KAMLOOPS - As part of B.C.’s Blueprint, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) will receive funding for an additional 52 training spaces to increase access and help reduce waitlists for trades critical to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other industries.
The allocation is part of the $6.8 million announced last week to create 1,424 foundation and apprenticeship seats at 14 public post-secondary institutions throughout British Columbia.
TRU will receive $265,000 to support the 52 seats that will be available to students as early as September 2014. Seats include:
* 18 welder foundation seats.
* 16 carpenter foundation seats.
* 18 electrician foundation seats.
Government announced an initial $6.6 million for critical trades seats as part of B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint. Funding allocations are based on the most-recent labour market data, on consultations with institutions, the Industry Training Authority, and the Province’s Labour Market Priorities Board, and current waitlists, institutions’ capacity to add training seats.
A million job openings are expected in B.C. by 2022, with about 43 per cent requiring college education or apprenticeship training.
B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint lays out a comprehensive action plan to re-engineer education and training so British Columbia students and workers have the skills to be first-in-line for jobs in a growing economy.
“We want British Columbian students and workers to be first in line for job openings expected in the coming years,” said Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake, “These 52 additional seats at Thompson Rivers University mean greater opportunities for students to get the skills they need to get ahead.”
More information on B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint is available at: www.workbc.ca/skills