Improving economic outcomes and business development opportunities in First Nations communities is at the heart of a provincial partnership with the B.C. Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN).

The Province and the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) have been working together on two labour market projects aimed at helping more youth join British Columbia’s workforce and recruiting others who want to work in Aboriginal non-profit organizations.

Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond has issued the following statement in honour of Labour Day, observed this year on Sept. 5:

The Province announced that it has invested, through the Industry Training Authority (ITA), $59,000 in the Pile Drivers, Divers, Bridge, Dock and Wharf Local Union 2404 for skills training seats in the piledriver and bridgeworker apprenticeship program.

The Province announced that it has invested through the Industry Training Authority (ITA) a combined $1,158,000 to six training providers in Surrey for skills training seats in high-priority trades.

Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond and Parliamentary Secretary Greg Kyllo gave an update on British Columbia’s economic progress since the BC Jobs Plan release in 2011 and a preview of where the jobs plan is headed in the five-year update later this fall.

The Province of British Columbia is once again hosting a major, international sporting event. The inaugural Americas Masters Games (AMG) are taking place in Vancouver and thousands of athletes have arrived from the Pan-American region to rekindle their love of competitive sport.

Seafood producers met with the provincial and federal governments to discuss skilled-labour and human-resource planning, as part of a series of roundtables held earlier this year with sectors highlighted in the BC Jobs Plan.

The Province of British Columbia now has $9.6 million in Canada-BC Job Grant funding available to help employers provide skills training to current or new employees.