TORONTO — The Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA), an influential construction advocacy group headed by a former senior staffer to ex-Labour Minister Monte McNaughton, has received a $1.8 million grant from the Ford government’s Skills Development Fund (SDF) — a program recently criticized for lacking fairness and transparency in how it allocates taxpayer dollars.
The grant, part of the fifth round of SDF funding, was approved by the office of current Labour Minister David Piccini. ORBA’s CEO, Walid Abou-Hamde, previously worked for years under McNaughton, including during the period when the SDF was first launched in 2021.
The Ontario auditor general’s report earlier this month found that SDF grant distributions were “not fair, transparent or accountable”, pointing to numerous examples of politically connected organizations — including donors and lobbyists linked to the Progressive Conservatives — receiving multimillion-dollar funding.
Since 2021, over $1.3 billion in taxpayer money has been distributed through the SDF to more than 1,000 projects.
Ties to the Ford Government
Before joining ORBA, Abou-Hamde served as director of stakeholder relations in McNaughton’s office and later as vice-president of corporate affairs at Skilled Trades Ontario, a provincial agency overseen by the Labour Ministry. Around that time, Ford’s cabinet also appointed him to the Skilled Trades Ontario board, where he served for roughly a year before becoming ORBA’s CEO in late 2023.
Members of ORBA’s board of directors have collectively donated nearly $100,000 to Progressive Conservative Party causes over the past decade.
Despite these connections, ORBA insists its funding application was handled properly.
“ORBA can’t speak to the Ontario government’s selection process, but it has carefully followed all rules and procedures in its application,”
said Steven Crombie, the association’s senior director of public affairs.
“Walid Abou-Hamde has never spoken to Minister Piccini or any former colleagues in government regarding ORBA’s SDF application or grant.”
Crombie added that Abou-Hamde has remained in full compliance with direction from Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner and with the Lobbyist Registration Act since leaving government service.
Funding Purpose and Public Scrutiny
According to the government’s announcement, the $1.8 million grant will allow ORBA to train 200 participants for careers in road construction and infrastructure, offering both classroom instruction and paid job placements.
However, the optics of the award — given the CEO’s political ties and the broader concerns about how SDF grants have been awarded — have sparked renewed criticism of the Ford government’s grant management practices.
At a news conference Thursday, Abou-Hamde appeared alongside several cabinet ministers to promote new government legislation. When a reporter from The Trillium attempted to ask him about the grant and whether ORBA’s political connections played a role, Housing Minister Rob Flack interrupted, calling the question “inappropriate.”
Abou-Hamde later responded indirectly, praising the Ford government’s initiative:
“The Skills Development Fund has played an essential role in allowing organizations like ours to train the next generation.”
Background on the Skills Development Fund
The Skills Development Fund was introduced in 2021 by then-Labour Minister McNaughton to address worker shortages by supporting training and upskilling programs across Ontario. Since its inception, however, the fund has faced repeated allegations of political favoritism, opaque selection criteria, and lack of oversight.
Multiple reports by The Trillium and Ontario’s auditor general have found that hundreds of millions have gone to organizations with ties to Progressive Conservative donors, lobbyists, and insiders — raising serious questions about the program’s governance and accountability.
With the ORBA’s latest $1.8 million grant, scrutiny of the Skills Development Fund — and the Ford government’s relationship with politically connected advocacy groups — is expected to intensify further at Queen’s Park in the coming weeks.