BC Building Trades Launches Campaign to Ensure Local British Columbians Build BC
BC Conservative bill puts local jobs on public projects at risk.
For immediate release
March 19, 2026
NEW WESTMINSTER – The BC Building Trades has launched a campaign to protect Community Benefit and Project Labour Agreements to ensure major public projects are built by local, skilled workers from British Columbia, while expanding apprenticeships, training, and providing safe working conditions and paying family sustaining wages.
In early March, the BC Conservatives introduced legislation that would ban Community Benefits and Project Labour Agreements on all public projects.
“Community Benefit Agreements and Project Labour Agreements ensure BC workers build BC infrastructure and train the next generation of trades workers. At a time when we’re facing a skilled labour shortage, major private-sector projects are choosing to sign agreements with the BC Building Trades to secure skilled labour. The BC Conservatives’ bill would move B.C. backwards, preventing public projects from signing agreements and accessing that same stable labour supply,” said Brynn Bourke, Executive Director for the BC Building Trades.
“We’ve seen what can happen when public projects are built without these agreements,” continued Bourke. “The BC Conservatives want to take us back to a time when public projects like the Canada Line were built using temporary foreign labour. On that project, foreign workers were paid less than $4 an hour.”
The BC Building Trades is calling on the BC Conservatives to stand with – not against – BC skilled trades workers and to withdraw their bill.
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Media Contact
Jordan Reid, BC Building Trades, Director of Advocacy and Engagement
604-992-3447
Background:
The BC Building Trades represents 50,000 unionized construction workers in BC, who make up approximately 50% of the province’s non-residential construction labour workforce.
Project Labour Agreements have been successfully used for decades in BC, starting with the construction of BC Hydro’s W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1963, under a Social Credit government.
BC Building Trades members are currently working on major CBA public projects like the Broadway Subway line and the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement project.
To date, 94% of all hours on CBA projects have been worked by British Columbians, with 81% of all hours worked by those who live within 100km of the project. 1,550+ trainees and apprentices have been employed through CBA projects and CBA projects have a 98% success rate in filling skilled trades positions on-time.
The BC Building Trades campaign website is ProtectBCJobs.ca.