Victoria has established a B.C. Shipbuilding and Repair Sector task force to ensure the province can meet the workforce requirements of a soon-to-be revitalized marine industry.
On Wednesday, Jobs Minister Pat Bell joined 300 workers and representatives from Seaspan Marine in North Vancouver to celebrate the company’s successful bid for the $8 billion non-combat National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS). (See “Seaspan awarded $8 billion non-combat shipbuilding contract” – BIV Business Today, October 19.)
At the event, Bell reiterated the provincial government’s commitment to support the massive contract, announcing that a marine sector task force would begin meeting later this month to address workforce concerns.
Bell told Business in Vancouver the table would consist of representatives from Seaspan and other shipbuilding companies, post-secondary institutions, unions, the industry training authority and the provincial government.
Its goal would be to confirm the overall human capital requirements needed to fulfil the shipbuilding contract, review labour supply projections and sources and develop a co-ordinated workforce strategy that will help inform training investments.
Bell said the key to the sector table would be to ensure British Columbians get shipbuilding jobs ahead of workers from elsewhere.
“We can proactively get out, train people, make sure they’re ready to go, and then when the jobs open up you have British Columbians ready to fill those spaces, as opposed to bringing in foreign workers to fill those positions,” said Bell.
The province has already committed to offering enhanced training and other labour tax credits to eligible marine industry employers, and will provide some $550,000 to develop training programs in Esquimalt.
In a related announcement, Seaspan chairman Kyle Washington said Wednesday the company had ordered six new wood chip barges to keep workers busy in the months before the NSPS contract gets underway.
Joel McKay
@jmckaybiv