CRCA Announces the 2022 Roofing Canada Award Winner

The Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA) is pleased to announce that Oakwood Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. Ltd. from Winnipeg MB is the recipient of the 2022 Roofing Canada Award for their work on the Keeyask Hydroelectric Generating Station in Nelson River MB.

The Keeyask Generating Station project is a 695-megawatt hydroelectric generating station producing green energy to supply and support Manitoba’s growing demand for electricity. Located some 725 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, the project was developed in partnership between Manitoba Hydro and four Manitoba First Nations.

This project was unique due to its size, complexity and working in the extreme winters of the north. Temperatures were mostly in the -20C to -30C range with occasional days colder than -40C. Work continued and there were no cold weather injuries nor any quality issues. Oakwood worked with the GC and engineers to come up with a solution for maintaining a minimum winter temperature inside the buildings of +10C as contractually required for the installers of the generators. Other major challenges that needed to be overcome included: maintaining pressure in propane tanks for torching in the winter, snow made the work areas even more congested, working with a very complex schedule with many trades on site, complex documentation requirements and keeping in tune with the many people involved with the GC and other trades, site coordination during roof installation was critical as other exterior and interior activities were ongoing and collective collaboration from all trades was necessary due to the size of the project.

Oakwood hired local first nations people – providing them with jobs, training and experience, and was able to maintain some of those employees by moving them to other Oakwood jobsites.

“CRCA received a record total of 16 entries and it was not an easy task for the CRCA Board of Directors to select one winner” says Bob Brunet CRCA’s Executive Director, “Each entry that we received highlighted the complex work that our members are known for.”

This award-winning project and the roofing contractor (Oakwood Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. Ltd.) will be highlighted in the 2022 Fall/Winter issue of Roofing Canada magazine. Their project will also be featured on all marketing material for National Roofing Week 2023.

The Roofing Canada Award recognizes a project completed by a CRCA member based on outstanding workmanship, innovation, service to the community and or service to the industry. All entries were judged by their roofing industry peers. For more information about CRCA awards including the Roofing Canada Award, click here or contact CRCA at 800-461-2722 or crca@roofingcanada.com.

About CRCA

Members of the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA) are the most knowledgeable roofers in Canada. We advocate for and keep our members informed on matters of national and international interest. As the voice of the Canadian roofing industry since 1960, we promote collaboration within the industry from coast to coast. We also represent and defend our members’ interests, and support them to excel in business both professionally and technically. www.roofingcanada.com