, the spirit of healing, respect, and love can be built into the hospital. When you leave, you can pick the weight up again...or walk on without it. The post and spike will stand at the entrance to the project site for the duration of construction.