Addressing the Skilled Labour Shortage Through CLAC’s New Train to Employment Program
Edmonton—CLAC is excited to announce the launch of its new Train to Employment program, offered through CLAC Career Development College. CLAC was a successful recipient of the Alberta at Work – Apprenticeship Partnership Grant, using the funding to develop a program that cohesively attracts, recruits, trains, and employs the next generation of skilled workers through a two-week training program, tied to a four-week job placement.
BuildForce Canada’s 2022 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward report identifies that in Alberta alone 22,650 skilled trades professionals will retire within the next six years, while new projects in the construction sector will require at least 2,400 new additional jobs, resulting in a recruitment requirement of 27,700 workers by 2028.
The Train to Employment program helps break down barriers to entry by providing free, trade-specific training to successful applicants in the welder, scaffolder, and insulator trades. This training provides new workers with the basic skills to be safe, productive, and confident on the job site, boosting their employability and chances of career success without the financial burden of training costs.
Employer partners benefit from this program by investing in the future workforce of both their own organization and in industry at large. CLAC coordinates the recruiting, job matching, and training needs of the worker so employers can seamlessly on-board new apprentices, filling their own labour needs and creating new career opportunities for the next generation of skilled workers.
“Our Train to Employment program is part of the solution to getting the next generation of skilled tradespeople into a career,” says Brad Bent, director of training for CLAC in Alberta. “We are giving opportunities to individuals to not only explore a skilled trade but to gain valuable safety tickets, practical experience, and then a paid job placement.”
Twenty new workers graduated from the Train to Employment program on March 31. All of them went to work for Heartland Constructors Inc. at CNRL Albian Sands as first-year apprentices in either the scaffolding or welding trades.