Canadian Contractors Association

The Canadian Electrical Contractors Association is a federation of provincial and territorial electrical contractor groups and undertakes to represent electrical contractors at the national level. Each member ECA appoints one representative to the Association's Board of Directors. In jurisdictions with no provincial ECA, direct sustaining membership is permitted.

The Association was chartered on November 9, 1955 and its first elected President was Lucien Tremblay of Quebec. The early years were difficult ones for CECA and it wasn't until 1973 that we actually became a viable and active national body. Since that time, CECA has become the recognized national voice of electrical contractors.

Today, CECA represents the interests of more than 8, 000 electrical contractors across Canada who generate over $5 billion in revenues and who directly employ 70, 000 persons.

What are we doing?

National Electrical Contractors Association (International Chapter)
One of our most rewarding affiliations is with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) in the U.S.A. CECA is the first, and foremost, International Chapter of NECA and holds exclusive Canadian distribution rights for NECA documents, courses, manuals and seminars. Any provincial ECA member or direct sustaining CECA member may purchase NECA products from CECA at member prices. A catalogue of the most popular CECA/NECA publications is available on the Publications page of this website.

Canadian Construction Association (Affiliate Member)
CECA is an affiliate member of CCA's Trade Contractor Council and provides input to many CCA activities and programs. Some of these include: Standard Practices, Contract Documents, Taxation and Contractor Training (Gold Seal). Wherever possible, Provincial Associations are surveyed for their opinions on a particular question. Two recent examples include the new Standard Sub-contract and currently proposed revisions to the master specification format (trade divisions). As an affiliate member, CECA may not reproduce CCA documents or purchase them wholesale.

Canadian Standards Association (Sustaining Member)
CECA appoints and supports representatives to major CSA CE Code committees. The Part I Code is the basis for all provincial and territorial codes governing electrical installation practices. Our representative on the Part I Committee oversees contractor interests in this vital area. CECA also appoints representatives to the Strategic Resources Group and to various CE Code sub-committees. They deal with policy and Code matters prior to their consideration by the main Committee or Board of Directors.

Coordinating Group
Through CECA, Provincial associations are kept abreast of the programs and projects in other provinces. A recent example of this is the development of a CECA national policy paper on electrical utility deregulation. CECA also maintains a watch on other key issues such as communications cabling, trade regulation and labour market conditions (e.g. Labour Market Study). CECA may be called upon by its provincial members for research or policy support on a wide range of issues.

To sum up

The Canadian Electrical Contractors Association is the voice and representative of electrical contractors at the national and international level. We are involved in many national and international activities and programs and strive to advance the interests and image of electrical contractors. CECA works directly with National and Provincial Associations to ensure that the views we express are truly representative.