OAA Council held its first meeting of 2021, assembling virtually on January 20 for the annual election of officers, as reported last month. In the wake of the meeting, the five Vice Presidents were named to the following portfolios:

• Christina Karney (Strategic);
• Deo Paquette (Practice);
• Jennifer King (Communications);
• Natasha Krickhan (Education); and
• Paul Hastings (Regulatory).

The meeting allowed the incoming Councillors to join their peers to explore various topics, such as new mandatory learning content for the next Continuing Education Program cycle, and to approve the tours and Continuing Education sessions for this year’s OAA Conference. To see the complete meeting package, click here.

Proposed Amendment to OAA Bylaws—Schedule A
Last year, Council decided to integrate the OAA Technology Program into the OAA, a change that will dissolve the Ontario Association for Applied Architectural Sciences (OAAAS). This means the OAA will now be collecting renewal fees previously handled by the OAAAS, which include Technologists OAAAS. As such, an amendment to Schedule A was required to incorporate those fees.

The amended Schedule A came into force upon Council’s approval, but is still subject to ratification at the next Annual General Meeting (AGM), scheduled for May 12.

Conference Tours and Continuing Education
A call was issued in November 2021 to solicit ideas for tours for the OAA Conference in Toronto this May. The goal was to find a diverse array of unique and informative excursions to engage and educate delegates while speaking to the Conference’s theme, “Inspiring Climate Action.” Fifteen tours were selected by the OAA’s Communications Committee, some developed by the Toronto Society of Architects. Now approved by Council, the slate of tours will be integrated into the event schedule by Conference organizers MCC. Of special note are the scheduled tours of the OAA Headquarters planned during the Conference to count toward Structured Learning.

With respect to the Conference’s Continuing Education suite, more than 60 proposals were reviewed by the Comprehensive Education Committee. Based on these assessments, 28 proposals were shortlisted and reviewed by the OAA’s Sustainable Built Environments Committee (SBEC) before being recommended to Council for the event.

As planning for Conference continues over the coming weeks, the tour and educational sessions will be shared with the membership.

Requirement for Mandatory Learning under the OAA’s Continuing Education Program
Council has supported inclusion of a mandatory topic—the climate crisis—for the next two-year Continuing Education Program Cycle, which begins July 1, 2022.

Climate issues, energy efficiency, and sustainability were the focus of discussion during the meetings with the 14 Local Architectural Societies during the fall, and have been a strategic priority for the OAA Council for the last few years. As “climate” is a fairly broad topic, it allows members some flexibility to decide how to best approach the subject given their own practice circumstances or areas of interest.

Two Structured Learning hours on the climate will be required, with members self-reporting in their Transcripts for any relevant courses not developed by the OAA. Programming offered by outside organizations that meet the criteria do not need to be vetted or approved by the Association. The OAA will also be offering tailored webinars, at least two of which will be offered free of charge to the membership.

More information will be shared soon.

Barrie Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan
Council received a report from OAA Councillor Andy Thomson regarding his involvement in the development of the Barrie Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, agreeing to continue providing advisory support for this project.

Since March 2020, Thomson has been involved in developing this plan, which is now in its near-final stages. Having an OAA representative at the table has ensured the architecture profession has remained at the forefront of the city’s discussions around energy performance targets for new buildings and renovations.

Next Meetings
The annual Council Priority Setting Session will be held virtually and conducted in three half-day segments later this month. The next regular meeting of Council is Thursday March 3 via Zoom. Its meeting package will be publicly posted on the OAA Website, and anyone interested in attending the open session (which usually begins in early afternoon) should contact Tina Carfa for the link and additional information.