As reported on canada.com, British Columbia launched a $75 million skills training program as part of the province’s economic development plan “Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan”. The program aims at linking graduates to available jobs within planned and underway major projects, including mining projects.
There is a sense of urgency: projects ranging from shipbuilding to natural gas, mining to manufacturing, and transportation to commercial/residential development, all need workers now. Since 2006, employment in the mining, oil and gas extraction sectors has surged 24.7 per cent and shows no sign of slowing: $48 billion will be invested in liquefied natural gas (LNG) alone between 2013 and 2022.
“It is really the first time in British Columbia’s history that our economic growth could be stifled by not a shortage of financial capital, but a shortage of human capital.” Evans added that the skills training program, “takes B.C. industry training to the level required to take advantage of the economic opportunities before us.”