October 23, 2017 — Milwaukee Tool has introduced the Shockwave Lineman’s accessories for power utility professionals.

October 11, 2017 - FLIR Systems Inc.—whose vision is to be “The World’s Sixth Sense”—unveiled six test & measurement products arriving later this year, including two digital multimeters and a clamp meter featuring FLIR’s infrared guided measurement (IGM). The new products include...

October 10, 2017 - ABB will supply one of its heavy vehicle (HVC 450P) fast-charge systems to Laval, Quebec’s public transit service provider, Société de transport de Laval (STL).

October 2, 2017 — Litetronics’ new 4- and 8-foot LED strip fixtures offer 130-145 lumens per watt (LPW) and a 100,000-hour rated life. Incorporating a diffuser lens that ensures uniform light, the fixtures provide evenly distributed, low-glare Illumination, the company says.

September 27, 2017 — Werner, a manufacturer of professional and consumer ladders, has introduced new models of its 2-in-1 dual purpose ladder. The new Type 1A fiberglass professional-grade ladders are designed for service crews, electricians and general contractors, and feature enhanced ergonomics for safety and efficiency, says Werner.

September 26, 2017 — Extech has launched the Extech MG320, a CAT IV 20GΩ/1000V insulation tester with integrated True RMS multimeter. Extech says the product, which is Category IV 600V overvoltage safety-rated, is “ideal” for industrial predictive maintenance programs that include routine insulation testing of electrical and electronic equipment and cables.

September 25, 2017 — Mersen has upgraded its Surge-Trap Pluggable (STP) Series of surge protective devices (SPDs). The new STP series is DIN-rail mountable and improves overvoltage protection for DIN-Rail applications, the company says.

September 25, 2017 - Fluke says its new T6 electrical testers with FieldSense technology can simultaneously measure (not just detect) voltage and current.

September 22, 2017 — Eaton has launched EBMX enclosures that use clamping technology for hazardous areas to help oil & gas and other industrial customers “enhance safety and improve productivity”.

September 18, 2017 — Brother Mobile Solutions Inc. (BMS) has added the PT-E110 industrial handheld labelling tool to its P-touch Edge family of jobsite labelling solutions. The company says it is the "most economical" labeller in the Brother industrial lineup and includes functional enhancements to increase the speed and productivity of jobsite labelling.

September 14, 2017 — Milwaukee Tool has expanded their storage solutions with the Ultimate Jobsite Backpack and Low-Profile Backpack.

October 6, 2017 — Having covered risk assessment procedures (RAPs) for shock & arc flash (i.e. PPE category method) in previous editions, the last RAP to cover in CSA Z462-15 “Workplace electrical safety” is the arc flash incident energy analysis method.

September 29, 2017 — Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) held its Annual Meeting and Ontario Electrical Safety Awards today to celebrate achievements in electrical safety.

September 20, 2017 - “Our new identity will help distinguish us from other regulators as we continue to build awareness, understanding and ownership of safety responsibilities among our clients and stakeholders,” said Catherine Roome, president & CEO of Technical Safety BC, formerly BC Safety Authority.

September 13, 2017 —Yvon Richer of Orleans, Ont. was convicted in an Ottawa court on August 29 and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine plus a 25% ($2,500) victim fine surcharge for advertising for electrical work without a license.

September 6, 2017 - “Smart Electrician” receptacle-type ground fault circuit interrupters Model GLX-15ATR by Huizhou Faith Electric Manufacture bear unauthorized Intertek Certification Marks for Canada and the States.

September 6, 2017 – Entegrus Powerlines Inc., a Chatham, Ont., electrical utility contractor, has been fined $70,000 after two workers received electrical burns, reports Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.

August 30, 2017 - CSA Group is warning the public of the unauthorized use of CSA Group Certification Marks on wiring that has been noted as a component on various products, mainly arriving from China.

August 30,2017 - Intertek issued a warning over a James Industry Group LLC direct replacement LED tube, which bears an unauthorized Intertek Recognized Component Certification Mark for Canada and the United States.

August 30, 2017 - With more volts than ever in electric vehicles (EVs) and solar-panelled rooftops, first responder and electrical worker safety is a growing concern. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL in the U.S.) are addressing this challenge with the development of a probe to accurately detect direct current (DC) energy.

August 11, 2017 - Last month, a contractor was sentenced in a Burlington, Ont., court to five days in jail and ordered to pay $40,000 in fines (plus a 25% victim fine surcharge) for doing electrical work illegally.

June 29, 2017* - At the National Academy of Construction’s annual meeting this fall, a collaborative workshop will be held between NAC and the IEEE IAS Electrical Safety Committee (Construction Subcommittee) with the aim of reducing electrical injuries and fatalities in the construction industry.

October 6, 2017 — Rules in Section 16 (New 16-300 series added) of the upcoming CE Code 2018 have been amended to include requirements for Class 2 power and datacom circuits. Although the new requirements do not reference “Power-over-Ethernet” (PoE) terminology, an Appendix B Note is added to explain the “Class 2 power and data communication circuit” is based on the concept known as PoE, introduced by the IEEE 802.3 series of standards.

October 6, 2017 — Tackle the code conundrum if you dare!

September 15, 2017 — Tackle the code conundrum if you dare!

September 15, 2017 — In addition to a number of changes in 2012, CE Code Section 62 “Fixed electric heating systems” underwent a fairly substantial rewrite in 2015. So what’s changed?

August 17, 2017 - Will you get stumped by T-slot (5-20R) receptacles? Tackle this month’s Code Conundrum... if you dare!

August 17, 2017 - The new CE Code (24th ed.) is almost here, and Section 64 contains several important changes (already approved by the CE Code-Part I Committee), two of which I will discuss here.

August 2, 2017 - To facilitate the practice of installing service conduits within building walls to improve a home’s exterior appearance, BC Hydro harmonized its requirements for concrete encasement of utility supply service raceways (120/240V up to 600A) installed within building walls, along with the BC Electrical Code requirement for consumer’s service raceways for residential supply services.

July 19, 2017 - CSA Z463 “Maintenance of electrical systems” has been adopted across Canada—even globally—since being first published in November 2013.

June 28, 2017 - What do circuit loading and demand factors mean, and how are they different? A circuit load is a component or portion of the circuit that consumes power. A demand factor is a time-dependent fractional quantity that will always be less than, or equal to, one. Huh?

June 26, 2017 - Tackle June’s Code Conundrum... if you dare!

May 26, 2017 - Required by the National Building Code (NBC), smoke alarms must be permanently connected to a lighting circuit, or one that supplies both lighting and receptacles, so as to quickly detect when there’s a problem with the circuit.

May 26, 2017 - The May Code Conundrum will help you brush up on your code knowledge!

October 19, 2017 - Nova Scotia Power has received approval from the Nova Scotia Utility & Review Board for a $133-million project to install smart meters among all residents and businesses, to be rolled out in 2019.

October 20, 2017 — Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is replacing the smallest generator at its Ranney Falls Generating Station with a 10-MW unit, which the company says will more than double the station’s capacity.

October 16, 2017 - The second project under SaskPower’s Flare Gas Power Generation Program is now online and contributing 750kW to Saskatchewan’s grid.

October 11, 2017 - Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, and the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Climate Change & Industry, Claire Perry, issued a joint statement saying their two countries “will champion a global alliance on the transition from unabated coal-fired electricity at next month’s United Nations climate change meetings in Bonn, Germany”.

October 6, 2017 — SaskPower has launched a pilot to test commercial and industrial smart meters as a part of its larger grid modernization program.

October 5, 2017 — The ReliaGear SafeT panelboard features a “finger-safe” IP20 SafeT bus stack with plug-in branch devices that “improves safe operation in low-voltage electrical power distribution applications,” ABB says.

October 3, 2017 — Alberta PowerLine, a partnership between Canadian Utilities Ltd. (an ATCO Ltd. company) and Quanta Services Inc., has raised about $1.4 billion of bonds to finance the Fort McMurray West 500-kV Transmission Project.

September 29, 2017 - SaskPower is deferring development of the Tazi Twé hydroelectric project near Black Lake, Sask., due to a decline in the projected demand for power in northern Saskatchewan.

September 20, 2017 — Siemens is now offering its SGT-800 industrial gas turbine with a power output of 57 megawatts (MW) and an electrical efficiency of over 40% in simple cycle application.

August 30, 2017 - ABB has been awarded a contract by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to provide a technology solution that will enable shore power to be supplied to the Global Container Terminal in Delta, B.C. (Deltaport).

August 30, 2017 - Nova Scotia Power is investing nearly $4 million to upgrade the Lequille hydroelectric system to ensure the facility’s “reliability, safety and efficiency”.

August 18, 2017 - You’ve seen the full-page ads in Electrical Business Magazine and the wallpapers here at EBMag.com. You’ve had most of the spring, and all of summer, but now is the time to hunker down and take 10 to 15 minutes to fill in your nomination for the 2017 Canadian Electrical Awards, which recognize noteworthy Canadian electrical installations and electrical safety champions.

August 17, 2017 - CSA Group’s annual Committee Week is a great venue for networking with CE Code-Part I Technical Committee (TC) members. That they have an excellent understanding of electrical practices is a given, but they also bring their own regional perspectives to the discussions that, eventually, lead to a new CE Code.

March 21, 2017* - “All of our members can supply every electrical need that is required by Habitat for Humanity,” notes Techspan’s Frank Dunnigan, as we chatted about Canada’s electrical industry having the “Power to Build” ... that’s the new campaign Electro-Federation Canada is rolling out with Habitat for Humanity Canada.

June 21, 2017 - In a few paragraphs, my column will, in fact, line up with the title I’ve written above. Bear with me.

June 16, 2017 - “A job is not just a job; a job is a way to give back,” explained Cherith Sinasac, as I chatted with her and Jarrod Stewart to learn more about the Young Professional Network’s 2017 GIVE initiative.

May 29, 2017 - Over the last few issues, we’ve teased the coming of an expanded awards program, which we’re officially re-launching as the Canadian Electrical Awards, starting May 1, 2017.

April 7, 2017 - These days, you would be hard-pressed to find a marketing “guru” who didn’t demand you establish a presence on social media. Some will suggest you find a few social outlets to which you will actually commit (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), while others will recommend you have to be everywhere!

March 20, 2017 - Everyone in the Province of Ontario knows electricity costs have gone through the roof. Electricity customers of all sizes have been complaining bitterly about costs and their impact on their livelihood and way of life. Significant numbers of people who have been worried about paying their electricity bill are now angry.

March 17, 2017 - We were asked to trial the Brother P-touch PT-E550W industrial hand-held labelling tool at a local jobsite. As a former teacher, I have always believed we must start putting technology into the hands of our future electricians... this tool does just that.

March 9, 2017 - I can’t say I’m very familiar with Jim Carr, Canada’s minister of Natural Resources, but I stumbled upon—and have to applaud—the speech he gave at the Energy Council of Canada’s “Canadian Energy Industry: Updates and Insights” event in Ottawa back in February.

February 4, 2017 - When the Ontario government shelved the concept of Bill 69 (a.k.a. Prompt Payment Act) and, instead, decided to launch a review of the entire Construction Lien Act [CLA], Eryl Roberts—then executive director of ECA of Ontario—argued:

September 19, 2017 - The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) says it is proud to announce its goal of harmonizing training for two-thirds of Red Seal apprentices by 2017 was met.

August 30, 2017 - British Columbia electricians now have access to a training program in advanced lighting controls via EJTC Enterprises (E2 Inc.), the BC Institute of Technology and Okanagan College.

June 21, 2017* - While at MCEE 2017, I met François Côté, president of Drumco Énergie Inc., who was showing off the new Kohler KD industrial generator series, which ranges from 800 kVA to 4200 kVA, and is intended for applications ranging from emergency and prime in healthcare and data centre to water treatment and mining.

June 22, 2017 - In celebration of National Aboriginal Day, Hydro One announced 14 students selected for the Leonard S. (Tony) Mandamin Scholarship, which is granted annually to First Nations, Métis and Inuit post-secondary students.

June 19, 2017 - BC Safety Authority’s “Great Start Live” is a free orientation course for individuals in the electrical industry who are either new to the industry or just looking for a refresher.

May 24, 2017 - Lighting professionals can now focus their expertise on specific market segments—including retail, industrial, office and educational—through NAILD’s redesigned Lighting Specialist (LS II) program.

May 15, 2017 - Hot on the heels of the 2017 Skills Ontario competition, several thousand students are expected to descend on Ottawa for Future Building 2017, a free event being held May 16-18 at the EY Centre.

May 3, 2017 - Seventy-two members of Alberta’s trades community, including four electrical apprentices, have been honoured for their “outstanding achievements” in the workplace and in the classroom at the 2017 Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board Awards.

May 1, 2017 - You don’t have to be constantly troubleshooting the same motor and drive problem, according to Fluke, who released its new Motor and Drive Troubleshooting Course recently to help “maintenance professionals can gain the practical diagnostic skills needed to better understand motor/drive system health and significantly improve equipment reliability”.

March 29, 2017 - BICSI has released the latest update to its ICT Cabling Installation Program.

March 9, 2017 - Against the backdrop of International Women’s Day, Hydro One announced its “continued support for women in engineering”, committing $1.4 million dollars toward the Women in Engineering University Partnership with Ryerson, Ontario Institute of Technology, Waterloo and Western.