Last Thursday, the provincial government’s Minister of State for Workforce Development, Andrew Mercier, made the official announcement of funding provided to various groups for Workforce Development and Skilled Trades including one million dollars to CHBA BC. Other groups included Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society ($1 million); BC Centre for Women in the Trades ($1 million); Construction Foundation of BC ($500,000); SkillPlan ($1 million) and Skills Canada BC ($500,000).
“This funding is about making sure that B.C. is training and supporting the next generation of apprentices and journey people,” said Andrew Mercier, Minister of State for Workforce Development.
- The BC government has forecasted approximately 85,000 job openings in the trades over the next ten years.
- Build Force Canada is projecting approximately 13 percent of the construction sector reaching retirement age.
The provincial investment will also help remove barriers to entering the trades or complete apprenticeships for women, Indigenous Peoples and other under-represented groups, with new and enhanced programming and resources for equity-serving groups, anti-racism and other inclusivity-based workplace training programs and student bursaries.
- The number of apprentices who complete their training averages just over 6,400 a year.
- 50.6% of people between 15 and 65 in B.C. are women; currently, 10.1% of all apprentices in B.C. are women.
- 13.3% of people between 15 and 65 in B.C. are Indigenous; currently, 8.5% of all apprentices in B.C. are Indigenous, and 1.5% are Indigenous women.
Supporting this initiative, Paul Zelinski has been hired as the CHBA BC Program Director, Workforce Development. Paul brings extensive work in apprenticeship, skilled trades training and promotion, having worked with the ITA and Doulas College. He has a proven track record in program development, stakeholder relations and extensive experience working with employers and apprentices in the trades. Paul is a Red Seal Carpenter with a Bachelor of Technology in Construction Management from BCIT. He will start on July 17. Paul’s email will be paul@chbabc.org.
Preliminary details are available on CHBABC’s website, including employer resources, with details of CHBA BC’s programs and initiatives to be announced over the coming months.
HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together to address the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism.
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QUICK BITES …
- While there may be questions about supply with Vancouver house sales dropping in June, prices remain steady and are still increasing. indicating a move to a more balanced market, as reported by Howard Chai of Storeys.
- The Globe and Mail takes a look at the impact of multiple-condo-unit investors on our markets. In Metro Vancouver, 15.5 per cent, or 42,155 units, out of all condos are held by portfolio investors who hold at least three properties. Of all investment condos in the region, 45.5 per cent were owned by this sort of investor, according to Statistics Canada data released last week, noting in Abbotsford, 24.1 per cent, or 10,140, of all condos, are owned by portfolio investors. Out of all the investment condos in that city, 69.9 per cent are part of a portfolio that has three or more investment properties.
- Point2Homes says one must save up an entire income for “nearly 16 years to bridge the $1.24 million price gap, to move up from a condo to a single family home in Vancouver. In Richmond it is estimated at 12 years, and Burnaby Coquitlam 8 years.
