New construction framework is great news for local workers

B.C. will benefit from public infrastructure projects like bridges and highways in innumerable ways, thanks to the new construction model unveiled by the provincial government today.

The model prioritizes job and training opportunities for Indigenous workers, local residents, women in trades, apprentices and people with disabilities. It also ensures workers receive union wages and benefits for the duration of a given project.

And it closes the door on temporary foreign workers in cases where local, B.C. or Canadian workers could do the job first.

“Today is a good day for workers, for their families, and for the communities in which they live,” said Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the BC Building Trades.

The new model is a Community Benefits Agreement or CBA. Used in jurisdictions throughout North America, CBAs can secure work, skills training and fair wages to qualified local residents and populations who are traditionally underrepresented in the skilled trades sector.

“Certain sectors of our province have been ignored for far too long,” said Sigurdson. “Under a Community Benefits Agreement, these groups will have opportunities to contribute and invest in their communities while essentially building B.C.”

B.C.’s new CBA framework includes a target apprenticeship ratio of 25 per cent, variable on a trade by trade basis and in paramount consideration of workplace safety.

It also ensures continuous work through a no-strike clause.

Any contractor in the construction industry may bid on a project and perform the work.

Sigurdson calls B.C.’s new construction model a progressive and forward-thinking roadmap that will ensure B.C. remains prosperous.

“We have a skilled trades shortage coming our way, and this will secure full and fair opportunities for Indigenous workers and women, and training for apprentices.”