Its that time when I reflect on the activities of the past year at MCAS and look forward to what 2023 will bring to the association. I think in general 2022 saw the association get back to normal. We were able to resume our networking events and though our numbers were down slightly, our members were certainly anxious to reconnect. I anticipate that we will be back to sold out events in 2023. We certainly are ready to welcome 32 to teams to our 50th Curling Bonspiel and hope that many colleagues will join us for two days of exciting (or at least entertaining) curling on March 17 -18th at the Nutana Curling Club.
Our training program saw 229 people take a wide variety of training classes that ranged from HVAC courses to Ozone Protection. We were able to partner with Merit Saskatchewan to expand our offerings to help fill in some of the gaps – while we focus on the hands-on technical courses, Merit focuses on the “soft skill” courses. It has been a win-win partnership.
On the advocacy front I was able to travel to Ottawa with our MCAS President Ken Swann to lobby with MCA Canada and the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating on behalf of our members. Top of mind was the skilled labour shortage that the construction industry is facing across the country. This message was carried forward just a few weeks ago when we lobbied with Merit SK and the General Contractors Association of Saskatchewan in Regina with our provincial elected officials and provincial agencies.
Looking into 2023 I am optimistic that the association is going to strengthen its voice in industry, see growth in our membership numbers, expand our training, and provide new opportunities for our members to network. The board met last week to develop a 3-year strategic plan that I believe is going to move this association forward. If you aren’t a member now, you are going to want to join in 2023.
So, I will wrap up this final message from 2022 by saying on behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff of MCAS that we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
