A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today between the provinces of British Columbia and Nova Scotia to strengthen workforce co-operation including innovation and participation in trades training in the shipbuilding and industrial marine industries.

“Shipbuilding and marine industries are important to the economies of both our coastal provinces,” said Shirley Bond, B.C. Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training. “Through our Skills for Jobs Blueprint, we are re-engineering our apprenticeship and skills training programs using a data-driven system to better match industry needs. We will continue to work with government and industry partners to align and improve apprenticeship training across Canada.”

“We share a strong shipbuilding industry,” said Karen Casey, Nova Scotia's acting Minister of Labour and Advanced Education. “We need to take advantage of this and work together to help grow our two provinces' economies. This partnership helps our businesses to build their export capacity and take full advantage of spin-off opportunities coming out of the industry.”

“Seaspan is developing and growing a shipbuilding and ship repair centre of excellence in British Columbia,” said Jonathan Whitworth, CEO – Seaspan ULC. “Today’s announcement supports our efforts to attract, train and retain the labour force we need to deliver on our government shipbuilding commitments.”

The MOU is a result of an agreement-in-principle Premier Christy Clark and Premier Stephen McNeil signed during the 2015 Summer Meeting of Canada’s Premiers.

Shipbuilding and industrial marine industries have unique training requirements. This MOU positions British Columbia and Nova Scotia to work together to innovate trades training in the shipbuilding and industrial marine industries, improving outcomes for apprentices and the sector overall.

Key commitments identified in the MOU include:

• Share and leverage best practices in trades training including the evaluation of international training models in the shipbuilding and industrial marine industries;
• Assess and evaluate the application of innovative training delivery models for marine sector trades training and jointly develop and implement identified new models as appropriate in the shipbuilding and industrial marine industries;
• Promote youth and Aboriginal people’s participation in trades training in the shipbuilding and industrial marine industries;
• Facilitate the deployment of British Columbia and Nova Scotia apprentices by removing barriers to employment opportunities and certification, including taking all necessary steps to vary any provincial apprenticeship requirements;

British Columbia and Nova Scotia will share labour market information such as workforce demand projections, initiatives to support sector-based workforce planning and best practices in labour market data analysis.