ITA boasts second year of success

The Industry Training Authority of British Columbia has exceeded its performance targets for a second year, with an 80 per cent increase in the number of trainees, exceeding its targets by more than 10 per cent, said ITA CEO Brian Clewes.

Training

Staff Writer

The ITA has topped its training targets for two years running.

During the past year, the ITA awarded credentials to 2,899 people, a 20 per cent increase above its target.

“Our year-end results are a clear indication that the changes to B.C.’s industry training system are working,” he said.

“We’ve succeeded in increasing participation in apprenticeship, enhancing industry’s leadership and improved the quality and accessibility of training. I attribute this to the combination of a strong B.C. economy and the more relevant, flexible programs and policies we’ve worked hard to put in place in our first two years of operation,” Clewes said.

The ITA set two-year targets in 2004 of 24,000 registered apprentices and 8,500 employers to hire those apprentices.

Now into the program’s second year, the ITA said it had surpassed goals on every score, from active trainees and numbers of participants to credentials awarded and numbers of employer-sponsors on board.

ITA also has 3,259 youth participating in high school apprenticeship programs, 30 per cent more than the established target, and a 280-per-cent leap from when the ITA was formed in early 2004.

“Exceeding our targets for trades training is a positive sign – it means we’re succeeding in our efforts to develop a talented and skilled workforce to help meet the needs of a growing B.C. labour market,” said Colin Hansen, B.C.’s economic development minister. “We are especially encouraged by the number of young people entering trades training.