Providing a safe, professional, rewarding workplace…
Brinkman & Associates began working in Ontario in 1982 and has spearheaded the growth and the diversification of the Ontario silviculture industry. Today, Brinkman operates offices out of Ottawa, Thunder Bay and the GTA. We also maintain equipment warehouses in both North Bay and Thunder Bay.
The Ontario division is a well-established and diversified silviculture service provider. Our client base extends throughout the province – both in Northern and Southern Ontario. Although planting remains our core activity, we also carry out a variety of brushing, thinning, surveying, slash pile burning, herbicide application, fire camp and restoration projects that continue into late November.
Traditionally, Ontario has hired more inexperienced planters than Alberta and BC. Although tree prices in Ontario are sometimes marginally lower than Alberta and BC, the quality specifications and the terrain are often more manageable in Ontario – especially for the first year planter. Basically, it is easier to plant a tree so you can get up to speed faster and make every day count – which is important in seasonal work. We have also created a program which efficiently and effectively trains our first year planters and gets them up to speed by the second shift.
It is important to remember that because Brinkman works across Canada and not just in Ontario, we are able to provide work mobility for our experienced planters. The vast majority of planters who start in Ontario, stay in Ontario to plant year after year and make great money and have a great time doing it. We think you will too!
The main planting season in Ontario runs from May 1st until July 1st. If you are only available to work for these two months, Ontario is the province for you! For those of you who prefer to plant in Ontario but want to work beyond May and June, we do offer many of our planters work in Alberta for July and offer you work on our summer contracts in mid-August. Brinkman plants between 10 and 15 million trees in Ontario every year.
- We hire or rehire 300+ planters each year
- Of those over 60% have planted for us before
- Over 40% of our workforce and almost 50% of our management is female
- Our spring planting season is about 40 work days ( ~8 weeks including days off).
- The August plant is another 10-15 work days
- ~20 days of extra silviculture work: surveying, burning, cone picking, thinning
- Our average tree price is 9.6 cents this year
- We work 4 days on and 1 day off
- DPA is $24/work day
Award-Winning Safety Program – We take your safety seriously: our staff are required to have a Standard First Aid Certificate; our camps have a First Aid Representative and a Safety Representative; our emergency response program is updated regularly; our drivers are required to complete our Designated Driver Program. Brinkman’s OH&S program has been recognized by the WSIB.
Judi Tetro & Neil Whan
Judi Tetro is Brinkman’s Operations Manager. Judi has been working with Brinkman for the past twenty-three years. She has intimate knowledge of the silviculture industry from working as a planter, crew boss, tree deliverer and supervisor. Along with Neil Whan, Ontario Project Coordinator, Judi will be coordinating the projects and employees for our Ontario contracts. Please contact Judi or Neil if you are looking for work in Ontario, if you have questions about the projects we have available, or if you have any comments. They can be reached at judi_tetro@brinkman.ca or neil_whan@brinkman.ca.
A Billion Trees,
Billionth Tree page at Brinkman & Associates