Skilled Labourer Program Student Resources

Program Overview

This full-time, ten-week program will introduce and prepare young adults ages 17-29 for a variety of exciting roles in the construction and manufacturing industries. The program will include industry certifications, occupational skills, job placement or practicum experience, an essential skills component and job readiness throughout the program.

There will be seats for 14 participants in Prince George, 12 in Quesnel and 8 in Burns Lake and an opportunity for one student from each campus to be awarded a seat in a Foundation Trade program.

We're looking for individuals that demonstrate:

• Attitude and willingness to learn.
• Desire to develop as a tradesperson.
• Expressed understanding of the process of seeking and securing work and motivation to engage in the process.
• Professional conduct/presentation.
• Understanding of or experience in a trade.
• Understanding of the requirements of trades training.
• Ability to identify strategies to overcome challenges of trades training.

Training and Workload

Essential Skills Training and the Job Readiness course are personalized in their approach and delivery. Curriculum and content is designed to allow individuals the flexibility to move along a personal learning path toward increased essential skills, improved soft skills, and toward employment and will include such courses as:

Technical Training - up to 90 hours

Basic carpentry and construction skills using content from Skilled Trades BC Construction Craft Worker curriculum.

Core Certificate Training - up to 120 hours

Core certificate courses will be completed by all program participants in a given program at a given campus and may include:

Job Readiness - up to 40 hours

A job readiness component will occur throughout the program where participants will learn skills to help them succeed in finding and maintaining employment including resume writing, on-line employment searches and applications, introduction to cover letters (including targeting cover letters to a specific employer), and interview skills.

Essential Skills - up to 24 hours

This essential skills component will focus on the basic worksite skills including oral communication, document use, reading text, and numeracy.

Program Supports

• Tuition, fees and books.
• Personal protective equipment.
• Weekly training wage.
• Student bus pass (UPass) and/or transportation support (ie: gas cards).

Supports with Your Job Search Process

Our staff will continue to be available to support you as you take your job search process to the next level. We will continue to be your primary supports for this work, so please keep in touch and let us know how things are going and please ask if you have any questions!

Work Requirements (including Personal Protective Equipment, Tools, Additional Certifications)

There is funding available for additional supports. If you are offered a job that requires any of these things: additional personal protective equipment, tools, or additional certifications, please provide us with documentation of the job offer and details on what you require and we will assess each situation on a case by case basis to see what we can do.

Wage Subsidies

If you are discussing employment with another employer and you want to let them know you may be eligible for a wage subsidy through this program please do. We would be happy to discuss with them what is involved. The funding is set up to provide approximately half your wages for two months, so it can be a huge help for an employer and can help you get your foot in a door.

Connect with WorkBC 

WorkBC Employment Services are available to all unemployed and precariously employed British Columbians who currently seek employment and who are legally eligible to work in BC. The program offers a wide range of services that support job seekers in finding and maintaining employment and in improving employment readiness.

WorkBC Toolkit (EN)
WorkBC Toolkit (FR)