OAA Council held its final virtual meeting of 2021 on December 10, with some of the new incoming Councillors joining the event.

The open session began with farewells and expressions of appreciation for those whose terms had ended—Barry Cline, Gordon Erskine, Jeff Laberge, Senior Vice President & Treasurer Agata Mancini, Intern Architect Heather Breeze, and Past-President Kathleen Kurtin. The meeting then continued with discussions and updates exploring numerous OAA initiatives and programs, as well as the appointments of two new Councillors and several volunteers to various OAA Committees. (To review the entire meeting package for the open session, click here.)

Council and Committee Appointments
Of the two terms beginning for the City of Toronto seats on Council, a vote was held to determine the returning Susan Speigel (current OAA President) would assume the three-year term while Marek C. Zawadzki would hold the one-year. Council then voted to determine the two members who would represent the Eastern Ontario and Western Ontario districts, naming Clayton Payer and Greg Redden, respectively.
The following applicants were also appointed or reappointed to OAA Committees, with various interviews having been held in November:
- Audit Committee: John Stephenson;
- Communications Committee: Dana Seguin;
- Complaints Committee: Ibrahim El-Hajj, Denis Rioux, and Tzoline Ternamian;
- Discipline Committee: Vincent Alcaide and Catherine Friis;
- Experience Requirements Committee: Donald Ardiel and Emily Mason;
- Interns Committee: Corey Andrews, Heather Breeze, Christina Lee, Fatemeh Masumian, Javier Sanchez Moreno, and Dania Shahab;
- Policy Advocacy Coordination Team (PACT): Len Abelman and John Stephenson;
- Practice Resource Committee: Donald Ardiel, John Ciarmela, Sara Jordao, and Paul Juercka;
- Practice Review Committee: Theresa Adusei;
- Registration Committee: Shirley Lee and Chris Montgomery;
- Sub-Committee on Building Codes & Regulation (SCOBCAR): Brian Abbey, John Romanov, and Lea Wiljer.

Scholarships
A new scholarship award—Exceptional Leadership Through Design Excellence: Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) and Truth & Reconciliation—was approved and is now set to commence during the upcoming 2022 scholarship/award season. It is similar to the existing Exceptional Leadership Through Design Excellence: Sustainability scholarships, which have also had their amounts increased for the coming year.

In both cases, the OAA provides two annual $2500 scholarships to each of the five schools of architecture in Ontario to be awarded to two individual students in any year of the undergraduate or graduate programs. (It is at the school’s discretion how the awards are allocated based on the criteria mandated by the OAA).

Intern Architects
The OAA Interns Committee presented a draft of its report to Council, with an approved motion to publish it, pending a few minor revisions, on the OAA Website for both the membership and general public. Council approved the report’s recommendations—with some minor edits, specifically to the recommendation regarding the title change. Moving into 2022, the Committee will develop a tracking system to begin implementation of the action items with the input of staff regarding resources and appropriate timelines. These include the introduction of a calendar and resources specifically aimed at Intern Architects.

The Committee continues to explore the creation of a series of Continuing Education webinars focused on building awareness of the Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) and the experience of its participants. Additionally, there are plans to incentivize female-identifying and minority members of the OAA to engage in mentorship in the IAP. Through the Office of the Registrar (OOTR), the Committee will also be asked to participate in a bigger study aimed at various issues, the “Intern Architect” title. Timing and resources will be review in early 2022.

Conference Keynote
The theme of the 2022 OAA Conference is "Inspiring Climate Action,” and it is scheduled to take place in Toronto at the Beanfield Centre from May 11 to 13. The event, with both in-person and livestreaming opportunities to be announced soon, will showcase creative ideas and sustainable projects that explore architectural thinking applied to the climate crisis, introducing a wide range of perspectives from diverse experts within the architecture profession and beyond.

To that end, Council has approved the Communication Committee’s recommendation for the Keynote Speaker.

Katharine Hayhoe is a respected and renowned climate scientist who helps engineers, city managers, planners, and others prepare for the ways climate change affects all of us. A professor in political science at Texas Tech University, she directs the Climate Science Center, and is a lead author for the US National Climate Assessment and host of the PBS digital series, Global Weirding. Hayhoe has been named one of TIME's "100 Most Influential People," Fortune's "50 Greatest Leaders," and Foreign Policy's "100 Leading Global Thinkers."
Hayhoe’s engaging presentation style blends her broad expertise with a focus on tangible actions and solutions, and the OAA is thrilled to welcome her. The keynote presentation will launch registration in late March, almost two months in advance of Conference Week. The event will be free and open to the public via the Zoom platform.

Modernizing the OAA’s Complaints Process
The OAA’s need to effectively investigate complaints into professional conduct of members is a core statutory obligation and fundamental to maintaining the public trust in the integrity of the profession. Recent shifts in the regulatory landscape have led the Office of the Registrar to review how complaints are handled and misconduct prosecuted.
Adopted by Council, the proposal to modernize the complaints process involves new and updated procedures. This update is intended to:
• reduce processing timelines for complaints, thereby reducing risk of judicial scrutiny related to undue delay, and alleviating hardship on members who are the subject of complaints;
• reduce unnecessary referrals to the Discipline Committee;
• professionalize the investigation of complaints;
• align with the OAA’s adoption of a “right-touch approach” where solutions are proportionate to the risk they pose to the public; and
• enhance public confidence in the complaints process.

New Policies
New Council policies approved at the meeting include guidelines for the creation of any new awards in the future as well as revisions to Naming of Certificate of Practice that better reflect inclusive language for Architects and Licensed Technologists OAA. These policies, along with the others, are publicly posted in the OAA’s Documents & Publications database.

Next Meetings
The first 2022 meeting of OAA Council will take place on January 20 and will be hosted virtually. The meeting package will be publicly posted on the OAA Website. Anyone interested in attending the open session (which usually begins in early afternoon) should contact Tina Carfa for the link and additional information.