ON THE HOOK

How do the standards and codes that safely guide Canada’s crane industry forward come to be developed? In our latest episode, Jason Brown of Kova Engineering helped us answer that question – and shared his wealth of standards knowledge built from his role in developing some of the major standards that have shaped the country’s heavy lifting sector over the last several years.

What does heavy lifting look like on the other side of the world? For today’s episode of the On the Hook podcast, we sat down with the Crane Industry Council of Australia’s CEO Brandon Hitch to explore his association’s role in his country’s crane sector, some of the differences and similarities with Canada’s own crane industry, and what collaboration looks like on the global level.

In our latest episode of the On the Hook podcast, we sat down with author, industry journalist, and former editor for Crane & Hoist Canada Andrew Snook. Snook’s latest book published in collaboration with the Canadian Crane Rental Association, titled The History of the Canadian Crane Rental Sector Volume 1, chronicles the various figures that have helped develop and build the heavy lifting industry across Canada.

In second half of the 2025 CCRA Conference’s Crane Leadership Forum, Jeremy Geurts (ABLE Crane), Guillaume Gagnon (GUAY), and Reina VanGenderen (VanGenderen Crane) shared how people-first strategies are shaping the present and future of the industry, whether through the foundational role of safety in day-to-day operations or supporting their teams with emerging technology.

Live from the 2025 CCRA Conference in Edmonton, we sat down with leaders from across the sector for the conference’s Crane Leadership Panel. In Part 1 of this conversation, Jeremy Geurtz (ABLE Crane), Guillaume Gagnon (GUAY), and Reina VanGenderen (VanGenderen Crane) discussed their experience both leading and building teams in Canada’s crane industry.

For the 2025 debut of Crane & Hoist’s On the Hook podcast, we sat down with Sterling Crane’s Sean Hutchinson to talk about the lifting leadership lessons he learned managing dozens of cranes and personnel across Sterling’s massive Cenovus Turnaround project. This episode is proudly sponsored by the Canadian Crane Rental Association.

Susan Sodek, the Human Resources Manager of UCEL (Urban Construction Equipment Limited), looks at the opioid crisis in the construction sector, and what solutions there are to help treat and return those suffering from addiction to the workforce.