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Operating Engineers College
The Operating Engineers College (OEC) is an established, licensed and program accredited heavy equipment and mobile crane training facility located in Holyrood, Newfoundland on the Salmonier Line (45 kilometers west of St. John's).
The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 904 set out in 1988 to identify its industry’s training needs and project requirements for the next 10 years. As a result of the decision made by the Canada Employment & Immigration Commission in January 1988, “Crane Operator” was designated as a skill shortage in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Site preparation and buildings were completed in August of 1992 and the first tower crane course began in October 1992 at the Holyrood training facility and continued until 1994. The College produced forty-eight (48) tower crane operators for the Hibernia project who subsequently went to work on major projects throughout Canada. These courses were made possible in partnership with strong support from principal contractors, like NODECO and PASSB, to provide professional training and safety in a workplace of five thousand workers.
In the interest of responding to other heavy equipment industry needs, the OEC secured future apprenticeship and enhancement training funds for heavy equipment operators through the Industrial Training Division of the Department of Advanced Education and Skills. With the present structure of the economy, industrial workers can no longer afford to be disadvantaged in regards to employment because they do not have the necessary skills.
