Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association

The GTSWCA was formed more than fifty years ago for the purpose of dealing with labour relations issues. Since that time, the Association has evolved in to a highly effective, professionally run organization that lobbies for the good of its members and the industry as a whole on virtually every front that affects its members. Currently, major initiatives include on-going government relations at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, on-going relations with trade unions, payment assurance, equipment theft, policing of tendering irregularities, occupational health and safety, environmental awareness and compliance, legislative changes and industry governance.

Water and wastewater assets in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are worth more than $30 billion. The GTSWCA is committed to the maintenance and expansion of this core infrastructure to ensure a plentiful supply of clean water to the GTA. Currently the GTSWCA serves more than 200 member companies.

We have been members of the GTSWCA since 1972 and have been represented on the Board of Directors since 1996. Visit the GTSWCA at www.gtswca.org and its sister association the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association at www.oswca.org for more information.

National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure (NGSMI)

In April of 2001, Jim D’Orazio, together with a host of professionals from all over Canada, was asked to join the project steering committee for the NGSMI. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the National Research Council (NRC) joined efforts to deliver the National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure: Innovations and Best Practices which came to be known as InfraGuide. InfraGuide was funded by the Government of Canada through the Infrastructure Canada Program, NRC, and FCM through in-kind contributions from public and private municipal infrastructure stakeholders. It became a decision-making and investment planning tool, as well as a compendium of technical best practices and innovations, for use by a Canada-wide network of practitioners, researchers and municipal governments.