Why Choose OEC

Why Choose the Operating Engineers College?

The mandate of the Operating Engineers College is to provide mobile crane and heavy equipment operators the opportunity to upgrade and enhance their skills and to produce an ongoing supply of apprentices and journey persons to the industry. The College prides itself on the quality of training it provides to its students, both theoretically and practically. The following facts demand that the College provide quality training:

1.	Owned and operated by the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), Local 904
	The College is owned by IUOE, Local 904. The Business Manager of the union is also the President of the College. Therefore, we have a built in control on the quality of training that we provide so that we meet and even exceed the expectations of what industry expects to see from graduates of a heavy equipment and/or crane program. Successful graduates who are in good standing with the College have an opportunity to join Local 904. When negotiating with contractors it is necessary that the union have confidence in the graduates’ abilities to perform to the expectations of the industry.
2.	Accreditation
	The College was accredited for its Heavy Equipment program in 2000 and its Mobile Crane program in 2003 and we are proud to say that we have maintained our accreditation status. The purpose of apprenticeship program accreditation is to provide an auditing mechanism to ensure that provincial apprenticeship training programs are meeting the accreditation requirements as set by the PACB. The objectives of apprenticeship program accreditation are to ensure that programs conform to the standards identified in the National Occupational Analyses and reflected in the Provincial Plans of Training established for specific trades, and that graduates have the required level of competence to enter the industry job market.
	Who benefits from program accreditation, and why? The general public, through industry, benefits by receiving high quality service from graduates of accredited programs. Employers benefit by having the assurance that graduates from an accredited program have the competencies demanded by industry to meet current and future requirements. Training institutions benefit by receiving assurance from industry that their programs are high-quality and produce competent graduates, and by continually improving their programs to meet accreditation standards. Faculty members of training institutions benefit by receiving ongoing professional development necessary to ensure their programs are current with industry requirements. Graduates from accredited programs benefit by having assurance that their education has met industry standards, thereby adequately preparing them for employment in industry. Journey persons benefit by having the standards of their trade continually improved, ensuring the credibility of the trade is maintained. To find out more about accreditation and what schools and programs are accredited, please use the link below. https://www.gov.nl.ca/isl/app/accreditation
3	The College specializes in Mobile Crane and Heavy Equipment training programs only. We have dedicated our College to equipment and hoisting training only; we do not offer other training. other related training as demanded by industry from time to time, i.e. Forklift, Zoom Boom, related New Equipment Technology

4	Our training facility, equipment and staff are second to none.

Operating Engineers College - Why Choose Us?

Why Choose the Operating Engineers College?