Electro-Federation Canada (EFC), a national, not-for-profit industry association, has integrated its Technical Services team into one centralized hub, which included both Electrical and Consumer arms. This change comes about from EFC’s three-year strategic plan which, among other key initiatives, strives to align codes and standards development in Canada within two market segments.

“Given the proliferation of new regulations and standards development in the areas of energy and renewables, sustainability, environment and safety, our approach to a centralized, closely-integrated Technical Services team strikes the right balance between our members’ needs in both the Canadian electrical and consumer markets,” said Jim Taggart, president & CEO, EFC. “This also fosters the harmonization of efforts and best practices among the Technical Services team, benefiting the electrical and consumer markets in which our members conduct business.”

At the core of this reorganization is the formation of two new Technical Service channels: Bill Bryans will join EFC as vice president, Electrical, and Richard Martel will serve as vice president, Consumers, effective January 5 and January 3, 2011, respectively. 

Bryans will report directly to Taggart and be responsible for electrical standards activities pertaining to Canadian electrical safety and energy efficiency in relation to the Electrical (Industrial) products market. He will work closely with Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Electrical Safety Authority (ESA), National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and other national and international organizations on the development and harmonization of codes and standards.

Bryans has previously served at SCC as senior program officer, where he developed and coordinated strategic standards policy issues for Canada’s vote at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and its joint Technical Committee (JTC1). 

Martel first joined EFC in 2009. Now in his new role, he will continue to report to Larry Moore, vice president, Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association (CAMA), a division of EFC. Here, Martel will manage codes and standards development and related regulatory issues for the Consumer products division in such areas as product safety, energy efficiency, standards harmonization, environmental and health protection.

Martel has spent almost three decades in the major appliance industry, where before joining EFC, he was vice president, Technology, and an officer at Mabe Canada (formally Camco Inc.), a General Electric affiliate.

Taggart concluded: “I welcome Bill Bryans to the EFC team and am certain that he and Richard Martel will help pave the way for sound, harmonized codes and standards in this country, while propelling EFC to become the ‘go-to-association’ for the industry on technical and advocacy guidance for all codes and standards development.”