Project opens doors for folks who want a trade

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On Sept. 9 the Alberta Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project was launched at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. The project hopes to increase employment opportunities for Aboriginal people in the trades.

The federal government is looking at contributing $2.5 million and the Alberta government is contributing $2.8 million in the form of tuitions and grants. Alberta industries and Aboriginal groups will contribute $12 million for wages and sponsorship.

The five-year, community-based employment support program is led by a committee comprised of Aboriginal groups, government, educational jurisdictions and private sector companies involved as either employers or project advisors.

Bruce Arcand, project co-ordinator with the Alberta Aboriginal Apprenticeship Project, said the idea began in Winnipeg in 1999 with 36 recommendations released in a report called Aboriginal Participation in Apprenticeship, Making it Work. Representatives from Alberta were there and when they returned home, they wanted to do something with that report.

A committee was brought together where a proposal was drafted and by December 1999 it was submitted to the federal government for funding. It went through to Human Resource Development Canada, Western Economic Diversification, Natural Resources Canada, and the Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada, which ended up contributing to the administration of the project.

Alberta Learning is to contribute the lion's share of the money from the government organizations that are involved. The initiative will run for five years in two phases.

"The first phase is a one-year developmental phase where we meet with Aboriginal organizations and communities to get them to get individuals prepared and ready for apprenticeship and also to work with industries to get them to look at hiring Aboriginal people into apprenticeship positions.

"The second phase will be based on getting Aboriginal people into apprenticeship positions with the employers," said Arcand.

Three pilot locations in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and High Level will work with Aboriginal employment centres. The individuals will have to go through a career decision-making process. Once they've gone through that, their resume will go to the apprenticeship project with a referral letter from the councellor identifying that the individual has come through the process and meets all the minimum requirements of the trade.

"In each area we will have a community advisory committee, which will be made up of industry reps and Aboriginal organizations. These committee reps will read the resumes and identify the individuals and make sure that they meet all the minimum requirements of the trade. By the reps standards these individuals are then ready to start in their apprenticeship positions," he said.

Arcand said that in Alberta there is presently a demand for skilled workers and a shortage of workers in trades. People and demographics in the communities show that there is a high unemployment rate for Aboriginal people.

"I think that it makes sense in the industry to hire Aboriginal people to replace and to replenish the workforce. This makes a great opportunity for Aboriginal groups because in the trades there is a lot of money. This is one of the benefits, as well as long-term employment, and it should suit traditionally what Aboriginal people want," said Arcand.