CAWIC Activities

MONTHLY MEETINGS
The Canadian Association of Women in Construction (CAWIC) meets once a month. The monthly meetings have construction or educational themes and are held in various areas of Toronto. Topics during the course of the past few years have included:the Ontario Building Code upgrade and Bill 124; electricity in the home; Edgebuilder, an on-line project management tool; commercial vibrators; Deep Lake Water Cooling by Enwave; Reducing the Risk of Mould in Construction presented by Pinchin Environmentals; and site tours of major construction projects around the City. The monthly meetings are often followed by dinner in a nearby restaurant.

SITE VISITS

Membership in CAWIC provides women in the industry with the opportunity to visit construction sites which are off limits to the general public. These visits are the highlights of our program and make up a large percentage of events. They enable us to learn a great deal in a very short time. Recent examples were: a guided tour of the construction site of the AGO and the completed ROM; a presentation and guided tour of the St. Lawrence Cement Plant in Mississauga; a presentation and site tour of common areas of a condo high rise in downtown Toronto by Wiklem Design inc. and Fort Architect Inc,; the renovation & expansion at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor Street, the largest capital project in the history of the Anglican Church in Canada; and the complete remodeling of the Dundas Mall at the Eaton Centre.HOLIDAY DINNER AND FUNDRAISERER
Once a year the Association hosts a gala dinner at a prestigious downtown venue, featuring a prominent member of the construction industry in the Greater Toronto area. Previous speakers have included Michael Kirkland who spoke on the Toronto Waterfront Regeneration and Jack Diamond, architect of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the Canadian Opera Company’s new home in Toronto.

The gala dinner also includes fund raising and a raffle, proceeds of which enable the Association to award a bursary to a student enrolled in a construction field at a local college or university.

HOLIDAY DINNER AND FUND RAISER AUCTION

To mark the Festive Season, CAWIC continues a long-standing tradition of hosting a Holiday Dinner and Auction. Attendees bring donations for a silent and live auction. The result is a wonderful, fun evening for all. Beneficiaries of the funds raised at these events have been the Toronto Food Bank, women’s shelters, the YWCA’a Bergamot Affordable Housing Project, Bursary recipients Rosalie Hall, and the Women Build Project of Habitat for Humanity.

SOCIAL EVENTS
Occasionally our meetings are more social in nature. Recent examples being a visit to the Diana Exhibition at the Design Exchange and a guided tour of the Toronto Music Garden and a pub night preceded by a guided tour of the Distillery District.

 Print This Page