A new program from B.C. Building Trades designed to aid workers in the skilled trades could help the labour shortage facing the province.
The Community Benefits Coalition of B.C. was created in the spring to ensure public interest projects built in the province hire local workers, paying them a fair wage and helping apprentices and other unqualified workers to get their certification.
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B次元官网网址淭he demand for highly skilled trades workers is high,B次元官网网址� said Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the B.C. Building Trades, an umbrella organization of trades unions.
Sigurdson was in Victoria Tuesday for a speaking engagement with the Victoria Chamber of Commerce about the future of the trades industry in B.C.
B次元官网网址淎s retirees go out the door and leave the tools, we need to have more young people coming in and being trained in the skilled trades,B次元官网网址� he explained.
What workers have to say about Community Benefits Agreements on public projects.
B次元官网网址� BC Building Trades (@WeBuildBC)
B.C. Building Trades estimates that by 2027, B.C. will be short more than 8,000 skilled trades workers, a number Sigurdson calls B次元官网网址渟ignificant.B次元官网网址�
He doesnB次元官网网址檛 think housing affordability has been contributed that greatly to keeping skilled tradespeople in Victoria as workers often travel from their home communities to job sites, but does note it has had some impact.
Bringing people into the trades and employing them will require better inclusion for women and Indigenous people, he adds. Currently, just 4 per cent people working in the building trades are women.
B次元官网网址淲e need to do better,B次元官网网址� said Sigurdson, calling it a B次元官网网址渟ocietal barrierB次元官网网址� that begins when people are school age.
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B次元官网网址淟ots of young girls if given a tool set, would probably play with it,B次元官网网址� he said, adding teachers and guidance councillors need to instill the idea of a future in the trades for all children.
The goal is to see women make up at least 10 per of the skilled trades work force, something Sigurdson feels is necessary for the provinceB次元官网网址檚 economic development.
Of the benefits program, Sigurdson said it will result in dividends for the province, but also keep skilled workers in B.C. maintaining the economic cycle.
B次元官网网址淚f not, capital will invest elsewhere and it will hurt the B.C. economy,B次元官网网址� he said.
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