VANCOUVER – The Province has announced today that it has invested,
through the Industry Training Authority (ITA), $7 million in Vancouver
Community College (VCC) for trades training through to March 31, 2017,
to meet industry needs and ensure quality training in high priority
trades.
In response to the objectives outlined in B.C.’s Skills for Jobs
Blueprint and the McDonald Report, the B.C. government has worked in
partnership with the ITA to begin building a demand-driven trades
training system with funding aligned to specific high priority trades.
With the government’s $7-million investment, the ITA will fund 1,870
trades training seats at Vancouver Community College in:
* Automotive Service Technician
* Heavy Mechanical
* Baker
* Professional Cook
* Commercial Transport Mechanic
The provincial government also highlighted the innovative partnership
that Vancouver Community College has developed with White Spot
Restaurants. Each year, White Spot selects cohorts of students from VCC
to train at White Spot’s state of the art culinary training facility in
Vancouver. This makes White Spot the only hospitality company in the
province to be formally accredited to deliver Professional Cook
Training 1 and 2. Students in the White Spot Culinary program return to
VCC to complete Professional Cook Training 3 and become Red Seal
graduates.
“It is a pleasure to see outstanding B.C. businesses like White Spot,
with its headquarters right here in Vancouver-Fraserview, develop
partnerships with post-secondary institutions to create this win-win
situation, Says Suzanne Anton, MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview-
“This approach works – students are happy to receive hands-on
experience with a renowned business leader, and employers are training
professionals that they can retain for years to come.”
The provincial government invests more than $94 million in industry
training through the ITA. The ITA leads and co-ordinates British
Columbia’s skilled trades system by working with employers, employees,
industry, labour, training providers and government to issue
credentials, manage apprenticeships, set program standards and increase
opportunities in the trades.
