NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Government of British Columbia has created a Community and Employer Partnerships (CEP) project to help 24 Indigenous youth train for jobs as certified building maintenance workers in the Lower Mainland.
B.C. is providing more than $575,000 to the Squamish Nation to deliver skills and certification courses in two intakes of its Indigenous building maintenance worker training program in North Vancouver.
Participants will receive 23 weeks of training, including five weeks of essential skills and employability skills training, 12 weeks of occupational skills training, onsite experience for four weeks with local employers and two weeks of job search support.
“This project creates employment opportunities for Squamish Nation youth and is an example of how government works with communities to deliver in-demand training for Indigenous people. Participants who complete this program will also obtain building maintenance worker certification, opening doors to promising careers,” provincial Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Nicholas Simons said in a press release.
Participants will also receive certification courses in personal protective equipment, Occupational First Aid, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems, confined spaces, ladder safety, fall protection, transportation endorsement and excavation and shoring safety. The program also delivers a cultural component based on Squamish Nation traditions, a government release said.
“Thanks to this funding, more Sk_wx_wu´7mesh youth can enrol in our building maintenance worker program and get the necessary certification and training to launch their career in the trades sector. These high-paying, in-demand jobs set program graduates on a path towards a bright and successful future,” Squamish Nation spokesperson Wilson Williams (Sxwíxwtn) said.
Upon completion of their training, work experience and the Level 1 building maintenance worker exam, participants will be qualified to maintain and repair residential buildings and will be able to identify, troubleshoot and perform maintenance and repairs on drywall, plumbing, roofing and carpentry.
Full-time group-based classroom learning for the second project intake began Aug. 15, and project activities run unto Feb. 17, 2023.
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