OHBA Leadership Day & Industry Leaders' Dinner

On Monday, April 24, OHBA welcomed leaders from across the province for a day of association collaboration and an evening of industry celebrations.

The day began with association business at the Board of Directors meeting, bringing together representation from across the provincial HBA network, including OHBA board members, chapter presidents and executive officers.

In the afternoon, this leadership team took part in two engaging sessions. The first, “Developing Your GR Capacity,” led by OHBA Manager of Government Relations, Alex Piccini. This panel featured OHBA CEO Luca Bucci, along with the CEOs from OHBA’s four largest chapters: BILD, Greater Ottawa, London and West End. This discussion provided insights into the advocacy process, including lobbying requirements and how policy is developed and implemented at the municipal and provincial levels, and also provided regional case studies to demonstrate effective advocacy.

The afternoon continued with “Building Better Associations,” a session on board governance. This training provided valuable insights and tools to strengthen OHBA’s governance practices and to position local chapters and the provincial association for sustained growth.

After a full day of programming, leaders from across the residential construction sector gathered at the OHBA Industry Leaders’ Dinner. The program began with a keynote address from the Honourable Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. During his remarks, Minister McNaughton announced a monumental reinvestment into the OHBA Job Ready Program. Through the Ontario Skills Development Fund, this funding will provide indemand residential construction training to a new cohort of unemployed and underemployed job seekers to shrink the skilled trades gap in the province.

OHBA was honoured to welcome representation from all three levels of government, with attendees from the Government of Ontario including the Hon. Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation; the Hon. David Piccini, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks; the Hon. Kaleed Rasheed, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery; Matt Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; and Deepak Anand, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour, Immigration,

Training and Skills Development. Municipal representation included Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and Subdury Mayor Paul Lefebvre. OHBA also received virtual greetings from the Hon. Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion. This significant representation of elected officials demonstrates OHBA’s reach and relationships with government at all levels and the impact of our industry on communities big and small.

OHBA CEO Luca Bucci addressed the roomful of leaders, discussing the future moving forward for the association, one focused on the needs of the membership and to advancing the goals of the industry.

The program concluded with association honours and the presentation of the inaugural OHBA Leader of the Year award, established by President Louie Zagordo to recognize individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and made significant contributions to the association through participation on the OHBA Board of Directors. The 2023 OHBA Leader of the Year award was presented to Southwest Region Co-Chairs Heather Galloway of Perth-Huron HBA and Jon Rumble of Chatham-Kent HBA.