Cardus to engage industry on trades careers

dailycommercialnews.com
By: Andre Widjaja
Oct 7, 2014

Canadian think tank, Cardus, is launching its new Building Meaning Project, which aims to reshape the preconception of working in the construction trades.

Cardus to engage industry on trades careers

"Some of the cultural aspects around construction and how it's viewed...it's kind of a second choice option," said Brian Dijkema, Program Director, Work and Economics at Cardus. "What we wanted to do was work with our partners to show that working in the construction trades is worthy of being considered a first choice option."

The project will include a series of Canada-wide roundtable discussions involving key players in the industry, government and education system. The first meeting will be held on Oct. 27 in Calgary, followed by a meeting in Vancouver on Oct. 29, Toronto on Nov. 6 and Ottawa on Nov. 20.

"At those roundtables...we are going to engage folks in the education sector on that file because one of the things that have come up is the difficulty communicating those opportunities," Dijkema added. "People are simply not aware of them. One of the outcomes we hope is greater awareness and an actual attempt to focus on guidance counsellors."

The deputy minister of education and various skills training ministries are expected to be in attendance at some of the roundtables.

The project also aims to work with the media to coordinate singular a message that working in the trades is not a second-rate occupation.

"We want to communicate that...construction trades work is actually meaningful, stimulating work," he said. "It's intellectually demanding, it's intellectually stimulating and there's a sense of meaning to when you're able to build something."

A list of industry leaders will also be interviewed and consulted such as the Canadian Construction Association, Alberta Construction Association, Women Building Futures, BuildForce Canada, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum and more.

Other goals the project aims to accomplish include, making the trades a core subject for all students through provincial curricula, helping guidance counsellors address the social bias of working in the trades and creating more scholarships and incentives for entering the trades.

Dijkema says educating young people at an early age about the opportunities within the industry is key for the success of the project and shifting opinions about careers in the trades.

"One of the problems for youth unemployment has been the inability to know where good, well-paying jobs are. We want to say, 'look, there is work available,'" he said.

The project stems from discussions that took place at a recent Cardus conference titled Canada's New Industrial Revolution, which largely tackled Canada's labour shortage issues and featured industry stakeholders and government leaders.

"The reality is that we don't really have shop classes left in our high school and we've sent all sorts of signals to young people that they can't realize their potential if they end up working with their hands rather than getting an academic degree," said Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development, at the Jan. 23 event.

In partnership with Cardus, the study is also being supported by Employment and Social Development Canada, the Canadian Building Trades, the Christian Labour Association of Canada, the National Construction Labour Relations and the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada.

The location of each roundtable were decided based on the need for labour and the potential for large projects take shape.

"The oil and gas sector is where the labour shortage is felt most acutely. So we wanted to bring those players there," Dijkema added. "There's lots of infrastructure work being done and if some of the projects that are said to come online (Ring of Fire), then Ontario will be in situation similar to Alberta."