A $24-million aboriginal employment program will help meet B.C.'s high demand for skilled workers on billions of dollars worth of construction projects, say federal government, industry, and First Nations representatives.

Ottawa has agreed to provide $7.8 million and the construction industry is slated to kick in $14 million while aboriginal communities and the province are expected to provide remaining funds.

The four-year Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program aims generate long-term construction careers for 600-800 aboriginals.

ASEP participants are expected to get work on Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre and Vancouver Port Authority's Deltaport expansion projects as well as the Sea-to-Sky Highway improvements and 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games venues.

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
John Webster, right, helps young aboriginal workers such as Brian Montour start building careers.

Federal Western Economic Diversification Minister Stephen Owen said the program will help meet demand for 5,000 construction jobs on $10 billion worth of projects between Tsawwassen and Whistler - and make up for Ottawa's past mistakes in aboriginal employment programs.

"We have done a poor job in this province and frankly, in this country in providing educational opportunities and post-secondary and job-skill opportunities for aboriginal people," said Owen following a recent news conference at the Squamish First Nation Recreation Centre in North Vancouver.

"A lot of money has been put into it, but obviously programs have not been successful. But sometimes you need everything to come together in a moment such as now, where there's a lot of construction, a lot of demand, money is there, skills are needed (and) the people are there."

The emphasis was on co-operation as native singers and drummers guided Owen and other speakers into a gymnasium where the news conference was held. The federal money is coming from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Owen, also the federal minister for sport, made the announcement on behalf of Human Resources Minister Joe Volpe.

"We want to hire as many people and train as many people as possible and the aboriginal population is just a human-resource treasure, and this skills-training money will bring those people together with the skills needed to do all of those jobs," said Owen.

While the rest of Canada's population is getting older and approaching retirement, First Nations communities are getting younger, with 50 per cent of people under the age of 25.

The money will be used in a variety of ways, including paying wages for apprentices while they are training to get their trades tickets, British Columbia Institute of Technology training programs, and on-the-job mentoring from construction firms.

Gibby Jacob, chief of the Squamish First Nation, said partnerships programs like ASEP and First Nations initiatives will provide jobs for as many people as they can train.

"Now, everybody who wants to get trained can get trained and employed, because there is a requirement on the construction industry to provide employment opportunities," said Jacob. "Nobody will have an excuse now that they can't find a job, because there are going to be jobs there."

He said it has been hard for his people to get jobs in different sectors, but the demographics now work in their favour.

"For years, I worked in the construction industry," said Jacob. "Back then (28 years ago), there was a lot of work - same as today. I don't think there is going to be any problem now, but in the past there was."

He said his First Nation is recovering from a historical "hangover" that stems from abuse at residential schools decades ago and other problems, so unemployment is still high.

"I've been an elected councillor for my tribe for the past 23 years and it always seems to come to the 11th hour before things get done," said Jacob.

Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Cons- truction Association, said the money will go toward existing training programs and new ones that deal with aboriginal cultural factors.

"Our members want to make it work," said Sashaw.

Programs will begin within the next two or three months. The federal government requires that the money produce at least 50 permanent jobs. Sashaw said the industry wants to produce a lot more than the 600-800 estimated.

The federal-industry joint venture means builders can access a group of young people who have gone through some training and have some familiarity with the job site and basic skillsets that they can work with.

"And it means to our members another source of workers that we can make available," said Sashaw.

He estimated 35-50 per cent of entry-level workers don't complete their apprenticeships as they find their niches in the industry. But aboriginal career counsellors and pre-screening will help ensure that workers in this program have the necessary interest and aptitude.

Although it takes four years to train a journeyperson, and the 2010 deadline is drawing nearer, anything that can be done to get someone on the job now will help, said Sashaw.

"One thing about construction training is, it's almost as soon as you step on the site (that) you're productive," he said, adding training increases a worker's efficiency.

The Tsawwassen First Nation, which has a $47-million agreement with the Vancouver Port Authority on Deltaport that contains provisions on aboriginal employment, and Lil'wat Nation are slated to participate along with the Squamish. Kim Baird, chief of the Tsawwassen, said she hopes the federal- industry joint venture will help improve past bad relations between the groups.

"We know that there is a skill shortage in Tsawwassen," said Baird. "We need the tools. We need the people. We must be able to take advantage of the opportunities now."

The next step is to establish a federal-industry-First Nations board that will oversee the program. John Webster, president of the Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS), said the board's composition will help increase aboriginal employment levels in the construction industry, reduce high aboriginal job-transition rates, and enable the various groups to understand each other's needs.

"It's very difficult for us to find employers that are willing to hire aboriginal people because of the competition out there," said Webster. "There are so many people that are unemployed, have the equal skills and probably a greater education that they're going to get hired first. So programs like this definitely help us in the long-term."

Webster said the program will encourage builders to hire aboriginals because it allows companies to channel workers into the areas that they like.

"It means that we'll have opportunities for employment in the construction trades - in all classes of it, but not just one area," said Webster, who will sit on the board that oversees the project. "We can go into the entry level, we can go into management, we can go into the (workplace) safety.

"We can go into all areas with our agreements with the B.C. Construction Association, the (Greater) Vancouver Cons- truction Association and some of our industry partners, like PCL Construction."

ACCESS is a coalition of urban aboriginal, First Nations and Metis employment societies.

"We signed an accord to work together because one of the problems with industry was they didn't know who to contact when they needed somebody to hire," said Webster.

"We formed this coalition so that when industry came to one of us, they came to all of us."

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)