Trades equipment coming to SD52
The Prince Rupert School District (SD52) will receive $92,080 from the Province of B.C. as part of a three-year, $15 million investment to support youth trades programs.
The money will be used for purchasing a foot metal shear, band saws and box and pan sheet metal brakes over the next three years.
More than $9 million of the $15 million allocated in the funding is being distributed to all 42 rural school districts in B.C.
“We are expecting nearly one million job openings in B.C. by 2025 and the majority of those jobs will require some kind of post-secondary or skills training,” Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour, said.
“The Youth Trades Capital Equipment Program is a critical part of our youth trades training plan that maps a clear pathway from school, to apprenticeships and into local, family-supporting jobs,” she said.
More skills training arrives in Rupert
As part of 7,000 total workers in B.C. being trained this year in the skilled trades industries, two Prince Rupert programs are benefitting from the province’s Targeted Initiatives for Older Workers program, worth $2 million and the Employment Services and Supports program, worth $34.9 million.
Northwest Community College’s Older Worker Employment Program will receive financial help for its initiative and the college’s Rupert campus will also receive a boost for its Camp Cook’s Helper program.
The funding is targeted for Aboriginal peoples, women, youth, immigrants, older workers, persons with disabilities and communities facing economic changes. Culinary, horticulture, introductory welding, piping and basic carpentry industries will be supported. All the projects will be completed by fall of this year.