RESPONDER THE THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE CANADIAN EMERGENCY RESPONSE CONTRACTORS’ ALLIANCE CERCA: SPRING / SUMMER 2023 Canada Post Mail Publications Agreement Number: 40609661Spring/Summer 2023 | 5 CERCA: THE RESPONDER Published For: Canadian Emergency Response Contractors’ Alliance c/o David Hill 15 Switzer Crescent Binbrook, ON L0R 1T0 Tel: (416) 458-9096 david.hill@gflenv.com www.cerca-aceiu.ca Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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CERCA’S WORD 07 A Message from the Vice-Chair ON THE COVER 08 Recruiting and Retaining Tomorrow’s Workforce, Today FEATURES 11 Answering the Call: Women in Emergency Response 13 Indigenous Representation and a Respect for the Land 15 Bob Goodfellow: More Than 50 Years of Service CERCA SERVING YOU 17 Meet CERCA’s Contractor Members 21 Membership Application 20 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS TABLE OF SPRING / SUMMER 2023 08 11 13 15 CONTENTS Cover photo provided by Rapid Response Industrial Group.Spring/Summer 2023 | 7 up’ and supporting a local team during busier times and major events, or simply responding to a smaller call on behalf of another contractor because you are closer and can supply a quicker and more cost- effective response that helps both the envi- ronment and all parties involved. In the last 10 years I’ve seen a dra- matic increase in teams training togeth- er, which is the best place to get to know more about each other and each team’s individual strengths. I have also seen response teams made up of two compa- nies, which allows both contractors to ensure the situation can be properly mit- igated while not ‘wiping out’ the capabil- ities at their home base. I am confident that this is something that can be fur- ther fostered through the work done by CERCA, as well as by the opportunities that the semi-annual meetings provide for various team leaders and managers to come together and discuss issues. The Responder magazine has allowed us as an association to highlight the work and capabilities of our teams, and this most recent issue will endeavour to do the same. Just like everything else in life, we will only get out of this based on what we put in. Regards, Andy Jeves Vice-Chair, CERCA t is an absolute pleasure to welcome you back to CERCA: The Responder magazine as we start our third year of publica- tion. I’ve read over the last few publications and have noticed in the Chair’s opening the word ‘COVID’ has appeared in the last few issues, so I figure I will keep it going by simply saying ‘COVID.’ Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to say that I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the beautiful Harrison Hot Springs Resort. The surrounding region is a collection of communities spanning Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs, Harrison Mills, as well as all the communities in between. Topics at the 2023 Spring meet- ing are focused on the needs of First Nations and successes within the ‘spill response world,’ case studies, and some Indigenous-led initiatives. As such, we recognize that we share the land of the traditional territories of the Sts’ ailes, Sea- bird Island, Sq’ewá:lxw, Cheam, Doug- las, Leq’a:mel, Samahquam, Sq’ewlets, and Skatin First Nations. Workforce issue abound Staffing challenges continue to impact not only the contractor world but compa- nies across all industries. Baby boomers are leaving the work force in record num- bers and new workers are prioritizing life balance over all else. Yet, this is where the Canadian Emer- gency Response Contractors Alliance (CERCA) network can shine. Building on Dave Hills’s comments from the last magazine, it is imperative that teams work together and the mutual aid network that CERCA provides helps to ensure that all clients can get a response to whatever their situation is. This can be done by either ‘backing CERCA'S WORD A Message from the Vice-Chair Andy Jeves Vice-Chair, CERCA MEET THE CERCA TEAM CHAIR David Hill GFL Environmental Inc. Tel: (416) 458-9096 david.hill@gflenv.com VICE-CHAIR Andy Jeves NUCOR Environmental Solutions Ltd. Tel: (604) 910-6796 andyj@nucorenv.ca COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR David Hill GFL Environmental Inc. Tel: (416) 458-9096 david.hill@gflenv.com TREASURER Jeff Hoover Drain-All Tel: (613) 739-1070, ext. 297 jeff.hoover@drainall.com SECRETARY John Zaidan Cameco Tel: (306) 956-8060 john_zaidan@cameco.com8 | The official publication of the Canadian Emergency Response Contractors’ Alliance ON THE COVER f you are finding it difficult to recruit and retain qualified workers, you are not alone. According to a recent survey, more than a quarter of Cana- dian companies across mul- tiple sectors say they are deal- ing with labour shortages and high employee turnover and have been forced to hire people they oth- erwise would not have just to stay up and running. What does this mean for an industry like emergency response, where the abil- ity to do your job and the decisions you make can have significant health and safety implications, not just for yourself but for entire communities and the sur- rounding environment? Emergency response is a niche indus- try that’s simply not for everyone and new recruits need to come to the table with very specific traits already in hand, such as being flexible, self-motivated, and safety orientated. They also need to have the confidence to go into situations that are often uncontrolled, unspecified, and unscheduled. Finding such a worker is like finding a needle in an ever-grow- ing haystack. By Paul Adair, Staff Writer and Recruiting Retaining Tomorrow’s Workforce, Today Having a sufficient workforce in the future will be crucial for emergency response contractors being able to do the job when called upon. Photo courtesy of Rapid Response.Spring/Summer 2023 | 9 “The biggest struggle we face right now is just getting people who want to be on call or willing to change their schedule to accommodate an emergency call,” says Shaune Zeleny, Regional Man- ager, Specialized Services and Emer- gency Response, Western Canada at GFL Environmental Services. “A lot of folks working in this industry today like the to be dangerous goods responders is lost because they’ve gone off to anoth- er trade, and we get to repeat the same cycle all over again with the next inflow of people.” Wallace agrees, adding, “I hope that our peers in the market focus on new strategies in this employment gap, as recruiting competitor employees does not make the industry stronger across the region and encouraging transient behaviour with staff does not help sup- port strong company response teams.” Part of the problem also appears to be generational. How companies attract, engage, and retain Millennial and Gen Z (born after 1996) workers is different than it was for previous generations. These younger entrants into the job mar- ket tend to have different views about employment, with many requesting flex- ible working arrangements – something that is difficult to accommodate in emer- gency response. “Good workers in our industry have always been hard to come by and it’s only getting worse,” says Reg Foster, Director at Rapid Response HAZMAT Industrial Group Ltd. “The fact is, there just aren’t as many people looking to do this kind of work as there used to be and, since we are not slowing down, it’s impacting the workload for every- one else. The result is that we all need to work a little bit harder and just a little bit longer every day. It’s not always easy.” A labour pool at capacity The tightness of the Canadian labour market – where there is more job open- ings than available qualified workers – has meant that those in the emergency response sector are also drawing from the same labour pool as other indus- tries. The lack of available labour has – at times – made it challenging for some contractors to meet the needs of clients. “Attracting and retaining staff has been more of an issue recently as we’re finding the larger industrial services competitors are aggressively recruiting, leaving us to defend against this behav- iour, as well as being progressive with our pay and bonus programs,” says Spar- tan Response Managing Director, Kevin Wallace. “With this shortage of workers in the market, we’ve had to be selec- tive in the work mandates we agree to support and are unfortunately having to decline some work due to resource limi- tations. Customer satisfaction is a core principle within Spartan Response, and our only way to protect this is to ensure that we do not over commit relative to our work force.” This sharing of the labour pool and the increased competition for a shrink- ing workforce has also meant that there are fewer applicants coming off the streets looking for a career in emergency response and, the ones that do, often look at the sector as being a stepping stone to help them move into the fire service. “The vast majority of people that do apply for emergency response jobs are usually trying to get onto a fire depart- ment and, of those we hire, most of them will successfully move on,” says Chris Nicholson, Regional Manager East Emer- gency Response at GFL Environmental Services. “As a result, the time, effort, and money that’s spent on training them With fewer applicants looking for a career in emergency response, companies need to do what they can to keep the workers they have. Photo courtesy of GFL Environmental.Next >