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B.C. introduces skills trade certification for apprentices, journeymen in 10 trades

B.C. introduces skills trade certification for apprentices, journeymen in 10 trades | iNFOnews.ca
B.C. Skills Training Minister Anne Kang poses for photographs after a provincial government cabinet shuffle, in Vancouver on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Kang says compulsory skills training certification in B.C. was eliminated in 2003, but new legislation aims to formally recognize the skills of current and future workers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VICTORIA – The British Columbia government has introduced legislation to modernize the Crown agency responsible for training workers in the trades sector.

Skills Training Minister Anne Kang says the legislation would create SkilledTradesBC, a new Crown agency that would focus on supporting and training apprentices.

The provincial government estimates there will be up to 85,000 openings in skilled trades over the next decade.

Kang says the new agency’s role would focus on overseeing the skills training requirements for apprentice and journeyman workers in 10 trades, including industrial electricians, heavy duty equipment technicians and gasfitters.

She says skills training requirements for the trades in B.C. were eliminated in 2003 but making them a requirement provides workers with recognized credentials that benefit employers and employees.

Kang says under the new certification program, which could start later this year, workers would have at least one year to register for apprenticeship programs or take an exam to get certified.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2022.

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