The new chief operating officer of B.C.'s Industry Training Authority is vowing to get along with unions as he tries to help the province deal with a chronic labour shortage.

Kevin Evans, former western vice-president of the Retail Council of Canada, was appointed to the new post to oversee day-to-day operations so that president and CEO Brian Clewes can concentrate on strategic issues.

As his eight-plus year tenure with the retail council came to a close, Evans criticized the labour movement, supported a Business Council of British Columbia-led request for the province to scrap its ban on replacement workers during strikes, and called for temporary foreign workers to be allowed into Canada - a position which labour groups strongly oppose.

Evans has already met with labour leaders in a bid to ensure the province has enough skilled labourers in future.

Kevin Evans

"Their response has been the same as my response," says Evans. "What's in the rearview mirror is in the rearview mirror. We've all got to be focused on moving forward, and we've got to be able to do that together."

Created in 2004, the Richmond-based ITA is a provincial government agency that governs and develops skilled-trades training across B.C. As part of its mandate, it registers apprentices and certifies public and private training facilities.

Evans says the labour movement is just one of many resources that the province needs to access as it deals with an unprecedented labour shortage. By 2016, the ITA anticipates that for every two people retiring from the workforce, only one will be entering.

"There's no question that the union movement has a rich history when it comes to development of training and ensuring standards," Evans says.

"I want to ensure that we have a relationship so that the labour movement is contributing to the enhancement of our apprenticeship-training system. I believe that can happen."

He adds employers and the labour movement can improve their relationship by focusing on the "common ground" of the worker shortage, which is already starting to occur as Baby Boomers retire.

"We've never faced anything like this in the history of British Columbia, so we've got to get it right," says Evans. "We're in an enviable position in B.C. and Alberta, because we have had a foretaste of things to come. The demographic wave is going to be hitting the entire Western industrialized world, but because of our hot economies, we've had a preview of what's coming."

In his role as chairman of the Coalition of B.C. Businesses, Evans called for a comprehensive labour-supply strategy.

Now, in large part, he's responsible for executing one.

If B.C. is going to deal with the shortage effectively, the workforce is going to have to mobilize in a way only seen in the face of natural disasters and wars, he says. The number of people in the provincial apprenticeship program has more than doubled to 30,000 from 14,000 and the province's most recent budget has provided funding for another 7,000 apprentices by 2010.

The ITA is also creating industry-training organizations. Four of these groups - in residential and commercial construction, tourism and natural resources - are already operating, and 10 more could be up and running within two years.

Evans says the ITA will ensure the apprenticeship system is responsive, industry-led with highly skilled people and reflective of the modern economy.

In one of his first tasks, he set about hiring someone to oversee the ITA's new Aboriginal apprenticeship initiative, which aims to double the number of Aboriginal apprentices within the next three years.

Young Aboriginals are widely acknowledged as Canada's fastest-growing demographic group. Evans also pledges to capitalize on immigrants and the disabled and all other sources.

His primary aim is to make employers and all British Columbians aware of the significance of the challenge that B.C. faces when it comes to bridging the gap between labour demand and supply.

"No matter how we respond to it, it's going to fundamentally change the way our economy operates," says Evans. "No matter how successful we are at employing Aboriginals and attracting new immigrants and (executing) all of these strategies that are out there, in 10 years, there's still going to be a tremendous gap between the number of people we have available to work and the amount of work that's out there."

As a result, the province will have to use technology and train people in different ways to ensure they are as productive as possible.

"I think that the biggest enemy we have is complacency, and the key to combating complacency is to make them aware - not to alarm them, but to make them aware - of the challenge that we are about to face," says Evans.

The retail, oil and gas, construction and technology sectors, to name a few, have already launched recruiting drives. During the past two years, Evans devoted most of his time to labour-supply issues while working for the retail council and serving with business groups.

Prior to joining the retail council in 1998, Evans served as a CBC newscaster in his hometown of Winnipeg, Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver. He wound up joining the ITA after being approached by a recruiting firm. Initially, he was not interested because the first phone call from the recruiter "came out of the blue," but then he decided to accept the offer.

"It's where the action is going to be," he says. "I've always liked being on the front lines and where the action is."

Industry groups were quick to criticize the Liberal government's decision to establish the ITA three years ago and scrap the former Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission (ITAC), contending the newer group did not provide the same level of funding and training programs as the organization founded by the former NDP government.

Kerry Jothen, president and CEO of Victoria-based Human Capital Strategies and the former head of now-defunct ITAC, says Evans has a very good network and understands what industries need.

"I don't think (Evans) will have difficulty in adjusting," says Jothen. "In past roles, in certain contexts and certain issues, maybe he hasn't been seen as a friend to unions. But in the context of ITA and apprentice training, he'll do very well at building those bridges. People need to give him a chance - and I think they will."

Jothen's firm helps industries and organizations develop strategies to find, recruit, train and retain workers and professionals. He also chairs or co-chairs the B.C. Chamber of Commerce's critical skills task force, the Vancouver Board of Trade's education and skills task force, the B.C. Trucking Association's human-resources planning committee and the Sea-to-Sky Tourism Association's human-resources committee.

He has assisted the Canadian Home Builders Association, the Independent Contractors and Business Association, and other construction-industry groups with establishing new apprenticeship programs.

"There may be disagreements," says Jothen. "When I was the head of ITAC, there were things the unions were unhappy about. But the more you kept a respectful relationship and built the communication, at least everybody understands each other."

Jothen says construction, retail, tourism, hospitality and health care have some of the most acute labour needs in B.C., while forestry, mining and energy industry demands are more regional.

His advice to Evans?

"Don't get stretched too thin. Keep the bigger picture in mind."

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