Toronto this week: February 9, 2011

Toronto Chapter this week
Add the Toronto Chapter page and the LO events calendar to your bookmarks

Humber College job fair, Feb. 23
Humber College is working in partnership with Landscape Ontario to host a
job fair for students currently enrolled in Horticulture
Pre-Apprenticeship and Landscape Design programs. The students are available
for hire and eager to work in the summer and/or fall of 2011. The job
fair will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 205 Humber College Blvd.,
Toronto. Employers planning to attend are asked to register with
Landscape Ontario’s Rachel Cerelli at rachel@landscapeontario.com, or Humber College’s Terrie Greco at terrie.greco@humber.ca.

Toronto Chapter meeting, Mar. 3
Join the Toronto chapter at the Toronto Botanical Gardens, 777 Lawrence Avenue East, at 6:30 p.m.
for a panel discussion on What to Charge for Design and Build – Breaking
Out your Pricing?
For more information, contact Helen Hassard at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354, or helen@landscapeontario.com.

Permacon Spring Tour 2011

Permacon
has announced the dates for its Spring Tour 2011 Seminars. For Toronto Chapter members, the closest event is on Mar. 3 at Markham
Event
Centre, 95 Duffield Dr., Markham. The day includes educational seminars on
Sustainable Landscaping by Sean James, Pricing and Estimating for Profit
by George Urvari, Proper Installation of Polymeric Sand, Sealers, etc.,
and a keynote speech by Theresa Syer. The day is free of charge and
also includes product workshops, lunch, gifts, a mini trade show and even
a chance at a door prize. Register here.

Peel Halton Job Fair, Mar. 30

Employers have the opportunity to recruit and interview potential
candidates on-site at the Peel Halton Job Fair at the International
Centre, Hall Five, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga. The event begins at
10 a.m. and runs to 4 p.m. The one-day job fair serves the Peel and
Halton regions. For more information, go to Job Fair.

LO this week

February Horticulture
Review
online
Read the
latest news of interest to Landscape Ontario members in the February
edition of Horticulture
Review.
This month features comprehensive stories on Congress 2011, details on the plans for the Green for Life garden at Canada Blooms, research into a possible new Canadian-found weapon against the emerald ash borer, Toronto Chapter’s project to assist Sick Kids Hospital, in
addition to all the regular columns and features.
Click
here to
read the February issue of Horticulture
Review. Anyone may sign up to receive the a free HR
online
subscription by
clicking
here.

Garden Inspiration 2011: Order your bulk copies!

Once again, Landscape Ontario is producing Garden Inspiration, a
64-page, all-colour magazine, featuring award-winning landscapes and
exciting new plants for 2011. Its unique flip format also features the
Canada Blooms Show Guide. Cartons of 100 can be shipped direct in
mid-March, or picked up at LO home office in Milton. Cost is $67 per
carton delivered, or $54 per carton picked up in Milton, both prices
include tax. Download an order form, or contact Angela Lindsay, alindsay@landscapeontario.com , 647-723-5305.

Building your Prosperity seminar, Feb. 17
The
introductory Prosperity Partnership seminar will get you started on to
the road of success. The next program is scheduled for Landscape Ontario
home office at 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton. It is intended to help
green industry members clarify what they excel at and what components of
their business need attention and improvement. A seminar workbook will
be provided. Take this online survey, to measure your strengths and weaknesses in the six Prosperity pillars. Click here for more information, or to register.

Landscape Lighting Symposium, Feb. 24
Internationally-known designer Jan Moyer will speak on
LEDs, and George Gruel will address how to
properly shoot photographs of night lighting projects at the Feb. 24
event. Last year, the symposium was sold out, resulting in a move to the
larger Grand Chalet venue in Milton this year. Register here and click here to view flyer.

Industry Canada creates SME benchmarking tool

Industry Canada has created a web page benchmarking tool which provides
background information on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The
program provides access to industry averages for income statement and
balance sheet items, financial ratios and information on profitability
for small- and medium-sized businesses, and features detailed financial
data on more than 600 industries across Canada, including more than 30
performance benchmarks to help small businesses determine how they
measure up to their competitors. To access the page go to
Benchmarking.

NEW employee handbook for garden centres

The Garden Centre Sector Group of Landscape Ontario has created a
template that all business owners can adopt and modify for their
business. This initiative was done to help you create consistency of
behaviour, training and job safety for garden centre employees. The
template is considered a guideline only, and employers are reminded to
make sure they are in compliance with up-to-date legislation. The
handbook template can be downloaded from Landscape Ontario’s website, Employee Handbook.

Quit hoping for Profit: Plan for it Feb. 14

Chiseled in Stone – Advanced Feb. 14

Native Trees and Shrubs: Expand your Knowledge Feb. 14

CIC Prep seminar Feb. 14

Processes, Performance and Profitability Feb. 15

Advanced Grading & Drainage Feb. 16

Landscape Plants: Where, What, Why and Uses? Feb. 17

Mission Possible: Effective Hiring and Performance Management Feb. 17

Safety Seminar Feb. 18

Quit hoping for Profit: Plan for it Feb. 22

Building Quality Water Features in the Landscape Feb. 22

To Prune or Not to Prune Feb. 22

Green Roof Design 101 Feb. 22

Green Roof 201 Feb. 23

Post-Ban Commercial and Residential Turf Feb. 24

WHMIS-Train the Trainer Feb. 24

Sustainable Turf Health Care on Treed Properties Feb. 25

Legal Obligations of the Landscape Employer Feb. 25

To register or get more information, click seminars.

Nursery Sector IPM at three sites

Jen Llewellyn, Nursery Crops Specialist with the Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will conduct the 9th annual IPM in
the Nursery Sector presentation at three sites this year. The first event on Feb. 16
at JC Bakker Nurseries is already sold out, while the next presentation
is scheduled for the Copetown Community Centre on Feb. 22. The last
seminar is at the Claremont Legion (off Brock Road, northeast of the
407) on Mar. 1. All seminars will run from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There
is no charge for attendance, but bring a lunch. If interested in
attending, fax 519-767-0755, or email to jennifer.llewellyn@ontario.ca
with the names of interested parties from your nursery by the
registration date of Feb. 11 for the Copetown seminar, and Feb. 18 for
the Mar. 1 event.

Ontario Turfgrass Symposium, Feb. 23-24
Rozanski
Hall, University of Guelph, is the site for the 20th annual Ontario
Turfgrass Symposium. Speakers from both industry and academia will
provide information pertaining to the symposium’s theme, ‘On the Cutting
Edge.’ Sports and recreation staff, lawn care, golf course workers and
nursery sod growers will benefit from the many sessions, including pest
and disease controls to safety and liability issues in turf
environments. Registration for the symposium is available at Symposium, or call 519-767-5000 for more information.

Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto
The
second Canadian Garden Tourism Conference, with the theme of Blossoming
Partnerships, will take place Mar. 14 and 15, at the Delta Chelsea
Hotel in Toronto. For more information on the event, and to register go
to Garden Tourism Conference.

Foundation raffle will help industry
Try
your luck in the Ontario Horticultural Trade Foundation raffle, and
help support your industry. Tickets are $20 each; first prize is
$5,000, second is $1,000 and third is $500. Only 1,000 tickets have been
printed. The draw will take place at
Industry Night at Canada Blooms on Thurs., Mar. 17. All proceeds to
go to scholarships and research projects. Contact Kathleen Pugliese to purchase tickets.

Free safety training opportunity
Safety
trainer LandscapeSafety.com is offering each LO member a free,
comprehensive online training program for one employee. Participants may
choose from any or all of 23 online training modules, including WHMIS.
To sign up, visit http://www.landscapesafety.com/lo.php.

Order personalized, reusable tote bags by Mar. 18
Reusable tote bags are a great gift for your customers, as well as, an eco-friendly way to promote your business. LO is
offering a chance to order your personalized tote bags and give your company logo visibility. The bags feature your
company logo on one side, and Landscape Ontario’s attractive “Green for
Life” icon on the other! Don’t let your competitors beat you to it! The more members who purchase the bags, the cheaper the cost will be for everyone; price based on quantity ordered! For more information, contact Helen
Hassard at 1-800-265-5656 ext. 354 or Helen@landscapeontario.com

WSIB’s service for clearance certificates is online

The WSIB launched its new electronic clearance certificate program, called eClearance, on Jan. 17. The WSIB says this online service will allow employers to easily check
the validity of a potential contractors’ clearance to avoid any
financial liability when hiring independent operators / contractors,
contractors will be able to obtain an electronic clearance certificate
to verify their WSIB account is in good standing, and both parties will
be able to view clearance status at any time. For more information about clearance certificates, refer to OPM
Doc. No. 14-02-04, Clearance Certificates: Employer Accounts.

Survive and thrive in today’s market, Mar. 2

Monroe
Porter, internationally-known business strategy speaker is coming to
Landscape Ontario! Learn to survive and thrive in today’s market in this
program that demonstrates how to establish goals and strategies to keep
pace with the lightning-fast changes in the green industry. Porter will
discuss how to combat shrinking margins, realistic budgeting,
profitable pricing structures, how to identify winning jobs and more.
This seminar takes place on Mar. 2, 1 to 4 p.m., at the LO home office.
Cost is $60 for LO members, and $96 for non-members. For more information, see the flyer. Space is limited to 15: register today at the LO seminar page.

Green Roof Boot Camp

A Green Roof Boot Camp is scheduled in Toronto the end of March.
The event is an opportunity to become an Accredited Green Roof
Professional. Location varies by day: Mar. 24, and Mar. 27 at Ted Rogers
School of Management – Ryerson University, 55 Dundas Street West, and
March 25 and Mar. 26 at Oakham House Room A/B, 55 and 63 Gould Street.
Find out more information on the
Boot Camp, or contact training@greenroofs.org

Landscape Industry Certified tests at Canada Blooms

Written tests in all categories of Landscape Industry Certified will
take place at Canada Blooms 2011 on Mar. 17. To register, visit Certification, and email completed registration form to rachel@landscapeontario.com, or fax 905-875-3942. Registration to take the tests closes Mar. 3.

Great Ontario Garden Guide

The Master Gardeners of Ontario, with the help of sponsorship from
Landscape Ontario, have created a brochure on gardening in Ontario. The
Great Ontario Garden Guide is available for the low cost of only $20
per 100 copies. Act now and order some before they are in short
supply. It is expected that this informative brochure will be popular
with your customers. Use it as a sales promotion, goodwill tool, or just
to say, “Thank You.” Contact John Craw at jonbon@bell.net for further details.

Irrigation conference, Mar. 1-3

The three-day Ontario Agricultural Irrigation Conference, at Elm Hurst
Inn, Ingersoll, will feature a drip irrigation course, presentations by
irrigation experts and assistance with the Permit to Take Water program,
as well as a trade show. New technologies and the latest research
developments in the field of agricultural irrigation will be the focus
of the conference. To access the poster and registration form, go to Irrigation Conference.

OPA Foundation offers seven scholarships

Ontario Parks Association Foundation Awards Program
Once again, Ontario Parks Association Foundation is offering seven
$2,500 scholarships and bursaries to students completing their first
year in a program related to horticulture, landscaping, parks services,
conservation, or environmental management. To see both information and
registration form, go to scholarships. The deadline for applications is Apr. 29.