�ȵ����

After 35 years in a dynamic and celebrated career at the Carpenters’ Local 27 in Toronto, Chris Campbell is retiring.

Campbell began as a carpenter’s apprentice in 1990 and rose through the ranks to become the union’s first Black president in 2024 — a milestone for him and the organization dating back to 1881.

In May, Campbell stepped down, swearing in Mark Russo as the new president. He will continue to help with the transition.

His career has been quite a ride.

Along with a period of years on the tools, he has participated in numerous outreach initiatives such as local and international philanthropic ventures, including volunteer home and school builds with Habitat for Humanity and Food For The Poor. He established an endowment scholarship in his name at George Brown College with the support of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, construction industry leaders and local community organizations.

Throughout his career he has mentored and recruited young, underrepresented groups in his free time, often on weekends at churches, community centres and “priority neighbourhood” events.

“We were out there talking to people one on one, engaging them before governments were offering up millions of dollars for inclusion initiatives.”

Campbell also took on the role of president of the board of directors for the Toronto Community Benefits Network where he collaborated with the union and College of Carpenters and Allied Trades to engage young people in the merits of careers in the trade.

As a Red Seal journeyperson in the 1990s memorable projects he worked on include the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and the CBC Building in downtown Toronto.

He became an apprenticeship program instructor at the union’s training centre and in 2003 was hired as a business representative for the union. Over 17 years in that job he spearheaded numerous initiatives and events to educate young, often disenfranchised people, on career possibilities in the trade.

He has received numerous awards of recognition for his efforts.

“I think the main reason I have (including the King Charles III Coronation Medal for outstanding contributions to Canada and the skilled trades) is because I led by example. There wasn’t really anyone in the union that connected to the local community like I was doing,” he says.  

With the industry’s growing awareness of systemic inequities in the trades, particularly around racial representation and gender diversity, Campbell was on the front lines of outreach.

During a series of disturbing racist events including nooses hung on construction sites in Toronto in 2020-’21, he  was called upon by the union to provide media interviews.

“I knew it was a small percentage of people but I knew it was important to acknowledge that it happens and that something needs to be done about it.”

Through the support of Tony Iannuzzi, the executive secretary treasurer of the Carpenters’ District Council at the time, Campbell participated in an early Black Lives Matter march in Toronto.

“It could have backfired. We could have been severely chastized but the industry respected me for taking a stand for my culture,” he says.

In 2020 Campbell was appointed as the director of the equity, diversity and inclusion for the Carpenters’ council, where he was responsible for various outreach programs that welcomed ethnic minorities and women into the trade for four years. In 2023, he was instrumental in establishing the Canadian District UBCJA Equity Diversity and Inclusion Award of Excellence, now an annual award.

“It was a lot of work, doing double duty, because I had to balance that with my growing family.”

Thanks in part to his long-standing union career, Campbell and his wife have raised their five children in a financially stable home.

What is next?

“It’s going to take a while for me to learn to unwind,” he says.

“I think I lived my Canadian dream and if by showing that it inspires the next generation of folks I think I did what I was supposed to do as a leader.”

Campbell will continue to do some community work but he plans on taking some “long vacations,” particularly to Jamaica where he was born and raised.