December 22, 2015* – “10 years ago, an aging workforce and an aging electricity grid were identified as being critical to being able to keep the lights on in Canada. Both industry and government were called upon to act.”

So reads the program leaflet at Electricity Human Resources Canada’s 10th Anniversary & Awards of Excellence Luncheon. EHRC began life in 2005 as the Electricity Sector Council, relying on operational funding from Human Resources & Skills Development Canada through the federal Sector Council Program (but budget cuts meant the end of government funding to all sector councils).

(SCROLL down for photos. And Scroll WAY DOWN to download Norm Fraser and Michelle Branigan’s speaking notes from the event, which contain the judges’ rationale for their award decisions.)

Of course, the highlight of the luncheon was the awards presentation. One award winner was announced well in advance:

• Leader of the Year: Don MacKinnon, president of Ontario’s Power Workers’ Union (photos 17 and 18).

We tweeted the remaining award winners as they were called at the event, and they include:

• April Currey of PowerStream wins Emerging Leader of the Year (photos 15 and 16).

• Georgian College wins Innovation in HR Practices. Award accepted by Kevin Weaver (photo 9).

• Emera Newfoundland & Labrador (accepted by Patricia Butt, photos 12 and 14) and Hydro One (accepted by Alice Sahazizian, photos 12 and 13) are both named Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Champions.

Michelle Branigan (photo 10), EHRC’s CEO, tells EBMag to expect next year’s Call for Nominations in Spring 2016, so stay tuned to Electrical Business Magazine and EBMag.com.

Since its inception, EHRC reports it has completed over 30 projects, worked with over 500 volunteers and reached thousands of young Canadians through outreach activities with high schools, colleges and universities.

“Our labour market research is seen as the most credible in the industry,” writes EHRC. “We have developed research and tools on succession planning, diversity and inclusion, and skills and competency standards […] Our ability to bring together all communities working in this sector has been seen as our key strength.”

* Originally published December 10, 2015. Updated December 15, 2015, with video. Updated December 22, 2015, with attachment “EHRC Speech 2015 Awards EDIT”

• Photos A. Capkun. See yourself in here? Want a copy? Email acapkun@annexweb.com •