What is Red Seal certification?

The Red Seal program is the interprovincial standard of excellence in the skilled trades. It is the highest standard of training in the country, and the minimum level that the BC Building Trades believes is acceptable. What Red Seal training provides Along with...

Sheet Metal Workers bring in radical changes to training

By M. Malatesta   In the rapidly changing construction industry, building trades affiliates are continually upgrading and modernizing their training and apprenticeship programs and schools to meet new challenges. The Sheet Metal Workers Local 280 has undertaken...

Compulsory trades protect workers and public safety

President’s View by Phil Venoit The Red Seal Program was established following the first National Conference on Apprenticeship in Trades and Industries in Ottawa in 1952 and first certificates were issued seven years later. Construction craft workers who pass their...

When women rise, unions shine

By Corry Anderson-Fennell – BCBT Communications Director When Angeline Camille decided to become an electrician, one of the first people she told about her new career path was her grandmother. Grandma had some sage words of advice for her granddaughter: “Always...

The next election sets the stage for the next four years

View From Ottawa By Arlene Dunn Canada’s Building Trades Unions are preparing for this fall’s federal election. The need to get out the vote is more important than ever. Before the Trudeau Liberals were elected in 2015, the building trades had been fighting for...