Reinstatement will begin with 10 trade classifications, including mechanical trades, with implementation expected by 2025.
BC is bringing back requirements for skilled tradespeople to be certified, starting with ten classifications in the electrical and mechanical trades.
Premier John Horgan calls it a “transformative change” that will provide better-paying career opportunities, particularly for women and Indigenous workers, just as BC is about to embark on its biggest ever infrastructure program.
“The changes that the BC Liberals made back in 2003 discouraged people from completing their Red Seal,” Horgan said. Workers could get jobs and build up skills, “then you wouldn’t have that certification to travel within Canada, you wouldn’t have that certification to move from job site to job site.”
Critics argue the province would be better off increasing the number of spaces in colleges and training programs, where new entrants face waiting lists up to three years to get in, rather than putting in place mandatory certification.
A two-year consultation process went into devising the change, Horgan said, which he promised will have multiple pathways for existing workers in the initial 10 trades to earn credentials, either by registering as apprentices or challenging the certification standards.
Reinstatement will begin for construction and industrial electricians, power-line technicians, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics, gas, steam and pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and heavy-duty equipment and automotive service technicians.
These 10 trades are among the most skilled trades that already have the highest levels of certification, Horgan said. The province estimates there are about 8,000 uncertified workers in the trades among 100,000 tradespeople without certification in B.C.
Journeyed tradespeople or registered apprentices will “continue to work in their trade like they always have but certification will facilitate training and is expected to open the doors for thousands of workers to be successful and have lifelong careers in the trades.
Government expects to introduce legislation next spring, which will give workers and employers a year to either register in apprenticeship programs or challenge trade requirements to earn certification through existing experience.
For the electrical trades, the province expects the certification requirement to be in place by 2023, for the other trades implementation is expected by 2025. ■
