Employers slow to sign on to B.C. Construction Association recruiting drive

The association launched the $21-million program that has drawn lots of potential employees, but not enough employers

British Columbia’s construction sector is forecast to be short 6,000 skilled tradespeople by 2025, yet employers have been slow to sign on to a program to recruit apprentices, despite payments of up to $10,000 per apprentice that comes with participation.

The B.C. Construction Association launched the initiative at the end of September, with $21 million from the federal government’s apprenticeship service, a $247-million pool of funds from Employment and Social Development Canada, to recruit 2,100 apprentices.

But the association has run into a bit of an initial mismatch between a healthy 2,000 applications from aspiring apprentices and a more underwhelming 400 applications from employers, not enough to absorb those numbers.

“We’re very encouraged and surprised at the number of job applicants” just a couple of months out of the gate, said Lisa Stevens, chief strategy officer for the B.C. Construction Association.

With the objective of enlisting 1,500, though, they are “maybe a little bit behind on employers.”

Stevens added that the BCCA is still just at the start of a program set to run through the end of March 2024.

So she hopes that once employers learn more about the talent pool the initiative is attracting, “employers will keep coming, and coming faster,” especially with the cash incentives.

The program pays employers $5,000 for every apprentice recruited through the program, in which the BCCA pre-screens applicants. They are eligible for an additional $5,000 if the candidate is from an underrepresented group: Women, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ or other minorities.

To B.C.’s Building Trades Council, which represents construction trade unions, the funding from ESDC represents an important gesture.

“This kind of financial commitment is crucial in order for Canada to fill the skilled labour shortage and build the infrastructure we need,” said Brynn Bourke, executive director at the trades council. The council received its own $49-million contribution from the fund.

And for employers scrambling to recruit tradespeople and squeezed by inflation, the B.C. Construction Association’s program is a welcome boost.

“For us it’s huge,” said Lesa Lacey, at the family-owned firm Lacey Construction Ltd.

Lacey used the BCCA program to put two of its existing employees into apprenticeships, which brought the company $15,000 to support the move as well as help with expenses such as purchasing winter clothing for a crew of around 50.

“Essentially at our company, we’re families building homes for families, so any shortages in those tradespeople really leads to increased costs for home ownership,” Lacey said.

Newly minted Lacey apprentice Sasha Penner said that for her the move was a boost of confidence at a company where she was already enjoying being an excavator operator.

“Honestly, it’s just nice that I can get an actual (B.C. Industry Training Authority trade) certification and that they have the faith in me that I can actually pass the course,” said Penner, an excavator operator on Lacey’s excavation crew.

Penner said she’s already a certified excavator operator in B.C. and Alberta, but reaching Red Seal status under an apprenticeship will make her skills transferable across the country and help in her ambition to one day lead an excavation crew.

depenner@postmedia.com

twitter.com/derrickpenner

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