The B.C. New Democratic Party (NDP) is promising to invest millions of dollars in skills training and the apprenticeship system as the provincial election campaign gets underway, but critics say the plan will only increase the skilled labour shortage.
“I’m confirming today that a B.C. NDP government will improve the affordability of college and university with the practical step of creating a $100 million needs-based, non-repayable grant program for post-secondary and skills training students,” said party leader Adrian Dix.
“We need a new approach to jobs and the economy, with education and skills training at its heart, to give British Columbians ladders of opportunity into a vibrant middle class. That way, we can grow the economy, create jobs and reduce inequality.”
Dix launched the jobs and economy platform on April 17.
He said that if the NDP is elected, the new government will invest $40 million in skills training and $100 million in student grants annually.
In response, the president of the local open shop contractors association said the NDP’s skills training plan is short on specifics.
He also said it does little to get more people certified in a trade.
“Throwing more money at the system and promising to hire more bureaucrats to run the system will do nothing to connect young people with training,” said Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association.
“In fact, a return to the old training system that existed under the last NDP government would actually end up increasing skills shortages.”
According to Hochstein, the trades training system is graduating record numbers of skilled workers.
“The NDP is focusing on the wrong numbers,” he said. “Graduation rates have been the same for more than a decade,” he said.
“But with more people in the training system now, we’re graduating record numbers of skilled workers. The system isn’t broken – unless the NDP gets their hand on it.”
According to Statistics Canada, the number of registered apprenticeship completions in B.C. under the NDP increased to 2,859 in 2000 from 2,685 in 1995.
Under the Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission (ITAC) in the 1990s, apprentices were registered, tracked and scheduled for technical training and exams.
However, the B.C. Liberals defeated the two-term NDP incumbents in the 2001 provincial election, taking 77 of 79 seats in the legislature.
Under the first five years of the Liberal government, Stats Canada said the number of apprenticeship completions declined to 2,424 in 2005 and made a significant drop to 2,151 in 2006.
The B.C. Liberals eliminated requirements for apprenticeship ratios and compulsory certification on construction jobsites in 2002.
Next, the Liberals enacted legislation in 2003 that dissolved the ITAC and established the Industry Training Authority (ITA).
The new approach to apprenticeship training began by closing regional offices, eliminating trades counselors and cutting funding to programs.
In addition, the labour representatives were removed from the Industry Training Authority board.
“The Liberal government’s experiment in apprenticeship training has been a complete disaster,” said Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council.
“The real injustice was done to the people who went in to the ITA in good faith in the hope of acquiring a skill and were not assisted through the process. There will be a real challenge to look after the construction industry and the needs of the people who were left to fend for themselves.”
Dix has made a commitment to reinstate an apprenticeship system, which involves both business and organized labour as full partners.
The number of apprenticeship completions didn’t recover to 2000 levels until 2007, when it hit 2,973.
This number continued to increase over the next few years to 4,662 in 2010, which is the last year that Stats Canada reported these figures.
According to the ITA, apprenticeship completion rates in B.C. have fallen to 37 per cent in 2011/12 from 43 per cent in 2009/2010.
The ITA’s current service plan forecasts that funding from the provincial government will be $109 million 2013-14, compared to $108 million in 2012-13.
However, the provincial budget cuts the ITA’s funding to $94 million in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The actual contribution from the provincial government in 2011-12 was about $103 million.
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