Important subcontractor security workshops were held across Canada by EllisDon along with five construction associations in January and February. The workshops, which attracted more than 200 virtual attendees, aimed to educate the industry on the Contract Security Program, targeting companies who had not yet applied for a security clearance or needed to upgrade their organization’s clearance level.
“In our experience with projects that had security clearance requirements in Alberta, we found that very few companies knew about and/or had clearance with the Contract Security program,” said Nicole Isinger, finance project accountant at EllisDon and one of the workshop’s presenters. “EllisDon wanted to help bring awareness and attention to this security clearance requirement for the upcoming projects.”
The free, 30-minute long virtual workshops were jointly held by the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC), Edmonton Construction Association (ECA), Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA), Construction Association of New Brunswick (CANB), and Construction Association of Nova Scotia (CANS).
The presenters covered topics such as tendering processes, organizational/company and personnel clearances requirements, clearance procurement, and how to apply for security clearance projects. At the end of each workshop, attendees had an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions. EllisDon provided each attendee with a copy of the presentation.
“We wanted to expand the opportunities to companies that are interested in working on projects that have security requirements by sharing EllisDon’s knowledge and experience,” said Brayden Mason, estimator at EllisDon and one of the workshop’s presenters. “We work with many subcontractors in this business, and we can get the job done better if we work together and knowledge share.”
EllisDon is scheduled to host another round of workshops in the coming months. The workshops are advertised through the various construction associations and EllisDon’s website and social media channels.
