Creation of NETCO recommended by a 1997 labour market study.
Creating a joint, national body was first recommended by a 1997 CECA-IBEW national labour market study to enhance the electrical industry’s focus on apprenticeship and ongoing journeyperson skills training. The study acknowledged the growing impact of technological change. It called for renewed efforts to build and maintain a skilled workforce and to capture new and emerging markets. These findings are as relevant today as they were in 1997.

Increased CECA-IBEW collaboration.
CECA and the IBEW began to generate more opportunities to jointly lead various skills development projects. In 2002, the partners embarked on the first of three significant research and development initiatives linked to Essential Skills and success in apprenticeship and ongoing journeyperson skills training. These projects won federal government funding support based on the strength of their ideas and engaged electrical industry stakeholders from across Canada. The resulting symposia and resources showcased the effectiveness of CECA-IBEW collaboration.

Fresh industry support to activate NETCO.
One such project involved co-sponsoring a successful national Lifelong Learning Symposium in the Fall of 2004. It was well attended by electrical training professionals from Joint Apprenticeship Committees and IBEW Local Union training centres, electrical contractors and apprenticeship officials from across Canada. Emerging from the symposium was a consensus on the need to get NETCO off-the-ground.

CECA-IBEW agree to jointly fund NETCO.
In 2005, CECA and the IBEW reached a pivotal agreement of principle to jointly fund NETCO. For the first time, a project funding application was submitted to the federal government under the NETCO umbrella.

Official start-up and establishment of Board of Directors.
The partners recruited talent for its Board of Directors, which met for the first time in Toronto in December 2006.

2007 National Training Symposium.
In 2007, NETCO developed a suite of Human Resource Tools & Products. These resources were launched at NETCO’s 2007 National Training Symposium later that year. It also focused on capacity-building by developing its Web site and formalizing an ongoing Project Steering Committee representative of the IBEW-CECA partners as well as a range of other electrical industry stakeholders (e.g., Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship, Sector Councils, Community Colleges)

Building momentum in 2008.
In April 2008, NETCO achieved an important first step towards sustainable funding. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-Construction Council of Ontario (IBEW-CCO), representing 13 IBEW Local Unions and the ECAO, made a joint contribution to NETCO through the Joint Electrical Promotion Plan (JEPP). This financial contribution enables NETCO to activate its emergent role as a national voice on public policy that impacts the electrical industry. NETCO also launched a project in partnership with the Construction Sector Council to develop an industry-specific numeracy assessment tool.