TRU’s Trades and Technology will receive $857,000 in additional funding for the purchase of trades equipment, the BC Ministry of Advanced Education has announced.
Examples of equipment trades intends to purchase: an electrical test bench, a transmission for a grader, a gas heat trainer, and an air conditioning recharging system.
The announcement is part of a $12-million commitment for 2015-16 to be divided amongst 14 public post-secondary institutions. The money is part of the government’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint to invest $185 million over three years towards the upgrading of new trades-training equipment and for facilities to support trades students.
What follows is a portion of the announcement
VICTORIA – As part of BC’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint, government is investing $12 million in 2015-16 for new trades equipment at 14 public post-secondary institutions so students planning to enter in-demand occupations learn their trade using industry-standard technology.
“Our investment of $12 million in new trades-training equipment will give students the skills needed for a wide range of in-demand careers,” said Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson. “The provincial economy is growing in a range of sectors, from LNG to shipbuilding and ship repairs to construction, and having skilled workers to fill positions is critical to our ongoing success.”
Post-secondary institutions will use the money to purchase equipment such as diesel engines, a logging truck and trailer, and air disc brake and high voltage trainers.
“We promised to shift funding and training to support in-demand jobs,” said Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training Minister and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond. “Since launching BC’s Blueprint, we have invested $17 million in trades-training equipment and targeted $13 million to reduce wait-lists in high-demand trades so our diverse, strong and growing economy has the trained workers it needs.”
Consultations with institutions, the Industry Training Authority, as well as current labour market data, inform decisions for funding.
The $12 million is part of the BC government’s investment of $185 million over three years in new trades training equipment and facilities to support students who will help meet the need for skilled tradespeople in BC.
Quick fact
- BC’s Blueprint outlines how the province is re-engineering the education system, from kindergarten through post-secondary training and beyond, to ensure education and training aligns with BC jobs. By 2022, BC is expected to have one million job openings in BC, and more than 78 per cent of jobs will require some form of post-secondary education.
- About 13 per cent of the projected job openings are for in-demand trades in BC.
Backgrounder
The 18 eligible trades training programs, in the list of in-demand occupations, delivered by BC’s public post-secondary institutions:
- Carpenters
- Chefs/cooks/bakers
- Concrete finishers
- Construction craft workers
- Crane operators
- Electricians
- Gas fitters
- Heavy equipment operators
- Heavy mechanical trades
- Insulators
- Iron workers
- Machinists
- Millwrights
- Plumbers
- Power engineers
- Sheet metal workers
- Steam/Pipefitters and Sprinkler System Installers
- Welders
Media contact
Richelle D. Funk
Ministry of Advanced Education
250-356-7876
