Skilled jobs in sa国际传媒 are going begging because the province doesn鈥檛 have enough trained people to fill them, so it鈥檚 good news for workers and employers that the provincial government is trying to fix the problem.
If we want to get the benefit of future economic development, we have to make sure British Columbians are filling the jobs that will be created. The government says that of one million jobs expected to be created in the next 10 years, 43 per cent will be in the trades.
Premier Christy Clark, who sees liquefied natural gas as the province鈥檚 future, has realized her dream won鈥檛 materialize unless we can train British Columbians to fill the thousands of jobs she expects. Clark wants to see three liquefied natural gas plants running by 2020. She hopes for 100,000 jobs over 30 years and enough new revenue to pay off the provincial debt.
Those people won鈥檛 get trained unless the government, labour and industry can fix what one labour leader called the 鈥渃risis鈥� in trades training.
To measure how serious the situation is, look at the rare sight of Clark at a news conference on Monday, flanked by sa国际传媒 Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair and Tom Sigurdson, executive director of sa国际传媒 Building Trades.
The three were announcing development of a co-operative approach to create jobs and training strategies.
The co-operation with labour is not the only sign that the government is taking the crisis seriously. Late last month, Clark commissioned Jessica McDonald, former deputy minister to premier Gordon Campbell, to review the Industry Training Authority, the agency responsible for trades training in the province.
McDonald鈥檚 mandate is to consult with industry and labour and make 鈥渞ecommendations that will strengthen the current system.鈥�
Sinclair, Sigurdson and others have been critical of the system, which the province changed in 2002. Since the changes, labour has been shut out of meaningful roles in the training authority 鈥� a bizarre decision when labour obviously has much to contribute and a big stake in the success of trades training.
One of the biggest complaints against the current system was finally addressed at the end of August, when the training authority announced it would create regional 鈥渁pprenticeship advisers鈥� to help apprentices navigate the system. The advisers could help improve the province鈥檚 dismal 40 per cent completion rate for apprentices.
sa国际传媒 had similar advisers under the old system, but they were among the features scrapped when the new training authority was created. Apprentices were left to fend for themselves with only one service centre for help.
Critics cited that as one of the reasons fewer apprentices made it all the way to journeyman status, and pointed to the 78 per cent completion rate in Alberta. Alberta counts its apprentices differently, but the contrast is striking.
Alberta鈥檚 apprenticeship counsellors are one of nine 鈥渂est practices鈥� identified by the sa国际传媒 and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council in a report on Alberta鈥檚 successes.
Advisers are one piece of the puzzle, but more is needed. One hindrance to certifying more journeymen is the employers, too many of whom are reluctant to take on apprentices because of the paperwork and the commitment.
sa国际传媒 has created an incentive program that offers tax credits to employers in the shipbuilding industry that take on apprentices. Similar inducements might be necessary in other trades, even though it is in employers鈥� long-term interest to make sure we have enough trained people.
It takes at least four years to turn an apprentice into a journeyman, so government, industry and labour have to work together to find solutions quickly.
