Former ECABC President Deborah Cahill is the first woman to be inducted into the ECABC Hall of Fame

On Thursday, September 29th, ECABC celebrated its 70th Annual General Meeting at the beautiful Inn at Laurel Point in Victoria. During the evening ceremonies, Deborah Cahill—who served as the Association’s President for 14 years from 2008-2022—was surprised with an induction into the ECABC Hall of Fame, the greatest honour the Association can bestow upon its members.

We are proud to share insight into Deborah’s incredible career history, and are grateful to have her remain a part of the Association forever.

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In Deborah’s early professional career, she served as the Executive Advisor to the Ambassador of South Korea. Called home after a family illness, she went on to join the maintenance team at her hometown fiberboard plant and fell in love with the trades. Inspired by the boots on the ground around her, Deborah pursued a degree in human resources with a specialty in labour relations.

Her curiosity and passion for the industry led her to the Greater Toronto Electrical Contractors Association, where she served as assistant to the Director, department head of human resources, and manager of occupational health & safety and membership education. After seven years there, she moved west and became the first woman to serve as President of the Electrical Contractors Association of BC, where she enjoyed 14 years of formidable leadership. As President of ECABC, Deborah served on all of ECABC’s in-house committees as well as a large number of external committees, including the BC Business Council, the Deputy Ministers Industry Infrastructure Forum, Technical Safety BC (TSBC) Advisory Panel of Stakeholders, BC Institute of Technology Program Advisory Committee, Council of Construction Associations (COCA), the Canadian Electrical Contractors Association’s (CECA) Provincial Peers group, and the Construction Industry (3:45) group, which was created at the advent of the pandemic to provide a forum for the voices of the industry leadership.

Through her work with ECABC, Deborah also worked closely with fellow industry associations and stakeholders including: National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), CECA, Industry Training Authority BC (ITABC), TSBC, BC Hydro and the Electrical Joint Training Committee (EJTC) & E2 Inc. In recent years, she worked closely with the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) and the Mechanical Contractors Association of BC (MCABC) to lobby for prompt payment legislation. She also managed the evolution of the ECABC Subcontract Committee as it grew to include MCABC and the Roofing Contractors Association of BC (RCABC).

Deborah’s dedication to the electrical industry has inspired member companies to be involved in the Association’s many committees and forums. She has worked hard with ECABC’s three chapters to build a well-working relationship that demonstrates partnership.

During her time with ECABC, Deborah was a champion for apprenticeship as well as for advocating for women in trades. She led ECABC and its members into becoming a professional association that offers educational seminars, legal seminars, contract reviews and government liaison.