Wherever you live in BC, chances are good that someone you know works in our province’s vibrant and booming construction industry.
From the 180,000 tradespeople at its core to the labourers, architects, engineers, estimators, site supers and foremen, union business managers, trainers, safety officers, manufacturers and suppliers, to the owners and back-office teams that make it all tick, construction is the heart of BC’s economy.
More than 250,000 people rely directly on this industry for a paycheque. They build and maintain the structures in which we all live, work, and play. That’s 10 per cent of the workforce: more than any other sector and bigger than forestry, mining, agriculture and fishing combined.
Not that it’s a contest. But here’s something to think about: for all that construction contributes to our daily lives, it doesn’t get much appreciation.
Too often, entering the trades is positioned as a “consolation prize” for students who decide not to go to university but don’t know what they want to do. Too often, we value education over skill. Too often, our best and brightest are discouraged from pursuing a trade. On average it takes an apprentice seven years between graduating high school and entering the trades: too often, that seven years is spent trying to fit into a cultural expectation instead of following an instinctive call to build.
