ASSOCIATION PROFILE
The London & District
Construction Association
The foundation of London, Ont.’s construction
industry for over 120 years
By Aaron Broverman
In many ways, the London & District Construction
Association (LDCA) is the glue holding London, Ont.,
and the surrounding district’s industrial, commercial,
and institutional construction industry together, and
they’ve been doing it for over 120 years.
Founded in 1898 as The London Builders’ Exchange, and
financially supported entirely by its membership within
London and the surrounding counties, the LDCA’s overall
mission has stayed consistent over all those years: “to
provide leadership to all members through advocacy, education,
innovation and support.” How this has manifested
has changed, particularly as LDCA members face the challenges
of today’s construction industry. Helping members
stay connected is a key component of their mission and
that has been put to the test during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 challenges
From the beginning of the initial Covid-19 lockdown
in spring 2020, LDCA began updating its members
daily on new health and safety standards that had to be
implemented and precautions that had to be taken to keep
construction jobsites operational and workers safe.
“For the first six months, we were providing an update
related to Covid-19 either from the Council of Ontario
Construction Associations or the Canadian Construction
Association every day,” said John Harris, president of
the LDCA’s board of directors. Updates were also provided
from the Ministry of Labour, Training, Skills and
Development (MLTSD) and the Ministry of Health, along
with additional provincial and regional agencies.
Updates included social distancing standards, standards
around sanitation, what constitutes effective
PPE and, more recently – as ‘non-essential construction’
was banned across Ontario during the fourth
lockdown – guidance on what was considered nonessential
construction. LDCA spent time wading
through the barrage of information to extract the pertinent
information for members. Throughout all these
challenges, LDCA continues to provide service and
support for its members.
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