The Annual General Meeting and dinner hosted by the CTMA proved to be yet again a great success. More than 150 guests attended the event at the Lamplighter Inn. Members took care of business matters and heard updates from the President Louis Jahn, Treasurer Ryan Wozniak and Executive Director Robert Cattle.

Three new board members were nominated, congratulations to Tania Sabados Rapid Gear, Jeff Blackburn Exco Technologies and Steven Lenardon Arlen Tool. Robert Cattle took the opportunity to thank 3 departing Board members

“Thank you to our departing Board members Anthony Tersigini, Arman Pouragha and Scott Allen for volunteering their time, input and passion to help strengthen the precision machining sector. It is because of this that the CTMA has been able to achieve so many things in the past 12 months.”

This was followed by the highly anticipated Apprentice Awards and Trade Ambassador of the Year Awards . Keynote Speaker Troy Nix fired up the room with ways to fight through adversity, motivating and connecting with people. Networking and cocktails before dinner was vibrant and continued throughout dinner.

Louis Jahn President, CTMA opened the AGM with a warm welcome to all members, outlining the agenda which covered updates from the CTMA over the past year, acknowledgment of the hard-working Board of Directors, recognition of distinguished guests, Board reports, Election of the Board for the new year, Industry Updates, and other business.

He emphasized the importance of the Sponsors for the AGM & Dinner, thanking them for their generous support and for making the event possible.

Robert Cattle, Executive Director, CTMA gave a snapshot of the activities and accomplishments that the CTMA has been doing for its members over the past 12 months.

“Career Ready with CTMA: Expanding Opportunities program gained international exposure when the 3-minute video describing how we have been supplying new CNC machines to high schools. was shown to 115 delegates at the ISTMA World Tooling Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa.
In March of this year, we received approval to continue our Career-Ready with CTMA: Expanding Opportunities program with an overall budget of over 5.4 million dollars. I have been told that this is now the largest program within the Skills Development Fund. This year’s program consists of wage subsidies of up to $5,000 for 300 Experiential Work Placements which help compensate companies for the cost they bear when training someone new to their team or upskilling an existing employee.” Cattle proudly shared.
“We are continuing to significantly invest in new, high-tech equipment and installing this machinery in tech classrooms and are planning to add over 30 more schools throughout all of Ontario. We have been purchasing new 3-axis CNC machining centres, CNC Desktop mills, CNC lathes, CNC plasma cutters, modern manual mills, and lathes with digital readouts, and supplying schools with tooling, measuring equipment plus consumables. By the end of this year’s program, we will have installed equipment in 137 high schools located in all regions of the province.”

Furthering partnerships, collaboration and networking he shared details on the CTMA High School Awards, Exhibiting at the OCTE Spring conference and in-person breakfast seminars.
Switching gears he spoke of the success of the plant tours of RM Restoration, Rapid Gear and Mitutoyo.

He offered an overview of just some of the efforts that the CTMA do with Government officials and Industry Associations including  “Manufacturer’s Day” at Queens Park, joined by Chris Hergott. A proactive meeting with the then new Minister Piccini. The exciting announcement of the Skills Development Fund and  the diligent work surrounding Electric Vehicle Tariffs.  

Since 1994, the CTMA and its members have recognized, honoured, and provided encouragement to outstanding apprentices and pre-apprentices for the contribution they make to the industry. The CTMA’s Annual Apprentice Awards not only recognize these individuals, but also increases the awareness and value of skilled trades training, that highlights the competitiveness of the tooling and machining industry in Canada.
This year, the CTMA celebrated the achievements of six very deserving individuals (one pre-apprentice; five apprentices) in the precision metalworking industry.
Congratulations to the following winners:

“It was my pleasure to introduce these apprentices to everyone at this year’s AGM and it is rewarding to see their dedication and commitment to learning new skills that will support them throughout their careers,” said Cattle. “Each recipient was awarded a selection of the following items:
A Cash Award of either $500, $1,000, or $1,500. A $500 KBC gift certificate. Solid Works CAD Essentials Training, donated by CAD Micro, valued at $2,500. A one year subscription to E-MasterCam Training and an educational licence, valued at $560, donated by In-House Solutions. A Mitutoyo Digimatic Machinist Tool Kit, donated by Mitutoyo and KBC Tools, valued at $500. A $250 cash award and hand tools donated by Sandvik, with a total value of $500.” Cattle then graciously thanked the sponsors. “This program would not be possible without the ongoing generous support from members and sponsors. Thank you to the 2024 Apprentice Award sponsors”

The Trades Ambassador of the Year Award recognizes and celebrates individuals who mentor others within the precision metalworking industry, and who go above and beyond to transfer their knowledge and skills.
2024 sees the Award given to two people, Robert Liu and Brandon Manseau both from Manor Tool & Die and together as a team, they are bringing new tool & die apprentices into our industry through the innovative Manor apprenticeship system.

Learn more about Robert and Brandon in the video below.

This year’s keynote presentation was by the high energy founder, president and CEO of First Resource Inc. For 70 minutes he captured the attention of the audience with his “The Cadence of Your Leadership; Frightening or Harmonic?” presentation. Drawing on his real life experiences both in the Military as well as in the industry he offered new perspectives and ways to lead and connect with people.

There was plenty of time for guests to visit our Sponsor tables, catch up with old friends and make new connections.  The appetisers & cocktails in the atrium and main room before dinner were enjoyed by all.

During the “After Party” attendees continued networking and enjoyed some great music and entertainment provided by Richard Janik who, at times, was accompanied by CTMA’s President, Louis Jahn.