Author: Kyla Hardon

Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Natural On-Site Methods
Extreme weather events causing flooding can be mitigated by effective stormwater management.

This report commissioned by CNLA provides 5 scenarios for stormwater management for municipal, commercial and residential implementation, including their analysis for cost and effectiveness. Read more in the CNLA report: https://cnla.ca/uploads/pdf/LCCA-Stormwater-Report.pdf 

Last summer, almost 1400 employers benefited from the Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) by providing about 3000 students with valuable work experience.

This summer, give your workforce a boost by hiring a STEP student. Providing a student with meaningful work experience helps bridge the gap between education and the workplace, and sets them up for success in the future. If you are eligible and approved, STEP offers a wage subsidy grant of $7 per hour.

Applications are being accepted now until February 9, 2018. This is a popular program so apply early. Check the applicant guidelines and download forms at AlbertaCanada.com/STEP.

Get the details at an upcoming webinar
STEP grants provide eligible employers with a $7-per-hour wage subsidy to hire students into summer jobs. You can grow your business while providing a student with valuable work experience and transferable skills.

You will learn about:

• Employer eligibility criteria
• Student eligibility
• Position requirements
• Application and reimbursement processes

A live Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Who should attend:

• Small businesses (1-49 employees)
• Non-profit organizations, public libraries
• Municipalities, First Nations, Métis Settlements
• School Boards
• Publicly-funded post-secondary institutions

When:
Plan to attend one of 4 webinars offered from Jan. 9 to Feb. 1, 2018.

Find webinar dates and registration here. Space is limited – register now!

The Landscape Industry Certified Technician designation provides individuals in the green industry with a means of proving a minimum standard of expertise in tasks typically required within the industry. Landscape Alberta provides Certified Technician exam opportunities in four specialty designations: Softscape Installation, Hardscape Installation, Turf Maintenance, and Ornamental Maintenance. Encourage and support professionalism in our industry – it’s a great way to invest in and grow valuable team members. After two years of August tests, the Certification committee took the industry feedback about the the timing of the event seriously.  Working with our great partners at Olds College we are able to once again hold testing during the off-season.

2018 Certification Exam – Alberta
When: February 23 & 24, 2018
Written exam: Friday, February 23 (evening)
Hands-on tests: Saturday, February 24 (7am – 4pm)
Where: Olds College – Landscape Pavilion, Olds, AB

Participants must register in advance – test preparation materials are provided on sign-up, so start the process now and be well-prepared for this upcoming exam opportunity! Register today by contacting Jason Young, Certification Co-ordinator at CNLA: jason@cnla-acpp.ca, or call toll-free 1-888-446-3499 ext. 8620.

Registration Form

CNLA is seeking to sell exclusive licensing rights to three roses previously acquired by the Association in 2010 as part of their takeover of the AAFC hardy rose breeding program. These numbered roses – a remaining few from the original thousands of seedlings acquired from AAFC – have been tested for cold hardiness and black spot resistance. See the roses >

CNLA is seeking proposals for a one-time purchase of each numbered rose. All commercialization details, including naming of the rose, and where applicable, sale price and royalty rates and collection of royalties will be the responsibility of the successful bidder.

The minimum sale price to acquire an exclusive license agreement will be $5,000 for each numbered rose.

Click here to download the RFP. The deadline to submit your proposal is December 8, 2017.

The Green Industry Show and Conference is back in Calgary for 2017! Our amazing team of staff and volunteers have put together a conference programme aimed to inform and inspire everyone from designers to arborists, owners to students, growers to contractors. Our conference sessions are timely and responsive to industry issues – focusing on a variety of topics with 32 one-hour sessions over the two days.

We have three full-day pre-conference workshops on November 15, designed for more in-depth technical level professional development. One for Greenhouse growers, one for Landscape contractors/estimators and one for those interested in winter container design.

Conference session highlights include landscape pest show and tell sessions with Dr. Ken Fry and landscape design sessions with Joe Salemi. Bob Reeves is speaking on the power of soil, Barbara Crowhurst has two sessions for garden centre professionals which include driving traffic to stores and increasing retail sales, as well as many more informative and engaging sessions on growing your business, managing work-life balance, improving performance and the latest and greatest in horticultural and business technologies. Everyone will find something to stoke their fire and those looking for continuing education credits will also find sessions to fulfill those needs.

Landscape Alberta members who pre-register receive free admission into the tradeshow and preferred pricing on conference registration. In addition to the educational opportunities, all conference attendees have access to the Green Industry Show. With over 250 booths, it is the largest green industry show in Western Canada and is an annual must-see event. For more information on the Green Industry Show & Conference, to view the full conference program and to register, please visit www.greenindustryshow.com.

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Media contact:
Joel Beatson
(780) 489-1991 ext. 101
joel.beatson@landscape-alberta.com

The provincial minimum wage will be increasing to $13.60 per hour beginning October 1, 2017. This is part of the Alberta governments to move to $15.00 per hour by 2018.

Landscape Alberta was involved in consultations on this and like many small business groups advocated for a more flexible timeline and for the option of a youth or training wage. Members of our sector that compete directly with other provinces and states, especially on nursery production, are most likely to be impacted by the competitive pressure faced by lower cost imports. Landscape Alberta also raised concerns that such a swift increase would push wages near or above $15 an hour even higher.

More information on the increase can be found at https://work.alberta.ca/employment-standards/minimum-wage.html.

Landscape Alberta hosted our annual Landscape Industry Certified Technician test event on August 18 & 19, 2017 at the Olds College Landscape Pavilion. We welcomed 24 registrants (some of whom were working toward their second certification designation – yay!) and we’re proud to announce that three successful candidates achieved Landscape Industry Certified Technician status. It was a busy day with fine weather – we even got to enjoy our luncheon outdoors (that was a first!). We owe a big thanks to Karman DiLisio at the Olds College pavilion for making the site perfect for our industry test event.

It takes the time, dedication and expertise of many industry volunteers to make this test event a success – especially in the middle of prime landscaping season (not to mention vacation season) – so we sincerely thank the tireless folks who stepped up this summer to plan, recruit volunteers, pick up supplies, assemble and disassemble the test site, take on judge responsibilities, provide plant materials, tools and equipment – and to make a valuable contribution to the future of our industry. Thank you!

We especially appreciate the support for the Landscape Industry Certified program shown by Alberta companies that encourage their staff to challenge this test, prove their skills and grow their careers. This program was developed by our industry, for our industry, and continues to be a valuable tool for elevating professionalism and cultivating great team members for landscaping companies across the country. Lead your industry today – get in touch with Jason Young, Certification Administrator at the CNLA office – he can connect your staff with program information, study materials and enthusiasm: jason@canadanursery.com

Please be sure to support the businesses who generously donated material and equipment to make this event happen – good people with great products and services:

• Eagle Lake Nurseries Ltd. – perfect trees, shrubs and perennials for our test stations – thank you Anita and staff!
• Cervus Equipment, Red Deer – Bobcat skid steer for our test candidates to prove their skills – thank you Diedre!
• Nextcom/digital2way – radios that allow us to keep our event safe and on schedule – thank you Jason!
• Finning Canada, Red Deer – CAT skid steer for site prep and test station – thank you Joe!
• Eagle Lake Professional Landscape Supply – cool green turf for our Sod Installation test – thank you Eric and staff!
• JVR Landscape (2006) Inc. – tools, tasks, time, and generous hearts – thank you John, Tyler and Andrew!
• Three Seasons Landscaping – supplies, equipment, and hard-working humans – thank you Darren and crew!
• Olds College – for a first-class facility and dedicated staff – sincere thanks from your industry colleagues!