Ryan Bruer

A Sketch of a Description of Building

A disregard for skilled construction workers will undermine the building industry’s response to the climate emergency. Reckoning with a history of unhealthy materials will require retraining skilled labour to adapt to lowcarbon methods. However, provincial regulation has siloed thousands of workers into dysfunctional occupations by reducing trades to skillsets. Without a framework that engenders dignity and responsibility, these workers will lack the vocational momentum to transform building from the bottom up. The change begins by overhauling the nomenclature of designated trades in provincial law and integrating the new trade amalgamations with training centre networks.

Advisor: Kelly Doran