RC106 MayJune2023 - Magazine - Page 33
EJTC
B.C.’s Electrical Joint Training Committee manages approximately 70 Indigenous apprentices
and 900 apprentices overall through its Red Seal
electrician training pathway.
Davis and the EJTC currently
feature an Indigenous roster of a
dozen Foundation program students, two Level 2 cohorts and two
Level 3 cohorts, the latter who will
soon make the jump to their Level
4 training and inch that much
closer to Red Seal certification. The
continuing success and success
stories are translating positively to
EJTC’s initial barriers surrounding
recruitment, explained Davis.
“We now have role models. Now,
other students can look and say ‘I
may not have thought I can do
this’ before, but now we have people
in a career that they’re thriving in.”
Construction companies themselves are also looking to help
grow and diversify the trades.
In Ontario, the Aecon Women in
Trades (AWIT) program, helps
women trade up and launch rewarding careers in the trades with
fully paid training, and competitive wages and benefits.
The program is open to candidates with any
employment background and no experience is
required. Upon completing comprehensive training for
in-demand skills, successful candidates are deployed
in the field to hone their craft on a job site, benefiting
from ongoing career development opportunities and
mentoring.
“Women are disproportionately underrepresented in
our industry. As we continue to see enhanced competition
for talent, Aecon remains agile through challenging
market and labour environments,” said Jenna Wood,
senior director, HR for Aecon’s Utilities, Industrial and
Nuclear sectors. “Our AWIT program is an illustration
of this approach in action, and it has become a model
of success in our industry while making Aecon’s team
stronger through diversity.”
Launched in 2019, 75 participants have been trained to
date, and the company is looking to expand that number
to 350 in 2023.
Building Canada’s skilled trades workforce continues
to be a work in progress, but with the attention it
is receiving and the actions that are being taken,
hopefully the shortage begins to shrink as the number of
infrastructure projects continue to grow.
With files from Angela Gismondi/Daily Commercial News
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