ASPHALTopcs | Summer 2017 | VOL 30 | NO 2

2017 Roads Scholars attend the April 6
Spring Operations Seminar held at the
International Centre in Mississauga.
in scope than anticipated. It really comes down to a
skills shortage and that is where industry partnership
with the colleges becomes a crucial component to
resolving this issue.”
The Board and Plant and Paving Committee recognized
that the balance between Ontario’s skilled labour supply
and demand within the construction industry was off-kilter
and the labour shortage could potentially leave Ontario’s
road building industry stuck in a ditch. OHMPA (now
OAPC) initially partnered with Centennial, Conestoga,
Georgian and Fleming Colleges to better engage and
educate young people about the industry as they were
making career choices.
Thus began the Roads Scholars Program which in 2013,
its inaugural year, brought six students to the annual Spring
Operations Seminar to learn about the latest innovations
in asphalt paving and to network with industry leaders and
potential employers.
“Our initial efforts in partnering with the colleges were
quite successful,” says Plant and Paving Committee Chair
and Vice President of FLO Components Mike Deckert. “In
2012, we held our Spring Operations Seminar at Georgian
College and had more paving equipment there than at
the National Heavy Equipment Show. Building off of this
momentum, we developed the program.”
As a part of a long-term strategy to expand its investment
in attracting skilled workers to the industry, OHMPA
introduced the Roads Scholarship Program in 2014.
From its bursary, OHMPA offered each partner college
two yearly $1,000 scholarships to be awarded to two
students within respective heavy equipment operator/
technician and civil engineering programs.
Selection of the scholarship recipients is based on
academic achievement, leadership, and technical skills.
Special consideration is given to students who express
a keen interest in the road building and asphalt industry.
This year the program expanded to Canadore College’s
millwright program and Algonquin College’s welding and
fabrication techniques program to reach those trades that
are in demand within the operations of an asphalt plant.
Now entering its fifth year, the Roads Scholars and Scholarship
Program has brought 32 students to OAPC’s annual
Spring Operations Seminar and has awarded 26 students
$1,000 scholarships, totaling $26,000. Based on an estimate
from a LinkedIn search and reaching out to OAPC members,
approximately 30 per cent of the Roads Scholars students
are employed by an ORBA/OAPC member company.
This is a good start. Nevertheless, according to Mr. Ritchie,
it is a pinhole of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
“These days the average age of a crew is in their late 40s to
early 50s, and crews are smaller which impacts productivity.
A lot of people considering coming into the industry don’t ››
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