Who We Are

About the IBEW CCO

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction Council of Ontario (IBEW CCO) represents 11 IBEW Locals across Ontario. We serve over 18,000 men and women working in the varied electrical sectors: industrial commercial and institutional (ICI), maintenance, residential, communications, power transmission, and renewable energy/solar.

Our Commitment

The IBEW CCO continually evolves to meet the changing landscape of the electrical and construction industry. We play an active role on provincial committees as well as government bodies. Our participation has earned us a strong and respected voice of the industry. We strive to educate government and the public on the importance of issues such as: enforcement of the 309A electrical licence, health and safety standards, apprenticeship, education and training.

IBEW electricians ensure that schools, hospitals, power generation facilities, and transportation hubs across Ontario are wired safely and reliably.

  • All locals offer hands on and classroom training by highly trained professionals. Our educational courses ensure a highly skilled workforce and we are considered the best the electrical trade has to offer. We work with our contractors and the industry to develop courses specific to cutting edge technology such as power over ethernet (PoE), energy storage, and microgrid.
  • Our Code of Excellence offers a written guarantee that our work will be done on time, on budget, and to specifications.
  • Our strong apprenticeship system has the highest completion rate in the electrical industry at 95% or better. The average apprentice completion rate for the non-union skilled trades is 58%. Learn more about apprenticeship >

Learn more about benefits of membership >

Establishment of the Council

In the mid 1970’s the Ontario Minister of Labour commissioned an inquiry to study bargaining patterns. At that time, Ontario was experiencing frequent strikes across the construction industry.

The resulting report recommended provincially-unified bargaining for all construction trades. This legislation was passed and as a result the IBEW CCO was granted its charter from the IBEW International on December 1, 1977.

Learn more

Our Partnership with ECAO Contractors

The IBEW CCO understands that when our contractors succeed— we succeed!

We partner with our employers represented by the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario (ECAO). Together we invest in joint projects that foster improved health and safety measures, development of training strategies on emerging technologies, create platforms for dialogue with stakeholders and government. As a result we are trusted and respected leaders in Ontario.

ECAO contractors not only have the best trained electrical work force, they also have access to a pool of journeypersons that can be quickly organized to travel across the province to meet high labour demands at mega projects. As a result of their experience on large and complex electrical systems, ECAO contractors also have greater contract opportunities and networking on industrial, institutional and commercial projects. Learn more about the ECAO >

Contractor Smith & Long and IBEW Local 353
highlight their partnership:

The Joint Proposal Process

This process is a win-win for both contractors and electricians.

In 1990 the IBEW CCO and the ECAO, developed the ‘Joint Proposal’  a bargaining strategy to foster positive labour relations and a framework for negotiations.

Here’s how it works:

1. Before the expiry of the existing principal agreement, the IBEW CCO mails out a letter to the members, asking for the continued support to renew the procedure of negotiating a collective agreement without a work stoppage.

2. With a mandate from the membership to renew this procedure, and in agreement with the contractors, both sides bargain without the threat of strikes and/or lockouts.