Labour force shortage is tackled

A new training program designed to improve employment opportunities for Aboriginal people who want to work in the trades was launched April 25 at the Boilermakers Union Hall in Edmonton.

Through the Trade Winds to Success project about 200 Aboriginal people from Calgary and Edmonton will be trained to enter the boilermaker, ironworker, carpenter, steam/pipe-fitter, plumber and welder trades.

The first class of 21 clients started the program in February and has graduated. The students are now doing their placement with the Union Training Trust Funds. The second intake is underway.
The program includes approximately 20 weeks of training, including lessons needed to achieve safety tickets.

Dale Hora, a First Nation member from Fort St. John, B.C. is a student in the second intake. He said the first three weeks of the program concentrates on personal development. This is the part of the program called the Trades Streaming Process, which helps too weed out those people ill-suited for a career in the trades.

According to Joan Youngman, executive director of the Trade Winds to Success Training Society, the first week of the program consists of two assessment tests.

The first test is the adult basic education test, which determines if the clients can work at a minimum Grade 10 education level. The second assessment is the workplace essential skills test, which outlines the skills the clients have or don't have.

"We address what those needs are and deal with them straight on in the program," said Youngman. "For example, if they're lacking skills in how to read a parts catalogue, we will address that through the union shop training."

Hora recently wrote the level 4 trades entrance exam, which usually takes place in the eighth or ninth week of the program. Once he completes the pipe-fitter training program, he hopes to work in Fort McMurray.

About 200 people attended the launch ceremony to celebrate the progress of the initiative and to congratulate the stakeholders for making it possible.

"This project meets the need for skilled workers in the trades by providing Aboriginal pre-apprenticeship training in Edmonton and Calgary," said Youngman.

The $5.46 million project is a partnership between the governments of Canada and Alberta, the Union Training Trust Funds and three Aboriginal organizations-Oteenow Employment and Training Society, the Metis Nation of Alberta, and the Treaty Seven Economic Development Corporation.

"You hear too many negative things about Aboriginal people. You don't hear enough good, so I think this is a good thing," said Clayton Kootenay, executive director for Oteenow Employment and Training Society. "We saw that there was a skills shortage in the unions and so we said 'Let's develop a partnership.' It took a while to do, but it's happened."

Following the acknowledgements and brief speeches made by representatives from the partners, everyone was treated to a cultural showcase. Elizabeth Potskin, an 11-year-old dancer from the Edmonton Metis Dance Society, showcased her quick footwork as she demonstrated a variety of Metis dances. Potskin is a Grade 6 student at Prince Charles Elementary School.

The focus of the afternoon was the people who have given potential apprentices the opportunity to obtain careers in the trades.

Donna Potts, the board chair of Oteenow, gave credit to Youngman and others for pushing the initiative forward.

"As members of the Union Training Trust Funds we see this program as bridging the gap to obtain skilled trades workers," said Martyn Piper, president of Trade Winds and executive secretary treasurer for the Alberta and Northwest Territories Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers.

The contract for this project runs out in March 2008, but Clayton Kootenay hopes to expand it. He said he would also like to see the project implemented in Aboriginal communities in the near future.

"We're hoping to take it further, to maybe on-reserve, but we kind of have to build mechanisms and see if there are any areas we need to look at before we do expand," he said. "We're really trying to get as many people involved in this as we can."

To become a program participant applicants must be unemployed and of First Nation, Metis or Inuit ancestry residing in Edmonton or Calgary. For more specific criteria or other related information call (780) 471-9100 in Edmonton. In Calgary phone (403) 205-3500. The next program start dates in Edmonton are July 3, Sept. 11 and Oct. 20. Calgary intakes are May 29, Aug. 7 and Oct. 16.